The Wow Factor Once they touch your letter, you have just increased the likelihood that your target is going to read your letter. Now how it looks on the inside, the design, color, etc. all come into play. You have their attention. Increase your chances of getting your letter past a “gatekeeper” by adding a little wow to your message. And wow does not have to be ground-breaking. Wow can be as simple as honing a meaningful message that is short, to the point and relevant to your audience — with no grammar and spelling mistakes. When you send a physical letter, the receiver knows that somebody had to spend money to buy the paper, create the piece, mail it, etc. Remember the saying about getting what you pay for? Free equals not much value, which is the value many people ascribe to electronic mail. Paper mail has trustworthiness because it costs money to create it. It almost always is identified with a physical return address, in the least, a postmark with the city of origin. There is an inherent lack of trust of email because its point of origin cannot be verified. Email can be sent in an instant...Read More

Perhaps you are applying for a new job, or thanking a long-time associate for a recent business lunch. Which delivery method will help you stand out more: paper or electronic? Recent data indicates that, across all media, Americans are exposed to some 3,000 messages per day, or more than 1 million per year. Probably the actual number is now far higher than that. No email can duplicate the impact that a well-written letter or personalized stationery can generate in someone’s mailbox. There are three factors that make your handwritten card or letter stand out above electronic mail: (see Wed. for the third factor) The Spam Factor Can you really rely on the internet for guaranteed communications that will be read? There are several reasons that your email may not be seen, or seen but not read. The first reason is it may get caught in the wide net of junk filters. Some companies block emails from unknown domains altogether. Many legitimate emails disappear this way. But even if your email does arrive at its correct destination (which we know, most of them do), your recipient may not take the time to really read it. Overfull in-boxes plague most of today’s computer users....Read More

Making Amends / Asking Forgiveness Writing can be a critical step in an individual’s recovery from physical illness, mental trauma or substance abuse. The first aspect of therapeutic writing is having the individual identify and articulate their own feelings: fear, anger, disappointment, anxiety, despair, confusion, and frustration are all common and valid feelings a person experiences. Writing about all these feelings can assist someone in healing and committing to the necessary treatment plan or steps on the road to recovery. The second aspect of therapeutic writing is related to conflict resolution and strengthening past, current and future relationships. A commonly used technique in recovery from alcohol or substance abuse is to have the individual ask forgiveness or make amends for wrongs they have done in the past. Writing is a useful vehicle in tackling this challenge. Sometimes a person has been shut out because they have hurt someone badly. They may be able to communicate via a letter, or in some cases, the receiver does not accept the letter, but the individual has at least gone through the process of taking responsibility for their actions and asking for forgiveness on paper. The psychological benefits build from there as the person...Read More

Exercise your mind as you would exercise your body. The act of writing is to your brain like walking on the treadmill is to your body. The more regularly you do it, the more benefits you receive. Schedule time for exercise every day, or every other day as time allows and your body will begin to work better, feel better, and look better. The same is true for scheduled writing time. Done regularly, writing produces multiple psychological benefits such as improved decision making, strengthened relationships, and reduced stress in your daily life. Decision Making (pros and cons) One of the first benefits to putting your thoughts on paper is discovering clarity. Seeing the words in writing makes them real and solvable. This technique is particularly useful when it comes to making a tough decision. How many times have you heard the advice to fold a piece of paper in half vertically and write all the pros of the decision on one side and all the cons on the other? We know this advice but rarely do people follow it. The act of writing helps you to weigh risks and benefits of decisions, and hopefully leads to making better ones. Even if...Read More

It’s never too early to be thinking of spring and all the things that come with that time of year. The hectic holiday season has come to a close and the air, while still crisp, holds promise of warmer weather. The season is that of new beginnings in a sense of the flowers and trees finally starting to bud. It is also the start of a likely hectic social calendar, from bridal and baby showers, to graduations and more. You will certainly want to make sure that you have plenty of correspondence on hand. For the lady’s social events (i.e. showers) we suggest purchasing our new pretty peonies note. This beautiful note card has a lovely bouquet of peonies displayed inside a wide border. Below the design features your name in a lovely script style. You then open up the note to reveal a large blank area, with plenty of room to write your congratulations or other personal message. With 20 in a box for just $32.00 this makes a great gift as well. All of your hosts will be asking where you got that lovely stationery from anyhow.