Holiday Greetings!

Which holiday? It's hard to know anymore when Christmas decorations go up before Halloween, and Halloween stuff has been on the shelves since before Labor Day. But, today, I'm talking about Christmas, Chanukah and New Years.

Today is a good day to get started on your holiday card list strategy. Strategy? Yes, Strategy.

Things to consider include:

• Will the greetings be sent by mail or email?
• If by mail, an envelope or postcard?
• Is this greeting intended for friends and family, clients or both?
• Will you use two different cards?
• If for business, will you use a stock card or create something that highlights your brand?
• If for friends and family, will you use a stock card, a photograph, or something else?
• What is the budget

While these questions are considered, another, as Derek Smalls might say, practical question arises:

Is your mailing list in order?

Since you are reading this on a computer, there is no good reason for your mailing list to not be computerized.

If your list is in a tattered old address book or on various scraps of papers or post-it notes, now is the time to get it all into a normalized database or contacts manager.

Once you've done this, not only will your holiday mailing list be a snap, but you'll also be able to keep track of birthdays, anniversaries and all kinds of other important information in an organized way.

Get started on this now, and it's not an overwhelming task. If you need help, get in touch. We've managed card lists that ranged from a few dozen to a few thousand. We've also designed eye-popping and news-making cards for our clients.