What better day than Valentine’s Day to address this issue!

Before I get into what 8-year-old boys know, I want to tell you about two honest-to-goodness real live men friends of mine, even though they just don’t get it, when it comes to greeting cards.

Casestudy One: Mature Man Doesn’t Get It:  He’s a very handsome, probably fifty-ish insurance guy with a nationally-known company.  When I first went into the card business, I called him to show him the custom card system I’d discovered. He went through the process of sending a card to his then girlfriend. They had just returned from a Florida vacation.

I don’t know what he wrote in his greeting card, but when I called him back the next week to see what his girlfriend thought of the card he sent, he was deliriously happy.

“I don’t understand it,” he said laughing. “She was so excited. She loved it! I don’t know what I did. I really like to use it.”

Great!

Then in ran his secretary, almost screaming, “No, no,” I could hear her saying. “(Company Name) has it’s own card system and the cards are much cheaper. Don’t do that!”  So much for words from old secretaries. Maybe she’s his mother, but then again, if that were the case,  he would have signed up on the spot.  Not to say he’s oppositional or anything.

But he totally missed the point of the power of appreciative, dynamic, expressive, loving, affirming greeting cards. I’m sure his insurance company doesn’t carry I sure had a great time on our get-a-way together alone, without the kids, you sexy babe!

Some people don’t learn from their mistakes. Here’s a guy didn’t learn from his greeting card success. Maybe that’s why he’s been married a few times. I don’t know.

Casestudy Two: Young Married Man Doesn’t Get It

He’s a very handsome, extremely-well groomed entrepreneur. He’e been married just a little over a year.  I had a meeting with him after a networking meeting at a restaurant.

He enjoyed talking about his relationships with other group members. He loved having a listening ear from someone in the healthcare service, because he had a product for that industry.

He especially loved talking about his young wife, who continually puzzled him. “Being married is sure different from dating,” he said. “What is it with you women?  She is always leaving lovey, greeting cards around for me to find. She must have spent a small fortune…just on greeting cards.  She doesn’t have to do that!” he stammered.

“Well, do you send her greeting cards back?” I asked.

“I can’t do that,” he replied bluntly, sticking out his manly chin.

“Are you afraid Arnold Schwarzenegger would call you a girlie man, if you sent your wife a greeting card?” I asked.  “I’ll help you and you can send a greeting card to your wife for free.”

“Give me the website and I’ll do it later,” he said. “Besides, my company has a greeting card system, too.”

I’m sure they carried I’m sure glad I married suc a special, beautiful woman. He never went to the website to send her a card.

Some men learn from their mistakes, and some men don’t learn to see missed opportunities that sending an unexpected greeting card could bring, even when it stares them in the face.

Do you know what a card from that husband to that wife on a regular or even unexpected card basis would have done for their relationship?  I hope he figures it out.

I know a man who ended up divorced because his wife refused to make him a peanut butter sandwich for lunch.  Insane?  Maybe, but little things — like a greeting card — can sure make a difference.

————–

Now that you know just a few things that grown men don’t know, lets look at what eight-year-old boys have got down pat.

I have known a lot of 8-year-old boys in my lifetime. In my husband’s office, when the kids have to wait in the reception area, while he meets with their parents, he asks them to babysit me.  Believe me, I have been babysat by the good, and the bad when it comes to 8-year-old boys.

The thing I like most about eight-year-old boys is that they are still enough kids to want to play. That helps when they babysit you. They are willing color or draw. Give them a blank piece of paper and some crayons or even a pen or pencil, and they are off–creating pictures, designing greeting cards, drawing houses and family members, lots of hearts and clouds and birds.

Almost always, they write “To MOM” at the top. Somewhere between the stick people and the dog they find room to write their name. They know what they will soon forget in a couple of years; when momma is happy, everyone is happy.

These prepubescent males are so proud of their little greeting cards, some even want to interrupt the meeting to show mom their pictures. When their moms finally emerge from the meeting, you couldn’t restrain these eight-year-old boys with chains. Moms usually smile and acknowledge their artsy, custom greeting card.

