remember me?

Here we are; t-minus 31 days and counting till the New Year. Lately I have heard too many stories about what 2009 is going to bring. Everyone keeps saying how next year things will be different, how we’re expected to turn this thing around like nothing has happened.

Well folks, I’m here to tell you that in one short month if you are still in business now you may not make it until the ball drops. In the next fours weeks you could find your loyal customers lost forever. Like you, each of them is witnessing countless businesses closing up. Major chains going out of business and huge companies letting thousands of employees go.

I have a simple solution that is proven time and time again to work no matter what line of work you are in. The effort and commitment have to be yours though. Try to think of what sending out resumes is like, or trying to explain your situation at the unemployment office or worse…okay, I won’t go there.

Dan's 3 step approach:

1. Reach out a single customer each day letting them know you’re alive and still in business. Make a call, a quick email or my favorite, send a greeting card.

2. Next, find a past customer and touch them in the same way.

3. For each holiday card you get in the mail either at home or at work take the time and immediately respond in the same fashion. Remember, you may not sell to family members but they sure sell you.

Does all this seem like a lot of work? It is, at first. I said it was simple not easy. I guarantee that with this effort you will have reached out to almost 100 people who will remember you come January 1^st.

As for me, I am alive and still doing business. Feel free to respond to me today as your first day kicks off to making it great in 2008.

don't make me get my flying monkeys

Is this what the world is coming to these days? I see news reports about banks that are closing. how the price of houses have gone in a double digit decline. We knew the mortgage industry was going to be bad but never this crazy. And can someone let me know about the tidbits of information I am getting today about Hillary replacing Biden due to his health. Then I hear that Bill was on TV seen chumming up with McCain looking to have his wife take Palin's spot. WOW, my head is spinning.


So now our country is finally figuring out that we can't live beyond our means. What does that mean? What really are means? Why does everyone seem so mean? Know what I mean?


Meanwhile (sorry) I sit here trying to sell greeting cards to help spread goodwill and cheer, thinking I am offering a much needed service or is it a false sense of hope?


To find out, I took matters into my own hands and started mailing cards to random friends, family and business acquaintances. I even used them instead of those window envelopes to pay monthly bills. Can you imagine what happened?


(pause to imagine)


Almost everyone (except utilities and the IRS) had something to say about how it made them feel when the card arrived. Sure they're in the same boat as everyone in this country. But it felt just a little bit better knowing that I took the time and effort trying to make them smile and forget about their worries.


(pause for sniffle)


Who can predict what the days ahead have to offer us. What I can predict though, is how you can help make others feel this special. I guarantee you it will change your outlook on life. Take a peek at some of the great cards we offer at www.izongreetings.com Get out there and spread some cheer one card at a time.


(pause to shop)


My plan B is to have the bushes below my window padded in the event I have to jump like they did during the Great Depression. (what was so great about it anyhow?) Oh, and I have a line of doomsday cards in the works to cover myself should my idea of spreading joy turn sour.


Hope is around the corner. In just a few months we could have Sarah and Hillary in the White House. Martha can do her shows from the main kitchen, the cast of the View can bring their couch and Oprah can be Queen. Hannah Montana will sing the national anthem.


(pause for flying pigs/monkeys)


This has been just a bit too much for me today (I need a nap). I can't imagine how you must feel, thanks for staying with me. Bottom line, we all have enough love to see us through this. Share the love, send greeting cards.

falling for greeting cards . . .

Here it is - the official first day of fall. One of the seasons that many people either love or hate; both generally based off of changing weather conditions. Personally for myself, after years of dreading fall have grown to embrace what it represents. A time of year to accept the elements of my business and life that are now about to show their true colors before fading and falling aside, leaving open possibilities of what a new year can offer.

Each day of the season I look at all the great things I have accomplished this year as they fall to the ground and wait to be raked up or if the mood strikes me; made into a pile suitable for jumping in. Embracing the season, reflecting on the past and preparing for the challenge of what the future holds.

Enjoy your family with the many holidays ahead and never forget it’s your roots not the leaves of your life that make you who you are each day. Leaf yourself (sorry couldn’t resist) open to bare branches and welcome the buds of what will become yet another chapter in your life.

For those that do not have the wonderful colors of fall that bless us here in New England, please email me your name and address and I will gladly send you a little slice of what you’re missing.