Most people don’t really place as much value on birthday cards as they used to. In this day and age, most people resort to a “happy birthday” on Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr, or at best an e-card sent to your email. Even though times are changing and we’re rapidly incorporating technology into our daily lives, I still think birthday cards that you can hold and feel is the best birthday gesture someone can give. Don’t get me wrong, I love my Facebook “happy birthday’s”, but I can’t put them on my desk to smile at when I glance over at them.

What’s better than a birthday card you can physically hold and feel? Personal birthday cards that your loved ones took the time to make especially for you! Whenever I receive a personalized birthday card, I’m amazed at the details of the whole package – the coloring of the card, the ink that the greetings printed in, the special sentiment my friend took the time to think up, among other things. I’ve heard a lot of people say that birthday cards are a waste… I don’t think that’s true at all! I personally have a box with hundreds of birthday and other types of cards I’ve received during the years, and every once in a while it’s so nice to open that box up and go through some of them. It brings a smile to my face, and as the years go by, it makes me happy that I’ve had the opportunity to grow another year and to be fortunate enough to have family and friends that care so much about me as to think of me in the form of a card – a lost art in this day and age.

Let me tell you what a difference it made to me when I received actual business birthday cards you could feel and touch.  I own a consulting business and we order many marketing promotional items for our clients.  Many sales representatives from promotional companies contact us but I had my steady supplier that we had used for years.  When my sales contact left the company for a change in careers, I stayed with the company but was ultimately not happy with the service I was getting.

I had met with a sales representative from another company approximately a year prior on what must have been my birthday.  Low and behold, 1 year later, I received a beautifully crafted business birthday card from that same sales rep.  I was not only impressed by the thought, but also by the quality of the card.  I immediately got in touch with the rep and placed an order to try their company out.

I am now happily using his company as our primary supplier of promotional material and all because he made such a great impression on me with a high quality and thoughtful birthday cards.

I now make it a point to find out all of my clients’ birthdays and have a box of quality birthday cards at my finger tips ready to send to my clients.  I can’t tell you how many comments I get from them when they receive their card!

Another year has gone by and your birthday is approaching. It could be a milestone year or just another year. You might be thinking that no one will remember you and then the U.S. Postal service makes a delivery. To your surprise your chiropractor; the chiropractor that was referred to you by your neighbor, sent you a birthday card.  These small surprises in life can bring a lot of joy. How thoughtful it is to get birthday cards from someone other than your mother.

Personalized greeting cards are a wonderful gift to give. It might be a small token from a business owner, but it certainly leaves a lasting impression to their clients. It could be your dentist, accountant, lawyer or financial advisor. It is a way of staying in touch with clients who will remember you when they are in need of a special service. To operate a small business isn’t easy these days; to stand out amongst the competition is an important part of your success. Sending personalized birthday cards adds a special touch that is appreciated by all.

Corporations who remember their employee’s birthdays by sending a card also let their workers know they are more than a number. Everyone has a birthday to be celebrated and being remembered with a birthday card is a comforting feeling. I know when I receive one I display it on my desk for a while. Lots of times there are notes from my coworkers, wishing me well plus little remarks that brighten up my day.

Remembering people and letting them know they are thought of in a positive way will bring a smile to their face. It is a good tradition to send birthday cards, as it is usually better to send then to receive!

Have you ever sent thank you cards to contractors for a job well done?

I recently had work done on my house. It was not the most pleasant experience for a few reasons:

• My husband, Dan, and I were newbies to major home improvement jobs. We didn’t know what to expect and stumbled through the process a bit. (What, we need a permit???)
• The work we needed done was unexpected, necessary, and completely practical. (Not a “fun” cosmetic project such as a beautiful kitchen or bathroom renovation we could admire when finished.)
• We had just built up our savings to buy me a new car, and now that plan is on hold. (Booo-hooo!)

It all started in March. Mounds of melting snow coupled with days of heavy rain caused flooding in our basement. We couldn’t ignore the problem. We hired a reputable masonry company to waterproof the basement, which included rebuilding our crumbling entryway and installing French drains and a sump pump.

The work wouldn’t be done for a few months, so we at least had time to prepare and save money. April came, and so did my birthday. The cash my family stuffed inside of my birthday cards would go straight to the basement job. Happy birthday to me! And Dan’s birthday was in June, so the gift money inside his birthday cards would go towards the job as well.