For a brief moment they have won the pleasure of the most important woman in their lives. They are joyful and excited to have pleased, because we all know that it doesn’t take too long for an eight-year-old boy to find his way into something that will be perceived as annoying at best.

LESSON FOR MEN WHO KNEW BUT FORGOT ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF EXPRESSING APPRECIATION:

Remember her with a greeting card or a special treat or a single rose in the good times and especially in the tough times.  The good thing about a card is that it won’t wilt or be gobbled up. Flowers always disappoint in the long run, because women hang on to them too long. Then it’s like a burial. Goodies put on weight.  Greeting cards are for keeping. So send her a card…

• When she’s overwhelmed by kids, work, your family, her family, or this economy.
• When she’s had a success…anywhere in her life.
• When she’s had a failure…anywhere in her life.
• Let her know you appreciate her.
• Remind her how much you love her.
• Tell her I’m Sorry, when you goof up, and, by the way, who doesn’t.
• Don’t let Valentine’s Day be the only time during the year you send her a card. (Send her one on me right now and schedule one for sometime in the future–just because. Click HERE.

LESSON FOR WOMEN WHO ARE INVOLVED WITH MEN WHO FORGOT WHAT THEY KNEW:

Remember to send him a card, acknowledge his efforts in good times and especially in bad times.

• When he’s overwhelmed by your kids, his kids, honey-do lists, work, your family, his family, or this economy.
• When he’s had a success…anywhere in his life.
• When he’s had a failure…anywhere in his life, especially if it was in front of others or even at the bowling alley.
• Let him know you appreciate him for all he’s done for you (and the kids).
• Remind him how much you love him.
• Tell him I’m Sorry, when you goof up, and, by the way, who doesn’t.
• Don’t let Valentine’s Day be the only time of the year you send him a card. (Send him one on me right now and schedule one for sometime in the future–just because. Click HERE.)
• Let him know how much it means to you when he remembers you or does something special. Tell him over and over how much you enjoyed the greeting

In the marital arena, appreciation wins out over nagging or complaining everytime. Sometimes what ever you want, even happens. The simplest, most, economical way to show appreciation is by taking one minute out of your life at work or at your home computer and sending a thoughtful greeting card.  Try it, you’ll like it! Click on the banner, after you click HERE.

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Below is a photo greeting card I made of my friend, Ethan. Ethan is 8-years-old, and he is using the custom greeting card system that I use. He picked out the greeting card that was just right for his mother. He wrote his special message to her. On one side he wrote in red and on the other side of his custom greeting card he wrote in black. It took him less than 5 minutes, and he had never done it before. This Valentine card didn’t cost him anything, because he used the FREE gift account that I’ll offer you in a minute.  While he was creating his personalized message in his card, I got my camera out, took his picture and here is the card I made of him sending his greeting card.

In my next post, I’ll tell you what 8-year-old boys know, that a lot of men forgot, when it comes to sending greeting cards, especially Valentines.  For now enjoy Ethan!

Then click HEREto send your two Valentines on me, upload your own photo to make it even more personal. I’ll even pick up the postage. Happy Valentines!  Thanks to Ethan’s parents for letting me share their cute son for this post. 

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As I’ve mentioned before the greeting card system that I use, has over 14,000 different greeting cards. I use them alot, but here is a custom greeting card that was also made on the system, using jpegs stored on my computer. My intent is to show respect for Martin Luther King, Jr, the Man, the date (not a day off but a day on in our world community), and for a committment to non-violence and peace among all people.

Here’s the front of the card:

(on the inside top of the card are printed these principles)

Martin Luther King, Jr’s Six Principles of Nonviolence

Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people.

Nonviolence seeks to win friendship and understanding.

Nonviolence seeks to defeat injustice not people.

Nonviolence holds that suffering can educate and transform.

Nonviolence chooses love instead of hate.

Nonviolence believes that the universe is on the side of justice.

