Season's Greetings from [Your Name(s)], [Your Company Name].

'Have a cracking Christmas from...' - and here's a deliberate pause for maximum comic effect - your chiropractor.

Yes, that really was a Christmas card we got last year from some back pain people.

We've got bit of a soft spot for crap corporate cards at We All Need Words. Every year we make a little shrine - hammed up with tinsel and twinkly lights - for the cards with the least-personal personalised greetings. We've had cards (and sometimes calendars) from our accountant, hairdressers and our local takeaway. It makes us feel really popular. Once we got one from a rail company we'd travelled with quite a lot.

You get the message (in our corporate typeface). Personalised printed greetings are anything but. But what about writing cards, you know, to real friends and family?

Well there's always the just sign it Love from xxxxx option. But that's only one better than a personalised printed greeting, just without the logo. And then there's the round robin family cards: Rosie's about to go to school, everyone's fine. Again, a bit impersonal.

So what's the alternative? Well, we'll let you in on a writer's secret. We don't find it easy either. Even the most talented writers struggle to write messages in greeting cards that don't feel throwaway or have the hallmark signs of Hallmark.

The main thing you can take from the crap corporate ones is that there isn't a one-size-fits-all option. So this year, when you're facing your stack of cards, think of at least one thing to say to each person. Just one. It doesn't have to be a big thing. It doesn't matter what it is as long as you write it especially for them.

Here, as Blue Peter said as they unveiled their annual Christmas advent crown, is one we wrote earlier:

Dear School of Life,

We always come away from your classes with much more than we bargained for. Knowledge, for sure. More enlightened than we were when we came in, yes. And oo!, look at that book, that card, that poster... a helluva lot of School of Life booty from your shop.

Thank you. See you for our next class in the new year.
Love

We All Need Words

We All Need Words on crap corporate Christmas cards. And how to make yours less impersonal.  They will be running a one-day workshop at The School of Life on Saturday 22 January 2011.  For more details, click here.

Comments

[Darcy Grubaugh]

Even the accountants do that? I guess they absolutely loved the season… Giving away cards is like boosting work and self-motivation too! In business, it's a way of showing appreciation and acknowledgement. What card did you receive last year?

[Kookiedoo]

Awesome linkbait spam comment above :D
Good point about writing Christmas cards. I guess the point is, if you don't have something personal and interesting to say to the recipient, should you really be sending them a card at all? I think this applies to both individuals and businesses!