I can never figure out what people are thinking when they send out those lame Christmas cards each year.
You know the ones I am talking about. They have some boring Christmas picture on the front like a snowman, or snow flakes or a nativity scene with Jesus lying in a manger. Wow! There is a word that is virtually extinct. When is the last time you heard someone use manger in a sentence?
| “Hello Ikea! Yeah hi. I just picked up a manger from your location in the South end, but I am missing the Allen keys needed to assemble the baby Jesus.” |
Where was I? Right the cards. So these cards have some lamo picture on the front and then you open it up to get something any chimp could mass produce (if they were tech-savvy enough to work a printing press) like Merry Christmas or Season’s Greetings on the inside…Yawn!
This is immediately followed by the signatures of the 3, 4 or 5 inhabitants of the home along with any household pets who want to get their bow wow or meow in there. And the kicker of course is that all the signatures have the same handwriting. How is that possible you ask? It’s a Christmas miracle I tell you! It truly is.
Now if you are guilty of this Christmas Card crime, here is my question. Have you ever once considered what happens on the other end, when people get these cards?
Is the card displayed proudly on the mantle? Are they so touched by the thought and effort you put into this that they just can’t wait to show it to someone? Or does it get slightly more respect than unwanted junk mail before it to is hacked to death in the paper shredder?
Case Study…A Christmas Card to Remember
I have a friend; lets call him Jason (which, to be fair, is what we should be calling him because that is his name.) I get a Christmas card from him every year. I actually look forward to his cards. Why? Because he makes them himself.
The cover has a picture of his daughter, which seems to best capture the essence of who she is. The write up is something insightful, based on a conversation that the two of them have had at some point.
He ends each with a handwritten note to me highlighting something specific about our relationship over that past year. (This is usually something amazing I have done and how it has inspired him to become a better person.)
| DISCLAIMER: I may have taken some creative liberties with that last point. |
What do I do with these cards? I keep them of course, but not because I know he has taken a tremendous amount of time to create something worthwhile. I keep them because he took the time to add a personal well thought out message that added big time value because it was relevant to me.
What BlockBuster and lame Christmas cards have in common…
From time to time I will go rent a video from BlockBuster (but only because iTunes doesn’t have what I want). I love going there, not because of the experience, but because, without fail, I can count on one thing happening each time I go.
As soon as I walk in someone will say hello. And every time I go to return the hello, the perpetrator of said hello is not even looking at me. In fact, the perp was never looking at me.
Most times they are dealing with another customer and bark out that hello in the middle of a sentence as if inflicted with courteous Tourettes Syndrome.
| “Will that be all? Your total comes to-HELLO![customer walked in]- $6.49. Will that be cash-HELLO![another customer walked in] or credit.” |
Other times a hello is lobbed at me like a freaking grenade. When I look up, the place is deserted. It’s like they have run for cover. I usually find the culprit crouched behind the counter sorting through a mass of returned videos.
I get a good chuckle from this because BlockBuster just doesn’t get it. The insincere hello does nothing to build trust. It’s done out of obligation because it is a mandated store policy.
| BLOCKBUSTER ALERT! I commented to someone at BlockBuster about this. I was informed that the hello was not instituted to improve customer relations. They have done studies where the “Hello” has been shown to cut down on in-store shoplifting. Here’s a thought BlockBuster. Why not at least be sincere and honest and say, “Hi! Please don’t steal our shit!” |
The lame Christmas card is much the same as the insincere hello. It has no impact because it is void of any true sentiment.
Tips on sending Christmas cards that don’t bite…
- Know what your reason is for sending the card out in the first place. Are you doing it because it is something you have always done or are you doing it because you want to send a message that matters. If is the first reason, then just stop doing it. They probably won’t even notice if it is the same lame-ass card every year.
- Focus on the end result. How do you want people to react when they open your card and read it? Are you hoping for a Roberto Benigni reaction when he won his Oscar? Or are you looking more for a Roger Federer reaction when he won the French Open. Or is it somewhere in between. Once you know how you want them to react, what content do you need to include to get that reaction.
- Think of cards as gifts. I stopped giving presents long ago . Presents are fleeting and soon forgotten (or in my case…lost). As corny as this sounds, I prefer to give the gift of words. They are timeless in their impact and more importantly, they can’t be returned by your friends for cash.
- Make your own card. There are numerous sites now online like Shutterfly where you can create our own card and have them shipped to you. But all PCs and Macs come with some program where you could easily do this yourself for free.
- Add a picture of yourself and your family. This is so much more personal and is great for those who may not have seen you in a while because they get a chance to laugh at just how unphotogenic (I just made that word up) you really are.
- Take a lamo card and jazz it up. I do this a lot. Think of it like greeting card graffiti. Sometimes I buy those bulk cards. You know the ones. The store already knows these cards suck. That’s why they were 75% off to begin with. (They just can’t say that because, well, that is just bad salesmanship.) Just add your own additional content to make it meaningful.
- Write something that has impact. Don’t just sign your name to the card below the Merry Christmas. That just bites. Put down something relevant for that person. Take a risk. Put yourself out there. Let them know how important they are to you in a way that will mean something to them. Sure this has a big time MUSH factor, but I guarantee it will have impact.
- Stop signing for everyone else. If the card is coming from more than one person, get everyone else to sign it. In fact, treat it like those big work birthday cards that get passed around. Have everyone, even the kids, write something. If your kids are still pretending they can’t write, ask them what they would like to say and write it for them.
- Narrow your list. When the list gets too long, it becomes work and when it becomes work we get stressed and when we get stressed then we get angry and no one likes getting a Christmas card littered with the f-bomb. Keep the list manageable by identifying only those people who are in your inner circle and send only to them.
- Don’t send email cards. If people can’t keep em’, they will just delete em’. (I wonder if rapping is my thing? I could go under the alias Ice D or D-Dawg!) People keep stuff that has meaning. Think of your cards as trophies. If it is great, it will go into their own personal hall of fame that years from now they can go back to and reflect on.
- Be yourself in your message. If you are funny be funny. If your a dimwit, then be a dimwit. Whatever your message is just be authentically you. You can’t go wrong doing that.
QuitTwit…
Quit being that guy or girl who sends out those meaningless cards. Touch lives by adding something personal and relevant. It has far greater impact and more importantly, the gift of words is interest free.
To spreading ideas worth quitting,
