TIPS •New Clients • Image Selection • Message • Type Design • Mailing INFO • Card Specs • Order Requirements • Shipping Information • About Us

NEW CLIENTS Before assembling this site, we talked to many B2B and B2consumer card-sending consultants about their market and their techniques. What we found is that these markets and techniques are wonderfully varied. Perhaps this brief compilation will give you some ideas on expanding your own business. And, if you’ve developed a particular market sector or another reason for business card-sending, let us know and we’ll feature it here. Read "Getting a Foot in the Corporate Door, or how I learned to love 'reception'" REAL ESTATE The standard seems to be realtors sending closing and home-buying anniversary cards, but some folks have developed additional ideas. When a realtor sells a house, for example, the neighbors might be ripe for harvesting! Likewise, some have found sources for prospective incoming home-buyers like cooperating corporations and mortgage companies that pre-approve home loans. FINANCIAL SERVICES AND INSURANCE As in the above example, some people only target home-mortgage companies, but others dig into the accounting, bookkeeping, investment, credit counseling areas, using a variety of sources to develop a mailing list. These include State Secretary of State records, newspaper articles and notices (engagement , wedding, birth, promotion,) Chamber of Commerce members, social / civic organization members, public / private school graduation and honor role lists, and a variety of other very creative sources. DIET / SPA / EXERCISE A huge growing market, according to our customers! Have you tapped into it? Potential customers come from lost-customer lists, cross-referencing with other personal service businesses, organizational lists like the YMCA, and anything you can dream up. Try assembling 25 names for a potential client any which way you can, and do a free mailing which will cost you under $25. If they don’t get results, you’re barking up the wrong tree! If they do, you’ve just netted a new client! RETAIL / PERSONAL SERVICES  Some card-senders never even consider business-to-consumer communication because it seems the client would have too vast a customer base. Others, however, have found very clever ways for their clients to develop meaningful lists for mailings - past customers who have left, customers who sign up for birthday discounts, people belonging to a preselected list (i.e., country club members,) customers who have made a durable purchase in the past (auto, electronics, furniture,) members of special interest groups (hobby clubs, sports organizations). This sounds like a fun and challenging market! APPRECIATION Some card-senders only want to deal with clients who do regular mass-mailings, but others seek out any opportunity. While these clients who send individual cards on individual occasions may grow into more profitable clients, they apparently operate as walking advertisements. Employers and team leaders want to maximize their investment in their employees and coworkers. You can show them an excellent way to do that! PROSPECTING It was interesting to us that some people had tapped into this rather lucrative area of B2B marketing while others hadn’t considered it at all. It certainly is an inexpensive way for the individual consultant to develop leads, but it seems also to be an “easy sell” to corporate sales reps. Umm, sell the sales manager and he does the rest, while headquarters foots the bill. Sweet! APPOINTMENT When your client has exhausted all other avenues to get in the door, dazzle ‘em with something unexpected! This client will remember you when he has other projects, like “thank yous”, “referrals”, and “loyalty” cards to send. Plus, it may be his last ditch effort to get inside. What’s the gamble? LOYALTY So your client hasn’t heard from this guy in awhile, or she just renewed his contract, or sent her an especially nice order. Some think a call or an email will suffice, but apparently a hand-signed card registers high on the appreciation scale. SORRY If your client has all the usual systems in place, correcting an error might be child’s play, but does your client realize that a personalized response from HIM might keep that customer? The investment in keeping a current client is a mere fraction of the cost of developing a new one. THANK YOU What’s better than encouraging your client to go that extra distance? We've been told that this form of business communication has resulted in the most repeat business AND the most referrals. All this, just by opening a personal snail-mail communication! ‘Nuff said! REFERRAL Well, apparently people love to be asked for help! Have your clients reached out to those who’ve already benefited from their services? One card-sender that we spoke to has a client who has abandoned all marketing activities except for a twice a year card and follow-up call campaign. PERSONAL OCCASIONS Initially we didn’t include this section until we learned it was the core of some card-senders businesses. What was emphasized regarding this sector of card sending was that this is not the place of a sales pitch. Keep it a personal expression and the recipient will retain a good impression. Watch this section for future expansion!

Image Selection Our collection offers everything from suits to nuts! The right photo for your client will greatly depend on the message she wishes to convey and on her comfort level with the absurd. It’s our opinion, and common knowledge within the advertising community, that the more unlikely the image, the greater the likelihood the card will be open and read. Why, for example, would a corporate CEO be getting a card featuring a white french poodle? What does a screaming baby have to do with selecting a new ad agency? Simple: They’re unexpected. Use the element of surprise for memorable communication.

The Message Our suggested texts are designed to give the reader everything from a quiet smile to a hearty belly laugh. You complete what we start! You’ve grabbed the readers attention, now drive home your point briefly, the final key to getting your message read. Sure, you have a lot to say but find the one issue you think will resonate with your customer and save the rest for follow-up.

Type Design The way in which your message appears is as important as the message you select. A provocative image gets the card opened, a provocative punch line gets you noticed. However, If your business message dominates the punch line, you’ve lost the humor “hook”. You’ve probably watched a person read a card, close it to re-examine the cover, and then reread in an attempt to understand it. This is precisely what happens when the business message is read FIRST. Likewise, If the logo, address, or other standard information dominates the inside, the recipients attention may be lost. When speaking, you add nuances that just aren’t evident in a written expression. You may think the recipient will “get” the humor or cleverness of the message, but why not guarantee it by observing some basics of text design: Your choice of typeface should match the tone and timbre of the message. If the punch line is dialog, use a plain script, a “hand-printed” font. or quotation marks. If it’s a child’s voice or topic use a playful font, and, likewise, if it’s authorization or formal, use something more classic or elaborate. Our Resources page has many examples. Use a different font for the business message if it’s not a continuation of the punch line. Add selective emphasis using boldface, italic, gray-toned, underlined, capitalized words or even a change in font. Punctuation can dramatically alter the meaning of a sentence, as well as provide a necessary pause. Spacing, as noted above, is key to getting a card read the right way right away. And sometimes empty space speaks volumes.