When the project finally started, my nerves were shot. Could we afford to do this? Will the workers do a good job? Remind me again why I wanted to buy a house?!

Three days later, the job was done. Everything went smoothly and the work looked great.

I sent our contractor, Adam, a thank you card to express my appreciation. Throughout the entire process, Dan and I had pelted him with lots of questions. Adam was always so patient and put us at ease. Sending a greeting card wasn’t necessary, but I thought it would be a nice gesture since we were so pleased with the work. And hey, maybe the next time we hire them they’ll remember the gracious thank you card I sent and give us a discount!

When I first heard about the terrible earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 10, 2011 I had tears in my eyes thinking of the terrible devastation and the thousands of people who surely lost their lives.

Working in the greeting card business I am surrounded each day by Christmas Cards, Birthday Cards, Get Well, Thinking of You and many other types of cards. But what type of card would provide comfort to someone who is surrounded by such tragedy? As the news stories grew grimmer, greeting cards started to seem…well hardly a necessity. It honestly got me thinking about how I spend my time working at a greeting card company…do greeting cards really serve a purpose? A legitimate question I think when you consider how much of our lives, how much of our time is actually spent on and at work. Was I really spending my life’s work on something worthwhile?

So I thought further and realized that greeting cards were really all about connecting with other people. It differs from any other type of communication when you really think about it. You might be giving it to someone sitting as close as the cubicle next to you or sending it to someone thousands of miles away. Unlike an email, letter, text or phone call, a greeting card always has a cover with a design or photo or some decorative text on it. It can feature something funny, touching or beautiful.  It is designed to invoke some kind of reaction or emotion upon receiving it. The sentiment inside is often chosen with care and conveying a certain message or thought. Many of us who might struggle to find just the right words to say, can find a greeting cards that appropriately expresses our thoughts. Yet, what would I say to someone in Japan in a greeting card? How does getting a greeting card from someone in the States even matter under the circumstances?

I actually think it could matter a lot. It is a way to show emotional support even from a complete stranger half way across the world. With an opportunity to write your own personal message it can bring hope, love and prayers to someone who has suffered so much loss. It could be one of the only bright spots in someone’s day. It carries with it the potential to be the only reason someone has to smile that day…perhaps even for the first time in a long while. I don’t happen to think that is any small thing. It just might remind them that beyond the destruction there still exists a world, one that truly cares about the fate of these unfortunate people. It has the power to connect one human being to another.

I remember the many sympathy cards we received after my father’s untimely death. I read each and every one – some of them more than once. I was continually surprised and amazed how we heard from people who we had not been in touch with for years, yet who dearly remembered my beloved father. Some wrote a brief funny little story, others simply remembered him fondly and expressed their deep regret at our loss. During such a dark and difficult time in my life, those sympathy cards brought real comfort and did so in a way that I could handle. I had the luxury of reading them in private and on my own time table, when I was ready to do so.

I think it was then that I realized that a greeting card can say a lot to the recipient but it can also speak volumes about the thoughtfulness of the sender. And so now, many years later and after some serious reflection, I have decided that I am, indeed, doing something worthwhile with my time. In fact, right now I’m feeling pretty good about what I do, but much more importantly, what greeting cards can do to others when selected and sent with real thought.

So yes, I do believe greeting cards really can make a difference…even in troubled times.

Design #232AR - Gift Bag Wishes Birthday Card, is one of the Gallery Collection’s classic corporate birthday cards that would most certainly impress your clients or employees when they open the envelope to reveal this beautiful card that greets you with an assortment of birthday wishes.

This birthday card is furnished on a glossy white background with a gift bag in different shades of sea foam, yellow, gold, lime & fuchsia. The gift bag is covered in embossed stars and stripes, making for a very festive presentation. The bag has sea foam tissue paper folded perfectly and peeking out from the top. Above the tissue paper are an array of tiny stars and all sorts of happy birthday wishes bursting from the gift bag in gold foil.

Design #232AR - Gift Bag Wishes
Birthday Card

What a feeling of thoughtfulness your business clients, partners or employees would feel when they open up the envelope to reveal this elegant and also fun corporate birthday card.

