by Janet Falk, Ph.D. | Falk Communications and Research

If you haven’t already sent your holiday greeting card, do not panic.

There’s still time to send an e-card and skip the printed card.

Address: You already have the recipient’s email address. Your contacts may be working from home or even a remote location, so you probably do not have their address for a printed card.

Share-ability: The person is not in their office and will not post the card on their door or credenza, where others might see it. An e-card is easily forwarded to other team members.

Budget: An e-card is basically free. Use an appropriate photo or image on one of the many websites where photographers and artists offer up their work for free. Write a heartfelt greeting acknowledging your valued relationship with everyone on your list. Consider commiserating that you’ve missed them and are eager to see them in person soon. Add a dash of personality, if you like. For example, I write a haiku, a 17-syllable poem.

Assemble the image and holiday text in an email newsletter, such as MailChimp or Constant Comment. Upload the list of email addresses, and you’re good to go. Total out-of-pocket cost: $0. Only your time, or that of your staff.

Wow. You’ve saved money, time and the environment by not using paper that has a shelf life of less than 30 days.

Living in a multicultural society, it’s best to refer to the holiday season without specifying the observance of a specific faith. Try not to assume that others celebrate the same holiday as you, whether Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa or Diwali. Popular images include candles, which brighten the darkest months of the year and are prominent in each holiday. Photos of winter scenes are also appropriate.

You are not required to send a holiday greeting card by the SEC, IRS or the ABA. If you did not send one, would anyone notice? Probably not.

At this dark time of year, create a moment of light and joy by sending a holiday e-card.

================================================================================================================

Janet Falk, Chief Strategist of Falk Communications and Research, has sent holiday e-cards since 2009. In 2017, her Holiday Haiku was cited by PR Daily as one of its top PR holiday greeting cards.