I know what you’re thinking. “Shut up, Marc. It’s the first week of October! Can we at least get through Halloween first? Or thanksgiving?”
That’s fine. Hurl your frustrations. I can take them.
Meanwhile, I was in a K-Mart in Niagara Falls, NY this weekend. Their entire Christmas display, trees and all, was already set up!
Start Now
The reason I mention Christmas cards this early in October is because now is the time to start, if you’re creating you own for your business.
Whether you send a card to your clients just to wish them a happy holiday, or send a marketing piece of some form or fashion, waiting much longer to get the ball rolling could be the difference between the pieces arriving in time for Christmas or after the holidays are over.
Timeline For Success
Think about it. If you create your piece now, how long will it take to get it produced? Will your printer need a week? Two weeks? The service I use is a lot cheaper if I take a two week delivery date.
If you don’t design the piece yourself, you’ll also need to factor in time for the actual design. What does that add to your timeline? Another week? Maybe two?
My Christmas card, which I self designed, will go to the printer early this week. That means I should have my finished product sometime close to the end of October.
I’ve got close to 200 of these Christmas cards which I will hand write a note on. That right there is another big time commitment. Especially if you write as slow as I do!! By the time my cards are ready to go into the mail, it’s going to be well into November.
Add another week or two weeks for mail delivery, depending on where the card is heading to, and my clients should have their cards early in December.
Perfect timing!
It’s Not Too Early
I know a lot of you don’t want to think about Christmas yet, and that’s fair. It does seem like it comes earlier and earlier every year. Just remember, I’m not asking you to put your tree up. You don’t even have to start buying gifts yet.
This is just a friendly reminder that if you’re creating custom pieces for direct mail delivery, it’s definitely not too early to get started on the process. In fact, if you wait too much longer, it could end up being too late!
QUESTION: Do you send Christmas cards to your voice over clients?
