First Impressions

First impressions mean everything. Few of us get second chances. It is important to be on the top of your game all the time. You never know who you will meet and who that person knows. There are so many times I just want to "bum" around. There are times I do not want to put on makeup or do my hair.

I recall a couple of times doing that and I run into an ex boyfriend or a client at the store. Whoa, what an embarassing situation for me.

To make a good first impression when in public-

1. Make sure your handshake is firm- not too soft, not too hard. I can't stand women who shake my hand as if their arm will fall off if they move it. A solid handshake means that you are interested in them. I find that my handshake weakens because theirs is too soft and I may be considered too "manly".
2. Always have business cards on you. Enough said.
3. Smile in public. No matter how your day is going try to smile and don't get aggravated at the store clerk. Someone you know may be behind you.
4. Dress appropriately. You are what you eat. Well, in this case you are how you dress. Dress like a slob and someone may feel that you will handle their account with the same lack of neatness.
5. Always have gum or mints on you. Eating a burger loaded with onions really STINKS.
6. Of course, I have to add this. Send A Card to someone you know in a timely manner. Once you close a deal, or they refer someone or they placed a large order. They say late is better than never. But being timely is a very good first impression.

There are many other first impression tips, I would love to hear your feedback.

Remember sending cards will help re-connect with those you lost touch with, develop new relationships and maintain existing ones. Who do you know that does not like to receive a card?

Happy Card Sending,

Kerry and Debbie
Your Referral Specialists
Send A Free Card
Storefront
954-667-9762
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Holiday Card Checklist

The holiday season is here, and we've created a checklist of six important things for you to remember as you prepare your holiday cards and gifts. You'll also notice a slideshow presentation of our newest holiday gifts.

Schedule your cards and gifts to go out early with your SendOutCards system and don't forget that USPS strongly recommends sending all mail BEFORE December 15 in order for them to arrive in your recipients' mailboxes on time during this holiday season.

1. Update Your Contact Manager!

 Make your contacts list and check it twice, because to have everyone you know in your contact manager will be especially nice. It's also a great idea to import groups of contacts you have from other applications. Importing can be tricky at times, so we've included a tutorial to help you out:

• How to Import Contacts Into Your Contact Manager

2. Create the Perfect Holiday Card!

 Make your cards stand out this holiday season with our incredible greeting card system. You have two options when creating a custom holiday card with SendOutCards. These options provide a number of amazing editing features so you can use our newly added holiday borders, templates, clip art and more with your pictures to build customize cards.

Your first option is PicturePlus 2.0. Check out this tutorial to see how it works:

• PicturePlus 2.0 Tutorial

The second option is PicturePlus Basic. Click on this tutorial to find out more:

• PicturePlus Basic Tutorial

3. Edit Your Cards Earlier Than Normal!

The month of December is our busiest time of the year. So that we can make sure your cards are sent out on time, our production team will be printing cards at a much faster pace. This means that you DO NOT have until midnight to edit your cards like normal. Instead, we encourage you to edit your cards as soon as possible because your card can be sent to print as soon as you hit send.

4. Purchase Points & Add to Your Expense Account!

 Without points and expense for postage, your cards won't make it to the printers and into the mailboxes of your family and friends. Make sure you have enough for the holiday season beforehand so you can beat the holiday rush. We suggest adding at least 100 points and in postage to ensure this holiday season runs smoothly.

For help with purchasing points and adding to your expense, please see the following:

• How to Purchase Products (& Points) Tutorial

5. Send Your Holiday Cards Campaign-Style!

 If you haven't created a card campaign before, now is the perfect time to find out how it's done! Now that you've followed the steps above, you have the perfect card, plenty of points, and all your holiday contacts' information is loaded into your SendOutCards account. With a few clicks of the mouse your cards will be sent. This means no more stamp-licking, long lines, or lost hours spent assembling the cards. We do it all for you!

For help creating a holiday card campaign, use the links we've listed below:

• Creating and Sending a Campaign Tutorial
• Campaigns Overview

6. Make Sure Your Personalized Handwriting and Signature is Ready- this is too late to add now. So make sure you add it for 2011!

Holiday cards should always include a personal touch that will bring a smile to the face of any recipient, such as a friend, child, spouse, sibling, co-worker etc. We can help you by printing your personalized handwriting font and signature on each card! Your personalized handwriting font and four signatures come with the purchase of a Wholesale Premium Package and are also sold separately for to those who have purchased the Preferred Package or Retail Package Plus. Find this amazing feature on the Purchase Products page (item #2050). Once purchased, download the font form, use a color printer to print the form (the boxes must be red), fill it out, and mail it to the address in the instructions section of the form. You'll want to make sure your form will get to us by December 1 so you can have your font and signatures available in your account by *December 15.

