Kim T. Gordon has penned an interesting article for Entrepreneur.com regarding personalized marketing. I’d say we agree that in today’s world, personalized and authentic marketing really stands out and gets people’s attention. Small businesses have an opportunity that big corporations often don’t, and that’s the power of the personal message. Kim says it best,

As a small-business owner, you’re in the enviable position of interacting with customers you know on a first-name basis. You can more easily maintain a database with in-depth customer information than larger businesses. The key is to use this important data to ensure your communications strike a personal chord with customers.

Handwritten Results is ideally suited to help small-business owners achieve this personalization. And of her three suggestions, number three certainly hits home.

3. Put it in writing.
What better way to make your message stand out than to express it in a handwritten note? After all, with fast online and mobile communications the norm, a handwritten note emphasizes that you’ve taken the time and thought to communicate something in a special way.

Entrepreneurs nationwide swear by the effectiveness of personal, handwritten notes for making a strong, positive impression. …

If you’re in an industry where it’s critical to build one-on-one relationships with prospects, it’s a good idea to print fold-over notecards with your company logo to follow up with customers. Hand address the envelopes and apply real stamps–rather than run your cards through a postage meter–for a personal look that will get past screeners. If the first task of effective marketing is to get noticed and stand out from the clamor of competing advertisers, then handwritten notecards and other personalized messages will achieve the goal.

Once again, we’ve come across data to show that the little things like handwriting really do stand out in today’s world. This study by DayTimer® demonstrates that even in the job search a little extra special touch makes a difference. A related field where Handwritten Results can generate leads, develop relationships, and start a conversation is recruiting, both in-house and recruiting firms. Using Handwritten Results, recruiters can reach out and touch thousands of potential clients, or even candidates. We’re interested in helping recruiters, so if you’re a recruiter let us know if you have any comments or suggestions.

Some of the highlights:

In a survey conducted by DayTimer® over 70% of respondents to their poll on communication said sending a handwritten note was friendlier, “demonstrating special effort to communicate”. These results have direct impact on job search. As the hiring managers mentioned above confirmed, follow-up or thank you notes had a definite impact on the success of the job search process for those candidates who went the extra step. With all this data that supports use of follow-up or thank you notes following an interview, why aren’t more job seekers making use of this easy yet powerful step in their job searches?

It’s also interesting to see why people don’t use handwritten notes as much. This is where Handwritten Results can really help the professional marketer.

Potentially, the issue of writing of something by hand may be a hurdle. First of all, it takes time to sit down and write a handwritten thank you note. Few of us are practiced at this lost art and generally have no idea how to phrase what we want to say without sounding trite or corny. Secondly, those of us who do most of our communicating via a keyboard these days, our handwriting really stinks. The muscles in our hands that control the formation of letters are out of practice and the result of pen stroke on paper is fairly pitiful. How many of you think occasionally “Gosh, I used to have decent handwriting when I was in college…” We are out of practice both mentally and physically when it comes to writing with a pen.

And lastly, women respond particularly well to a handwritten note.

The same study by DayTimer® also noted that women appreciated handwritten communications more than men. 54% of women had positive feelings about receiving a handwritten letter. A good percentage of men also appreciated it – 42%. That’s an interesting viewpoint about something most of us ignore these days – courtesy communications.

For customers looking to generate a large number of personal leads, handwritten notes with a “little extra” are a good option. In addition to our custom handwritten pieces we often include a business card, small pamphlet or brochure about the company or cause. While we focus on the handwritten piece we can also help you accomplish your goal even if it involves a little printing as well.

For tips on creating new cards, check out this post.

I ran across some interesting research from AccountTemps. According to a recent survey, almost 9 out of 10 executives say a Thank-You note boosts the candidates chances of getting hired. Over 50% preferred a handwritten note.

I wonder what other areas in recruiting, job placement, and human resources that a handwritten note might help? If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

The Power of the Thank You Note

In fact, nearly nine out of 10 executives say a thank-you note following a job interview can boost a candidate’s chances, according to a survey of 150 executives from human resources, finance and marketing departments of large companies. (The survey by Accountemps, a staffing firm, has a margin of error of 6.2 percentage points.)

But only 49 percent of job candidates send thank-you notes, according to the executives polled in the survey.

Fifty-two percent of respondents said they prefer to receive a handwritten note compared with 44 percent who like e-mail.

Even if you don’t get that job or that client, Post says you’ll likely be remembered for your act.

On the other end, Post makes an interesting personal observation: People remember the one couple that did not send a thank-you note for the wedding present years after the fact.

“Everyone likes to be thanked,” she says. “In an e-mail, that’s good. Handwritten, it’s much better. It shows … that you’ve taken the time to sit down and give this person your thoughts.”

