I just sent out the autumn mailer to our client list, and to our team. So we mail our clients every quarter, and never during the Christmas holiday (but always to celebrate a new year). This has become the JWatson Creative way, and a standard we have practiced for the past couple of years. Every quarter, I search for something I think my clients will appreciate. Sometimes, it’s a clever card, something from my travels, or the unique product of an awesome small business that I just have to share.

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Print is not dead. With the rise of the internet and online-newsletters, some like to think that there’s no point in sending something through the mail. This is a poor assumption. Sometimes newsletters are missed, never read, caught in spam, and many times unpersonal. Sometimes, your audience signs up for so many newsletters, that yours may get lost in the mix. Sending something that looks like an advertisement or a bill in the mail may not be effective. But, sending something personal, that stands out in a stack and makes the recipient want to relish every moment of opening it, well, that’s something else all together.

So this month we sent out our thank you note to everyone, printed on a felt card stock with rounded corners by Indigo Ink. In this card I updated my mailing list with my travel adventures, and hand signed each one with a gold Sharpie fine point marker. Inside the box, amongst gold and white filler, rested 3 seasonal flavor lollipops (Pumpkin Spice Latte, Salted Caramel, and Blood Orange Ginger), handmade by Leccare Lollipops, a boutique shop best known for its unique flavors and hand selected ingredients. The shop owner here is always kind enough to let me design my own labels.

Upon opening the box, we put a handwritten reminder to the recipient, “You are amazing,” also written with that gold Sharpie. All the little embellishments and packaging (down to the box itself) came from PaperSource, and all the packaging is easily recyclable. I take time to hand letter each box, often early in the morning before the work day starts, on my lunch break, and after dinner when necessary. We usually have all the boxes put together within a week’s time.

Our list includes our clients and our core team, plus a couple prospects who’s businesses we love. It’s not a large list, which is why working with a local printer is perfect (because there’s no minimum ordering quantity). We keep the expense of this reasonable, but the value it provides is immense.

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Gratitude

Having a small business is not always easy. Trusting another business with your marketing dollars is a huge responsibility. We appreciate the trust and that our clients keep coming back. We appreciate our team and that they go the distance on our projects. There’s nothing wrong with stopping and saying “thank you.”

[Tweet “Gratitude with your business and your work is incredibly important. #gratitude”]

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Awareness

You may thing of your team and your clients often, but how often do you let them know? It’s so easy to point out a mistake, or when something didn’t go according to plan. It is all the more rare to acknowledge when people go the extra mile, or when a project goes swimmingly well.

[Tweet “How often do you let your team they are awesome? #gratitude”]

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Empathy

Our clients are human too. Our team is also comprised of human beings (and the occasionally cute, furry creature). We know they have lives outside of what they do for a living. We know they have families, husbands, wives, boards that they sit on and volunteer work that they do. We love all of that, and we acknowledge the role we play, as a puzzle piece or two in the bigger picture.

[Tweet “Be a puzzle piece for the bigger picture. #gratitude”]

When it comes to your clients and your team, you don’t have to go as far as a quarterly mailer (though, it is a lot of fun if you want to give it a try), but you should definitely reach out from time to time to say thank you, and it’s awesome working with you.