(on the inside bottom of the card is this Pledge)

Pledge of Nonviolence, Honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.
I hope you will join me in this commitment.

IN HONOR OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.’S LIFE AND WORK,

I pledge to do everything that I can to make America and the world a place

where equality and justice, freedom and peace will grow and flourish.

I PLEDGE TO MAKE NONVIOLENCE A WAY OF LIFE

in my dealings with all people.

I WILL REJECT all forms of hatred, bigotry and prejudice, and I will

embrace the values of unconditional, universal love, truthfulness, courage,

compassion, and dedication that empowered Dr. King.

I WILL DEDICATE my life to creating the Beloved Community of Dr.

King’s dream, where all people can live together as sisters and brothers.

-Shalom-Fridden-Der Frieden-La Paix-Achukma-Heiwa-Salam-
LaPaz-Amani-Hoa Binh- Maluhai

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Here’s an example of a business owner who sent out this custom, photo card to his friends, family and the customer’s that he felt had a sense of humor.  I think it is priceless.

The front cover is self-explanatory.  If the inside doesn’t make you laugh, you need to have your sense of humor checked.

(inside photo below)

Inside this clever greeting card, the businessman wished every one a laugh for 2009 and announced that his son had finally accomplished his life-long dream of becoming a fireman for the local fire department. He also included a picture of his swearing in on the inside of the card.

See how using a custom, photo greeting card can get you remembered by your friends, family, and even your customers? He could be proud of his son without being a pompus idiot. People will share the card with others. It’s a great referral marketing piece, because people will think of this business owner when someone asks if they know someone who provides his service.

(We have no word how the son took to the card, especially if the firemen in his department got a hold of it. Oh, well, it is small town. Who knows?)

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I admit to a bias, when it comes to this photo Christmas card. My husband and I formed a remarried family about 1000 years ago. (OK, not really, some days it just feels like it.) Anyway,  I love the uniqueness and creativity that went into this family’s 2008 holiday greeting card. 

This long-distance couple probably have more frequent flier miles than I can imagine. They are separated by more than 1000 miles and spend every other weekend in the other’s home town. This year unlike most, they have had only brief moments when all the children were together in one place. That wasn’t conducive to a single family photo for their Holiday greeting. 

I must admit to some trying times scanning this card into my system, and I worry that the crispness that came across in the card is missing online. But I love this card and wanted to share it in spite of my scanning challenges.

First I find the use of the non-traditional colors of the border a pleasant change of pace. It also makes the photo of the couple, as well as the parents and children, really pop. They are not lost in the traditional sprigs of pine and holly berries.

The designer of this card, the mom, prefers to handmake her cards but used an online template and service. That may speak to her skill in composition, because I find those who handmake their cards are really sending out mini works of art. I think with those years of experience in custom designing cards, this designer brought all her skills to this custom photo Christmas Card.

Then I loved her message. She sent out such good feelings for those who received this family’s greeting card. Here’s her message:

For those who we see throughout the year,
 we love you and cherish our memories with you.
For  those who we don’t get a chance to see often enough,
we miss you and hope to see you soon!
May the joys of this Christmas season
be with you throughtout the coming year.
 We hope you have a happy and healthy 2009!

Then across from the message, she listed the names and ages of the children and added her personal message to the card.

This card was striking, informative through pictures, and again gave such a personal touch. What fun it was to receive! Thank you for letting me share this on my blog and travel safe and enjoy the holidays!

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If your Christmas greeting cards are still in the box they came in, you may be experiencing Pain #5 in the song, The 12 Pains of Christmas. It’s all over the Internet, and pokes fun at all the stresses that we’ve invented to celebrate the Holiday. It is rather clever, and my friend Diane, who owns Evochi.com, sent it to me. She uses my greeting card system, and we love her wonderful spa soaps and products.