Mailing When we went into the card business five years ago, we learned that people LOVE brightly colored envelopes to such an extent that consumers will swap out a white envelope for a colored one at the card rack. Moreover, direct mail experts have known for years that colorful envelopes get opened first. Check out your own response to a bright blue envelope with a real stamp mixed amongst your bills and junk mail. I believe your pulse rate might even pick up. You can buy these brilliant envelopes right here for only $ .07 apiece or go to leaderpaper.com and pay almost 50% more! But do go there to check out their “crushed leaf” envelopes - very special! Also attention-getting are vellum (translucent) envelopes that come in brilliant colors as well as frosted and give a glimpse of what’s inside. They’re not cheap, however, but the best prices we’ve found are at envelopemall.com. While there, check out some of the other fun envelopes they sell for wowing your clients even more. Another idea is to use a 5” x 7” photo mailer. While not colorful, it will stand out in a pile of mail and advertises that something of interest is inside! If you deliver these to the post office they will definitely be hand cancelled, according to our local postmaster! If they're short-handed, you may have to do it yourself.  You might invest in a “HAND CANCEL” stamp and stamp BOTH sides of the envelope. This is essential for card-senders using ink jet printers that “offset” on the blank half of the card interior when passing through the cancellation machine, but it also adds a sense of importance to the mailing piece. There is no quarantee a regular envelope will be hand cancelled so take it to the post office personally. A “PHOTO DO NOT BEND” or “CONFIDENTIAL” stamp or label is another eye-catching teaser. Self-inking stamps are available from the US Postal Service and labels from officedepot.com. Office Depot also has the best price we found on Avery Starburst labels, another way to dress up the outside of that envelope with another message! Stamps also add a look of importance and individuality to a card mailing. Unfortunately, with the recent increase in postal rates there are not as many attractive stamps (that don’t require a second stamp) available. Recommended are the Lunar New Year and Crops of the Americas, both available at usps.com. (NOTE: Not all stamp designs are available in local post offices. Best to shop online. If your client would like to express support for a social cause, for an additional $ .06, stamps are available that contribute to curing breast cancer and stemming family violence. And for those very special mailings to very special clients, how about custom stamps! We are a dealer for PhotoStamps and can turn ANY photo into perfectly legal postage. We can even make the stamp match any of our own cards, providing the image can be cropped square! Go to Envelopes + Postage page for further details. If you’d still like to further personalize your mailings with photo stickers, although not postage stamps, consider printing an image or message on self-adhesive photo stickers available online at Epson.

OUR CARD SPECS Cards are printed on extra high quality stock such as 120# 2-ply Tango, 120# Lustro Dullcoat. Recently we began using a lighter stock but one which is supposed to be better. for laser printing on the uncoated side. All printing is done in Canada or the USA. Photography is © Palmer / Kane Inc. and is the work of Gabe Palmer, a principal in The Remarkable Card Company and Postcards from the Moon, both divisions of Palmer/ Kane Inc. Text is also ©Palmer / Kane Inc. and is the work of Pat Kane, the other principal. Cards are shipped scored and folded.

ORDER REQUIREMENTS Cards are $3 per 1/2 dozen. Astro Bright envelopes are $ .85 per dozen. There is a $10 handling charge for all orders under $125. Card count must be in multiples of six. - e.g., 42, 90, 240. Place orders via website, via fax to 203 256-0732, via email to orders@remarkablecard.com, or via snail mail to Palmer/Kane Inc., 29A Sturges Commons, Westport, CT 06880. Please email us the expression, if any, that you are using identified by the 4-digit code that precedes it. For example 102A, 004C, or 075E. This helps us know where to invest our future efforts.  Orders must be prepaid via credit card or PayPal (to: gabe@palmerkane.com). Please plan carefully! We can be completely wiped out of a single title with one fax! Since we print here in the USA, we have to gang together our printing for the sake of economy. We recommend you order all the cards for a single multi-card promotion all at once.

SHIPPING INFORMATION Orders are sent UPS ground unless otherwise requested. Most orders are shipped from our warehouse in Seattle. Orders are usually shipped on the Wednesday following receipt. Orders requiring shipping on other days may be subject to a $25 rush charge. Please contact us at 800-872-1410 for foreign shipments.

ABOUT US Palmer / Kane Inc. is a commercial photo studio opened in 1975 in southwestern Connecticut. Located within an easy drive of nearly 100 major corporations, the studio specialized in annual report photography and earned dozen of impressive industry awards in the process. BY the early ‘90’s the shift to “stock” photography was made. Postcards from the Moon was begun in 2001 as a line of art postcards and blank greetings. Following 9-11 the studio produced and commercially printed a small line of patriotic greetings called Salute-ations, one of which won a “Louie”, the GCA (Greeting Card Association) Card of the Year during the 2002 National Stationery Show. At that same show Bare Bones Blanks and a line of greeted humorous cards FunnyBones were introduced. At the following year’s National Stationery Show, one of our Bare Bones was recognized as one of the best blank cards of the year. After 5 years in Seattle, owners Gabe Palmer and Pat Kane recently relocated back to Connecticut, although their warehousing operation remains in Seattle.

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