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Will You Add? - Q and A: Personalized Birthday Cards from Paul Leonard
The phrase “Value Added” is widely known around the world, partly because it provides the taxation basis that businesses charge their customers on purchases in many countries. And so to most of us, “Value Added” means the government and supply chains substantially mark up prices and we end up paying more for the things we buy.That means the phrase has an unpleasant connation for most people - one all too similar to “highway robbery”. And that’s unfortunate, as the value that you add on the job is the single most critical factor in determining how easily you’ll find a new job and how large a pay package you’ll command.Since businesses are in business to make money, there’s no incentive to hire a new employee for (say) $40,000 if that person produces only $20,000 of value. On the other hand, there’s substantial incentive to hire someone for $40,000 if that person can produce value worth
The only thing that put me off was the impersonal ‘junk mail’ appearance of the card, so I began to search the web for a service that would allow me to send a card that would look like I sent it. After a couple of hours I gave up because I couldn’t find what I was looking for. That’s w
No matter how confident you may be, the experience of entering a room full of strangers can be nerve-racking and leave you grasping for something to say. I believe the best route is actually the easiest – we all know that people like talking about themselves, so why not ask questions designed to draw them out a little more than standard shop talk?Here are a selection I have found to be useful in establishing a connection with someone who at first glance appears to have nothing in common with me at all.1. How did you come to be in your line of work? Often people fall into their job through a chance encounter or a stroke of luck – these stories are often interesting, and recounting them will bring your new contact alive in a way that a straightforward discussion about current business never does.2. Describe to me your dream customer. You will learn much about their motivation and goal
Plus, when you consider the cost of gas, driving to the store, buying the cards, and buying the stamps, you can't beat the price of $3.16 and up including postage for handmade greeting cards that can be personalized. Poems for You founder Kristin Johnson sat down with Paul Leonard, founder of BirthdayCards2Go.com,for an exclusive interview.
Kristin: Paul, how did you develop this unique service?
Paul Leonard: Well, I guess the idea first came to me a couple of years back while sitting in a traffic jam! I‘d just been to the store to get a birthday card for my sister at the last minute -- I always forget people’s birthdays -- and was trying to fill in the address with the envelope balanced on the steering wheel. I remember thinking that there must be a better way! A couple of months went by and, on my birthday, I got a birthday card from my sister. It obviously hadn’t been sent by her but by a computer via the web -- my name and address was laser printed on the back and it arrived in a window envelope. The message inside was laser printed in rather soulless black monotype. I can only say that I felt a bit offended, considering the trouble I had gone to 2 months earlier, but then I realised how much time and energy I would have saved by using a service like this.
The only thing that put me off was the impersonal ‘junk mail’ appearance of the card, so I began to search the web for a service that would allow me to send a card that would look like I sent it. After a couple of hours I gave up because I couldn’t find what I was looking for. That’s wh
Do you know what I mean by this? Simply replace my name with yours and you’ll see what I mean. This is how I describe to people what I am not (a bank!) - specially when it comes time to negotiate payment terms...You see, far too many businesses think it’s okay to expect ‘terms’ like 30 days net and so on. Terms = Credit. Do you just advance every Tom, Dick or Harry credit when they ask for it? No, of course not...But this kind of expectation is tough on many small to medium businesses, here’s why. Unless you provide something ‘reposessible’ you are essentially trading value/time/knowledge and this stuff cannot be reclaimed. So not only you are advancing credit (probably without a credit check right, or determining how much they are ‘good’ for...) but you are trading something that is inherently unrecoverable!When it’s delivered its gone. So when a client asks you to bill them and as
Kristin: Paul, how did you develop this unique service?
Paul Leonard: Well, I guess the idea first came to me a couple of years back while sitting in a traffic jam! I‘d just been to the store to get a birthday card for my sister at the last minute -- I always forget people’s birthdays -- and was trying to fill in the address with the envelope balanced on the steering wheel. I remember thinking that there must be a better way! A couple of months went by and, on my birthday, I got a birthday card from my sister. It obviously hadn’t been sent by her but by a computer via the web -- my name and address was laser printed on the back and it arrived in a window envelope. The message inside was laser printed in rather soulless black monotype. I can only say that I felt a bit offended, considering the trouble I had gone to 2 months earlier, but then I realised how much time and energy I would have saved by using a service like this.
