Eco friendly Christmas cards
Christmas will soon be upon us, and no matter what you may think of Christmas from a personal point of view it does give us the opportunity to contact our customers and clients with a bit of festive cheer.
The traditional approach has been to purchase a pack of cards, sign them and then post them to your contacts. Larger firms will often sponsor their own design, with a tailored message, often accompanying a gift of wine or quality food stuffs for key accounts.
Whatever approach you take there is a cost involved, both direct to your business and to the environment. As a cheaper alternative you may wish to consider sending your Christmas cards electronically. A number of sites, including charities, provide neat ways of sending out Christmas greetings whilst showing your support for their fundraising.
As well as saving you money e-Cards, as they are known, do away with the need to worry about postal deadlines or wading through lots of cards hand signing each one. More advanced e-Card sites enable you to upload your business contacts so the distribution process is as simple as possible.
The down side of e-Cards is that they can be lost in the mass of emails people normally get, and they can be viewed as tacky. Indeed some corporate IT security systems may prevent e-Cards being received as they can be used as a way of spreading malware.
I suggest that you take a look at e-Cards and see if they are suitable for your business. Maybe try sending a few out this year, but make sure you look after your key clients with a real Christmas card and possibly a gift to say thank you for their business in the past year.
In the meantime have a Happy Christmas and try and enjoy a couple of days break from your business.
These e-Card sites may be of interest;
Cancer Research UK
Friends of the Earth
Envirowise
Mr BITG
The Business IT Guide