Well, if you’re suffering from Pain #5, you have a couple of choices, if you haven’t gotten around to sending out your Christmas Greeting Cards yet:

1. Admit to procrastinating or having a Holiday meltdown and tell your friend and family that you would rather be late and let them know how important they are to you…even if your wishes arrive a couple days late.
2. Give up and just don’t send them at all.
3. Accept you have poor time management skills. How did it get to be 5 days before Christmas anyway? Send them all out after New Years, and tell them your 2009 resolution was have your greeting cards out before anyone else. Here’s your 2009 Christmas card…in advance.
4. Change your tactics and instead send out New Years Cards, which is really a great way to get people’s attention after the rush of the Holidays and reality of the long winter sets in. If you own your own business or are in sales, this is a great idea anyway.
5. Use the system I use everyday to send cards, and yes, I send greeting cards everyday. To check out the system, start by requesting your gift account at www.RememberChristmasCards.com and fill out the form. If you’re in a hurry and want immediate help you can always reach me at (219) 947-5478 or 888-256-5478. If you go to voice mail, just leave a detailed message, include your best phone number, and I should receive a page that you left a message. (Remember here in NWIndiana, we are just digging out from a serious ice storm, and technology is often weather challenged, but I’ll do my best.)

The system I use makes sending a greeting card extremely easy, quick, and cards start as low as $.98, with custom greeting cards, starting at $1.49, plus postage. What if all you had to do was type in your message, add your contact and click SEND. The next thing you’d see was this message–Your card has been successfully sent!

Worried about large lists? They can be uploaded! Ask me how?

Questions about using a system new to you? You think it will be so hard that it will take way too long? I’ll help. The answer is just a phone call away or check out the step-by-step walk through by our CEO. That’s a part of your FREE gift account.

Confession time: Before I found this wonderful system that I’ve been using since 2005, I ALWAYS did my Holiday cards on Christmas afternoon, after dinner. Since then, I did send out a Happy New Years card just for a different change of pace. This year my Cocker Spaniel, Mulligan, was in charge of sending the holiday greeting cards. See, it’s so easy my dog can do it!

Peace to you all. After all that is what the season should be about. Peace and love and enjoying each other.

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I really enjoyed this photo Christmas card from old friends. It says so much more than words alone, and it answered all the questions that a Christmas letter couldn’t have.

First of all, who doesn’t love a wedding? The photo is delightful with the contrast between dark tones and light tones. And it doesn’t hurt that all these very photogenic people are beaming. Can’t you just feel the energy? What a photographer!

The last time I saw this family, the younger “kids” were in high school. It was really fun to see them all grown up with the people in their lives. As I told the mom, when I asked permission to use the photo card in Greeting Card Tips, it’s hard to tell who the parents are anymore.

On another note, this custom photo greeting card would have made an extremely thoughtful keepsake, if sent as a thank you card to friends and family who attended the wedding. People who love and care for this family will undoubtedly keep this card for a long time. 

To my old friends, a very special thank you for sending your holiday card in the first place, sharing your joy, and for letting me share it on my blog.

Congratulations and best wishes to the newly weds,  ”E & M,” too!

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I just wanted to share one of the customized Christmas Cards I did last year.  Here’s the front of the card.

I fell in love with this photo of a sculpture of Santa at the Beach. While his permanent home is on the West Coast, I couldn’t help but borrow his likeness and turn him into a dear old Santa at Miller Beach, Indiana. Miller Beach is my home, along with a whole lot of really cool people, who love living on the southern shores of Lake Michigan.

Maybe this is not the way you imagine Santa, but he is just too cool! He is a sculpture, designed and created by Lisa Gapen, who I’ve known for about 13 years. In fact in another life, she helped us train our blind and deaf cocker spaniel, long before we realized that he had any vision problems. He was a “ring-tail tooter” of a puppy. He’ll be featured in another custom Christmas Card soon.

One of Lisa’s hobby’s is custom designing Santas. She is quite an artist. Because I wanted to give her credit in my custom greeting card last year, I  inserted the information below into this card that went out to my Miller Beach neighbors.