In the news today was another letter found by President Lincoln. Unlike email, voicemail, or even glossy direct mail, I’m always struck by the permanence and long term value of the simple handwritten note. Lincoln’s note was found tucked in with other documents just waiting to be discovered and shared again.

July 7, 1863, three days after the Battle of Gettysburg and the fall of Vicksburg, President Abraham Lincoln penned this note to his General-in-Chief Henry Halleck expressing his belief that if Gen. George Meade could follow up his recent victory in Pennsylvania by defeating Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s army the Civil War would be over.

This may be obvious for those of us who already use handwritten notes, but it’s nice to see others catching on. Brad Sugars at Entrepreneur Magazine talks about the general importance of loyalty to startup and small businesses and gives specific suggestions.

For that reason, startups must develop strategies for generating repeat business even before they hang out their shingle. The process begins with the business concept itself and continues with everything from how you answer the phone to how you keep your name in front of your customers. The mission is to cultivate loyal customers who not only keep coming back themselves, but who also spread the word to friends and family.

The three points that jumped out to me were:

4. Send handwritten thank-you notes. It’s old-fashioned, but it’s still a good way to show customers that you want their business. Even Nordstrom salespeople send an occasional note. Just be sure it’s personalized. “Dear Valued Customer” will defeat the purpose.

5. Call your customers. Sometimes just asking for repeat business does the trick. Consider the case of a chiropractor in Georgia whose appointment book was getting noticeably thinner. She hired a high school student to call clients she hadn’t seen for three months or more. The effort doubled her business at virtually no cost.

6. Send “it’s time” reminders. Dentists send cards; auto mechanics post stickers with odometer readings on your windshield to remind you of your next oil change. The same technique works in any business that offers regular or seasonal service. In one case, a barber shop that started sending self-addressed reminder postcards boosted business by decreasing the average time between haircuts from six weeks to four.

Number 4 is obvious. Number 6 less so, but still a powerful use of handwritten notes. And just like handwriting, an old-fashioned personal phone call still has its place.

One question we get is, “How can I add my own unique signature?” Unfortunately, we can’t clone your signature (yet) but you can still make it happen.

The best answer, and the way I do it, is to actually sign all the notes myself. When placing my order (yes, I order our own product!) I add “sincerely,” at the end of the message text. Then, I just quickly add my signature when they arrive. Be sure to leave your order “unsealed” so you can easily sign them before you drop them in the mail. And another tip; we use fountain pens for the best possible writing, so for signatures I use a disposable Pilot Fountain Pen to finish it off and match the ink quality.

We do all the heavy lifting and writing of the note body. It then takes just a second to add your personal signature and drop it in the mail. Nice, easy, and it adds that special something.

As everyone races toward email, blackberries, and 24/7 connections, handwritten mail only gets more valuable. Yesterday’s San Jose Mercury News had a quick article talking about just that.

E-mails may get the message across, but it doesn’t have the elegance or eloquence of handwritten correspondence.

“The pendulum is swinging back,” says Marion Gellatly, president of the Association of Image Consultants International and founder of the etiquette firm Powerful Presence. “We’ve gotten to be such a fast-paced society, and it’s all quick this and that. The whole idea of written thank-you notes has gone by the wayside.”

Resentment toward e-mail, coupled with a return to traditional etiquette, could propel this from a trend back to established practice, specifically for the younger generation.

“I think parents are starting to show children what’s proper,” says Jack Tanowitz, owner of JAX Invitations, Cards and Gifts at Santana Row. “And really, it starts from there.”

Handwritten notes are “absolutely coming back into style, especially with thank-you notes,” he adds.

Small businesses are always looking to stand out in the crowd and offer something a little different, a little better than the competition. And also get value for their marketing dollars. Well, John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing wrote a blog post as a guest blogger for HP talking about just those issues.

When you take the time to send a client or prospect a thoughtfully hand written note, not only do you get the benefit of this connection I describe about, you also:

* Stand out from the crowd (nobody does this anymore and that’s what makes it so powerful)
* Say, I care enough to take the time to do this
* Can’t help but write something that is personal in nature (computers stink at that)
* Make a connection with another form of communication (email, phone, web site, blog, note - you need them all)
* Have the ability to make the person who receives the note feel special (if you can’t figure out why that’s a good marketing thing, I can’t help you)
* Will begin to receive more referrals (your clients will tell people about your unique habit)

As I’ve said many times, if you’ve got the time to write personal handwritten notes, you should. Go do it. I couldn’t agree more. But, if you don’t have that time let us help. Don’t give up the power of handwritten mail just because you don’t have the time.

Don’t forget, effective May 14 postal rates are going up for first class letters.

The Board of Governors set Monday, May 14, as the effective date for new rates and fees for all classes of mail except Periodicals, which is delayed until July 15.

The new prices reflect changes in operations and the marketplace and will offer more choices and ensure that all types of mail cover their costs.