The Biggest Mistake Made by Holiday Card Shoppers
You want to get a head start on your holiday cards so you head to the big retailers—Minted, Paper Source, TinyPrints, etc.—and start browsing designs.
Shopping without a plan is the single biggest mistake you can make.
Why? It’s the perfect way to get decision fatigue and design overwhelm.
There are folded cards, flat cards, and postcards. You could pick a photo card, non-photo card, or a combination of the two. You could send everything from a micro card to an oversized card. You could take advantage of digital address printing or maybe you want to do your own hand addressing. Plus, there are a bunch of paper types—glossy versus pearlescent, matte versus smooth, double and triple thick paper, and even recycled! And why is recycled always more, anyway?
Unless you have a plan, browsing card designs won’t get you closer to mailing holiday cards.
Think of it like grocery shopping. When you shop hungry, who knows what will end up in the cart! And without a shopping list, you end up wandering the aisles. Holiday cards are the same. You need a plan.
Here are three things to do before you start browsing designs:
Update Your Digital Address Book
The most time consuming part of holiday cards is your recipient list, specifically, updating addresses. I help my clients keep their address list updated throughout the year. If your digital address book has some blank rows or if it’s non existent, send out texts, emails, and DMs to collect addresses before you do anything else. Tip: this is the very first step in my 3-Week Holiday Card Bootcamp (a free download!).
Count Your List
Even if you don’t have everyone’s addresses yet, make a list of everyone you want to send cards to. Now count it. How many households are on the list? You need to know how many cards you’re buying. This number affects price so it’ll help you make decisions about card type, size, and paper.
Pick Your Card Type
Do you want to send a photo card? Do you have photos you can use? Do you prefer to send a holiday scene—like a palm tree with lights, a candle burning in a window, or an ice skating rink? Know the answer to this question before you head to retail sites so you can direct your search between photo cards and non-photo cards. Could you use more shopping advice? Download the 3-Week Holiday Card Bootcamp.
I promise you’ll be in better shape to browse and buy.
Or, if you want someone else to worry about the details and guide you through this process, let’s work together! My 30-minute brainstorm calls are free.