Creative Use of Anniversary Cards

Fifty or a hundred years ago, a person might have conducted business in a "small town" friendly manner, visiting in person and maintaining a personal acquaintance with vendors and customers. The merchant downtown was your neighbor and friend, as well as your client or vendor. When you walked in the door, everyone already knew your name. With that sense of community came a sense of loyalty to one another. Our modern, global business world has many advantages but is often missing the friendly, old-fashioned touches that brought about a sense of well-being and loyalty.

When you're searching for new ways to keep your name in front of business associates, consider greeting cards because they have great advantages over advertisements, e-mails, and phone calls. They are more subtle and dignified than ads, more tangible and polished than e-mails, more convenient and less intrusive than phone calls. Using greeting cards in a creative manner can really capture the friendly attention of the receiver.

A business anniversary card, for instance, can say a lot of different things on your behalf. It may note the "Birthday" of a relationship, may be a remembrance of "Welcome," may be a measure of a "Get Well" recovery, a "Thank You" for marking a business milestone, a renewed celebration of "Congratulations," and a way to salvage a waning association simply by saying "Thinking of You."

If you choose a tasteful design, one that reflects your personality or your company's style, and a general "Happy Anniversary" greeting, you can handwrite a note on the anniversary card that will make your mailing special and memorable. For instance:

• Celebrating the happy day we became acquainted! Thanks for your business!
• Happy Anniversary in your "new" location!
• Remembering your spectacular performance in last year's golf tournament!
• Congratulations on a year with no broken bones; guess you didn't ski this year!
• Remembering the day of our first delivery to you! Thanks for your loyalty!
• Thinking of you on the anniversary of our business association. Looking forward to hearing from you again soon!

A little bit of creative friendliness using cards for a business anniversary can go a long way in cementing long-standing and profitable business relationships. And think of all the ways that friendship is also good for your health and personal well-being!