The only thing that put me off was the impersonal ‘junk mail’ appearance of the card, so I began to search the web for a service that would allow me to send a card that would look like I sent it. After a couple of hours I gave up because I couldn’t find what I was looking for. That’s w
What may be the more appropriate question is: What makes a story newsworthy enough to get picked up by the media? Here are a few rules of thumb to determine if you have a news angle worthy of press coverage.First, is the subject relevant to anyone outside of your organization? For example, if your firm is announcing changes to the employee health plan, that’s newsworthy of coverage in the company newsletter but not typically for the mainstream press.Timeliness is also a factor. No one wants to hear about something that happened a year ago, or even a month ago. Reporters want fresh ideas and breaking news.Generally, the media won’t cover the same story twice. If your company has already received coverage for a particular event, subject or product, the media won’t write about it again – unless there’s a whole new angle to explore. If there’s a new twist t
The only thing that put me off was the impersonal ‘junk mail’ appearance of the card, so I began to search the web for a service that would allow me to send a card that would look like I sent it. After a couple of hours I gave up because I couldn’t find what I was looking for. That’s w
You can get a lot more leverage from your business networking efforts if you work on building relationships with strategic alliance partners. When done effectively you’ll get more regular and predictable referrals from these strategic alliances then from any other source.In just about any business there are natural referral partners. A real estate agent needs a mortgage broker and an inspector. A financial planner needs a CPA or accountant and an attorney. A graphic designer might need a marketing consultant or a copy writer. You get the picture.By finding a core group of these complimentary businesses you can all help each other grow by bringing each other into new deals. You win because you’ll be getting business you might not have even known about otherwise, and your customer wins by working with professionals who are used to working together.Building your strategic alliance network
The only thing that put me off was the impersonal ‘junk mail’ appearance of the card, so I began to search the web for a service that would allow me to send a card that would look like I sent it. After a couple of hours I gave up because I couldn’t find what I was looking for. That’s w
Exhibiting at trade shows can be a cost-effective way to generate business, whether you are a new entrepreneur or have been in business for years. Some exhibitors, however, do not experience the success of others. The success of the exhibitor is the responsibility of the exhibitor, not the trade show organizer. The organizer's responsibility is to promote the show, fill the exhibits and fill the show with large numbers of visitors. Being at the right show for your business is the first step. Attracting visitors to your exhibit is the next step and may be a challenge. Once the visitor is there, getting them to buy your product or service, or agree to a future contact is another challenge. Bring to mind a time when you either participated at a trade show or were a visitor at a trade show what attracted you to an exhibit, and what turned you off?Here are 5 success tips that will assist you in enhancing
The only thing that put me off was the impersonal ‘junk mail’ appearance of the card, so I began to search the web for a service that would allow me to send a card that would look like I sent it. After a couple of hours I gave up because I couldn’t find what I was looking for. That’s when it clicked -- there was a gap in the market that I could fill. As an IT professional specializing in Intranet systems myself, I soon had the website built and my brother-in-law, who is a graphic designer, came on board to help with the creative side. Through his contacts he also helped to source the cards that we use. After that, a lot of fine tuning and acting on feedback from our customers has got us to where we are now..
Kristin: Most of us do leave things to the last minute. That’s why there's a proliferation of free e-card businesses out there. Blue Mountain Arts, which published two of my award-winning poems on its Web site, was the pioneer for this model, but changed to a login and fee-based service. You are also doing a fee-based service. But yours is not an e-card business, it's a unique greeting card business. Do you operate on the principle "you get what you pay for?"
Paul Leonard: I think the bottom line here is that you can’t put an e-card on your mantelpiece! E-cards are definitely great fun and have their place, but you still can’t beat a real card arriving in the post to tell you that someone is thinking of you.
Kristin: True! Can you describe the other benefits of sending a BirthdayCards2Go card?
Paul Leonard: I think our main objective is to make the cards we send out look and feel like the customer has sent them personally. We allow the customer to select a style of handwriting, which is used to complete the address on the envelope and message inside the card, and a normal postage s
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