IMPORTANT:

USPS has suggested that holiday cards be sent BEFORE December 15 in order for them to arrive in your recipients' mailboxes by December 25.

Due to the high volume of traffic on the SendOutCards website during the holiday season, you may experience slight delays in the speed of the website.

Happy Card Sending,
and
Your Referral Specialists
Send A Free Card and Biz Opp www.unitedwesendcards.net
Storefront- www.unitedwesendcards.com
954-667-9762

You Have to Find Time to Send Cards

I had a talk with one of my SendOutCards customers. She is a friend so I asked permission to be blunt. I attended a show she was doing for a friend of mine and never got a phone call or card to say thank you for my purchase. So I asked her "What was up with that?"

She reminded me that with working 9-5 and parties at night and the family she hasn't had time, yet she understands the importance of doing that. Now, I admitted to her that yes, I forgot that feeling of working and trying to build another business on the side since I have worked at home for so long. So I said "let's mastermind then". If you do not have time to call and follow up, let's program your SendOutCards system to send your thank you cards out automatically."

"What?", she said. "Automatically?"

"Yes! Load your contacts (guests who purchased after a show) and select the card campaign you created earlier and hit send! There is no need to create 30 cards for 10 guests at 3 shows over and over again. One card to multiple recipients and yes personalized each with their name in it!", I said.

The set up is what is the most time consuming. But once it is completed, you are ready to send a card to one person or multiple people at once. It is important to remain organized as you are loading your contacts into the database. One can do this by Creating A Group- Hostesses, Guests, Friends, Prospects, Downline, Family, etc. Once the group is added, then adding a contact to a group or multiple groups is very simple.

It is important to follow up. If you are not sending thank you cards to your customers and hostesses, you will not succeed. Period. Direct sales is a relationship industry and not following up to see how your customers like the product is silly. You are missing out on opportunities. They will remember you and think of you when they need your product. Think of what you are missing when not sending cards:

1. Missing out on future sales
2. Missing out on a future show
3. Missing out on a potential distributor
4. Missing out on a referral
5. Missing out on Building Your Business

Think of the money that it takes to get a new customer. If by sending a .98 cent card created multiple referrals then who is working for you- your customers and the cards!

Show appreciation whenever you can.

Happy Card Sending,
and Your Referral Specialists
Send A Free Card and Biz Opp http://www.unitedwesendcards.net/
Storefront- http://www.unitedwesendcards.com/

That's ok, I don't want your referral.

The person who needs to read this is the one who wonders why they don't receive referrals from clients and/or other business professionals. The other type of person who reads this, like myself and my partner, will probably laugh in agreement.

How many times have you found someone at a networking event you thought about referring too? It is a great experience. They are a person who will fit in your circle of contacts, help each other with referrals, a nice compliment to the services and/ or products you have. Whatever the reason, you hit it off (or so you thought) and poof they don't FOLLOW UP!

You know that there lies interest. It is obvious from the other party. You make that phone call which is basic in nature. "Hello, how are you? I would like to know about you and your business? Give me a call."

You don't hear back, so the next day you send an email and wait...still no response. You think- are they on vacation? Are they hurt? Now, this is not just a one way street you truly want to know about them and their business, so you can refer your clients to them. There isn't an automated e-mail response saying they are out of town, nor a message on their voicemail. So, do they want the business or not? You even think to yourself- do they even know how to network and follow up?

I ask myself, does this person really want my referral? How can I be an effective referral generator to someone who does not return my call or email in a timely manner. If this is how you treat me, then how will you treat my client?

One needs to think about how they may be perceived if not returning communications in a timely manner. Communication is very important.

We are living in a society where people want instant gratification. If you don't call them back in an hour (maybe for some people it is even less) they WILL call someone else. Just Google a business and thousands come up. Everyone is not only in competition with the store down the street, but the ones all over the country.

My best advice is to offer you this. Reflect on how quickly you return a call, answer an email and evaluate the way you communicate to your customers and networking friends. If you are not available at this time then let them know you will contact them as soon as you return.

Ask yourself this- do you ignore a phone call on your cell because you don't know the number? Instead TELL yourself this, "If I DO answer this call, then I may gain a new customer. Because if I don't they more than likely will call my competition." I am not saying to be up at all hours of the night and being interrupted during family dinners. I am just saying to communicate more effectively and you may have more business than you know what to do with.

Debbie

Retail Store:  http://www.unitedwesendcards.com/
Send A Free Card and Biz Op:  http://www.unitedwesendcards.net/

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