Design #861AY, Party Hats Galore Birthday Card, shows a colorful array of party hats, which is no doubt a stunning way to honor someone on their special day. The embossed hats are highlighted on a midnight black card stock that shows off brilliant bursts of rainbow foil colors in purple, fuchsia, orange, bronze, lemon, and lime, and the unique feature about rainbow foil is that every hat color will appear slightly different on each card so it’s as though you’re getting multiple designs with your business birthday cards. Some of the hats are outlined in rich gold foil to add depth, but every party hat is embossed with its own unique gold foil textured trim directly on the hats.

Design #861AY – Party Hats Galore
Birthday Card

The birthday celebration continues with sprinkles of gold foil confetti, streamers, and stars floating around the hats, adding even more dimension to the front of this birthday card design giving it a fun and festive party theme. The entire design is framed out in a gold foil border and inside the border is where all the party hats and whimsical fun appears. Centered below the hats are the words “Happy Birthday” in gold foil script lettering. The special feature of this card that will make this design appealing as a business birthday card is the die cut window that appears just below the sentiment. This cut out on the card will display your business name in gold foil lettering in grand style, and when the card is opened, your company name is displayed on the black matte finish inside the card below the gold foil birthday greeting of your choice. This elegant business birthday card with its touch of whimsical fun will leave a lasting impression on all for years to come.

As the owner of a salon and spa, having as much personal contact as possible with my customers is vital. Throughout the year, we have promotions and raffles at the salon. Sometimes we choose to raffle off hair care products or even services. We have also started sending out Christmas cards. I believe that this is a great thing to do as far as promoting relationships with customers, but I also feel that because so many Christmas cards get sent ours may get lost in the “shuffle”. We were racking our brains trying to think of something else that we could do during the year where we actively reached out to the customer. We finally came up with the idea of sending birthday cards. In our minds, there wasn’t anything more personal to someone than their birthday and it is truly a special day.

We included a coupon for a free haircut in the personalized birthday cards that we sent. Our response was truly overwhelming – the customers felt so appreciated and were so surprised that we remembered their special day. Sending birthday cards truly boosted our business. Even though we give away a service (and that costs time and money), we’ve made up for it in so many other ways.

Sending personalized Christmas and birthday cards got us thinking that there were other types of cards we could send too. For instance, when we acquire a new customer we now send them a welcome card with a new customer discount for a haircutting service. We also send a thank you card whenever one of our customers refers a new customer to our salon. And you guessed it – they also receive a promotion of some sort!

With their envelope imprinting, personalization, and SealFast envelopes, the Gallery Collection has made it so easy for us to remember our customers in a special, elegant way.

Personalized greeting cards, such as birthday cards, get well cards, and sympathy cards, can be taken for granted. But I can tell you from first-hand experience how important these greeting cards can be.

Losing a loved one can be such a tremendously devastating time. Not that sympathy cards can make this tragedy any easier, but to know that people are thinking of you and your family and are taking the time out in their busy day to buy and send cards can make a sad day a little better.

Get well cards can also make big difference in how you feel and how quickly you recover. Not to long ago I was out of work for approximately four months. I have to tell you that there was not one day of those four months that I did not receive a card in the mail from my co-workers, family, or friends. It was the highlight of my day to walk to the mailbox and find a new card. Most of the time they were funny get well cards, and laughter is great medicine.
In this economy it is often hard to buy presents for all the people we would like. However birthday cards can be a great way of telling friends and family that you are thinking about them and wishing them well on their special day.

Moral of the story – don’t hesitate to send different kinds of personalized greetings cards to all the people who matter most to you.

Times are tough and it may be difficult to give the raises and bonuses to the dependable and hardworking employees whose productivity you need to stay afloat. Employee birthday cards, especially those of premium quality, send an important personal message to your valued employees. Even those who joke, “I’m not having any more birthdays!” appreciate having their birthdays remembered and acknowledged with birthday cards.

We tend to share a lot about our personal lives with co-workers with whom we spend so much of our time. Even so, in our professional atmosphere, we are more likely to “put on a happy face” rather than share some deeply personal worries and disappointments. The simple gesture of giving birthday cards may provide a needed emotional lift, even when you didn’t know it was needed.

When you send premium quality birthday cards, you’re making a statement about the high value you place on your relationship with your employee. A card that is proudly displayed says volumes over an easily deletable e-card or flimsy overstock item. And, don’t forget the importance of taking time to jot a salutation with the celebrant’s name, along with a short note and your own signature.

This gesture of respect for your employees will add to their respect for you and for the business that sustains you both. As a bonus, you’re more likely to find your own birthday remembered and celebrated with an impressive number of birthday cards!