Here’s the credit insert that was in the card last year:
We are so excited to share my favorite photo of Lisa Gapen’s
holiday creations with you. May it bring you a smile.
Lisa Gapen is a sculptor and artist in Northwest Indiana. Each piece is a
one of a kind sculpture made from plymer clay with a wire frame and soft
sculpted body with handmade costumes. Many of the accessories are hand
made by the artist as well. More of Lisa’s work can be seen at
www.theGrandfatherClaus.com

Hint: if you have a friend who is an artist, maybe you can use a photo of their work and turn it into a custom photo greeting card that gets framed by some of the people who receive it.

Share the Joy, spread the smiles, build connections.

Click on the button below, fill in the form, and you can send two custom photo cards of yours on me.

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Are Christmas Greeting Cards on your mind today or are you exhausted after getting up at 3:30 this morning to take advantage of all those great sales at the malls across America? 

Did you take the time last week to get out your Thanksgiving Greeting Cards? Whether you are a business-minded person, in sales or an entrepreneur, if you didn’t take advantage of Thanksgiving holiday to remind your clients or customers how much you really appreciate them, all is not lost, but it is an opportunity that I hope you will take advantage of next year.

I’ll come up with some other ideas as we travel this holiday and 2009, building connections that deepen relationships in your personal and busines life.  Below you will find a custom card that I designed and sent to all the members of my Garden Lane Community Supported Agriculture friends. I promise it isn’t the most beautiful Thanksgiving card ever designed, but it was a meaningful one to me and the farmers. It was my small tribute to their great contributions to me personally, to our neighborhood, and agriculture as a whole.

Thanksgiving and harvest end go together, and this card was meant to celebrate our organic farmers, their hardworking crews, the challenges they faced from Mother Nature and our connection as fellow shareholders from our neighborhood along the southern shores of Lake Michigan.

This is the cover of my custom card:

 Autum leaves, surrounding and a blue IKEA bag…
Probably doesn’t mean much to you, but to members of Garden Lane Community Supported Agriculture, it means anticipation of late Wednesday afternoons full of delicious produce.

That’s the purpose of a custom greeting card. One of the farmers commented, “It is one of a kind!” Don’t think you’ll find one like it at Hallmark. But that really is the purpose of the card store. They create generic cards to meet the needs of people who think generically. That may be fine with medications, but not so with greeting cards. Besides this greeting card cost me a fraction of the cost of one of the generic brands.

Here’s the inside of the card, featuring pictures of the farmers, their crews, farm creatures, and the flood. 

Here’s the crew harvesting or planting garlic, a diversity garden, boats used to harvest squash and pumpkins after the flooding, more crew and farmers, and flooding. Then more pictures of the crews and the beautiful veggies. The labor that it takes to get those blue bags to the shareholders is incomprehensible. They work in sleet, rain, mud, flood, heat, drought and mosquitoes.   How noble and organic!

Then there’s pics of the farm creatures, including the canines, spider, a frog, and praying mantis-an eco-system in action. This is followed by lament that the season is over. Notice this was a campaign I designed so I could send it to all the members & farmers. The system I use has a mail merge feature (FirstName & SpouseName), which personalizes my cards for large mailings. I did go back in and wrote special notes in the cards to the farmers & neighborhood leaders of our CSA.

The front of the card ends with my comment, brought to you by….  So when someone opened this 3 panel card, there are the pictures of our farmers. One shows 4 generations of one family and the other is from a newspaper article, featuring the other farmers.

Custom greeting cards are vitally important, if you want to connect to the people who are important to you. Graphic designers could probably add a lot to my idea, but with the system I use I did this in minutes, from pictures the farmers included in their weekly email newsletters. And it was terrific fun, too!

If you would like more information about the fantastic system that I use, please email me at Patricia@GreetingCardTips.com or visit my site www.RememberChristmasCards.com. Anyone visiting the Remember will receive a FREE gift account and will be able to send a couple greeting cards, using your own photos in the cards, on me for FREE. You will also receive a FREE CD IN THE MAIL from me describing the system, so make sure your mailing information is correct.

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