Holiday Greeting Cards - Not Completely Lost Yet!

Hard to believe, but its almost the Christmas season again, and time to send out holiday greeting cards. For many, Christmas cards bring back fond memories, dozens arriving in the mail, and sometimes from friends and family who lived afar. Clearly, the times and traditions have changed, and Christmas cards have become few and far between as the years advance. Worse still, that personal touch, along with the personal handwriting, is practically gone. And for some, it has all become quite “un-holiday-ish”.

Even with those on-line card companies, it’s much simpler to design and print and mail, but there’s not much human touch. For those who are still interested, there are printing companies out there that can print personalized holiday cards that remain intimate and impactful. With or without a family photo, printed holiday cards can quickly put a smile on the recipient. Instead of looking like a sleek marketing postcard for the family, it’s a personal and heartfelt holiday greeting. No - it’s no completely lost!

The truth is, everyone is overly busy, and a Christmas card project (or Chanukah or Kwanzaa) is just another demand on limited time. To avoid guilt, the online option for ordering, printing and sending makes some sense. But it lacks empathy – the whole idea of a holiday card is to make the recipient feel good. It supports the notion that its better to give than to receive. There truly is nothing that compares with the boundless smile from someone who has received, and read, a personalized holiday card.

Today’s technology has turned things somewhat upside-down. It seems that for many, emails and texts and messaging dominates over the old-fashioned holiday greeting card. At the same time, technology can be advantageous – it means that holiday cards can be custom printed, with family photos, and even some space to handwrite a message. A good local printer can even offer graphic templates and higher end paper stock for those who prefer. Best of all, today, custom printing can be in small quantities.

It’s true that the gold old days of sending holiday cards are virtually gone. And those online E-Cards are barely an alternative. There’s just nothing that can compare with a personalized card. And those good feelings apply equally to the recipient and the sender. There’s just something special about opening the mailbox and getting a real greeting card, and not another marketing piece selling some such thing.  It’s a thrill, and at least for the present time, it physically goes up on the mantel or the bulletin board.

If this is the year to get going with holiday greeting cards, then meeting with a printer, or even talking over the phone, can move things forward quickly, with plenty of time to design and print. The best is to connect with a printing company that can be attentive to customer need, while delivering high quality. Yes – custom printing of holiday cards is more costly than run-of-the-mill cards (or online ordering), but the finished results are well worth the effort and outlay.