A Simple Tool Guaranteed To Get You Noticed

It's noisy out there. Everyone wants to be noticed. Yet so many ignore this simple and easy tool that I guarantee will set you apart.

It does not involve jumping off the high dive in some silly reality show. It's not running through Central Park naked in an attempt to revive the streaking craze of the early seventies. It does not involve a marketing budget that requires you to get a second mortgage on your home. It does not involve flash and glitz or high end video.

It's simple and inexpensive.
It's called a thank-you.  


Thank-you for your note.
Thank-you for that nice mention on Twitter.
Thank-you for your comment on my blog.
Thank-you for commenting on my FaceBook page.
Thank-you for sharing my stuff.
Thank-you for taking the time to meet with me.
Thank-you for showing up to hear me talk.
Thank-you for your consideration.
Thank-you for doing business with us.
Thank-you for your wise advice.


It says you care. It engages. It establishes relationships. It says, no matter how busy and famous I am or might want to be, I am not too big to remember this simple measure of acknowledgement. It says your business or relationship is important to me and I want you to know it. It says I am happy you are part of my tribe. It makes a lasting impression.

Especially since so many people don't do it.
They think it doesn't matter.
They forget.
They say they will, but never do.
They think they are too important, too famous, too busy.

Which makes no sense.

Let's face it. It's easier than ever to say thank-you in a timely manner. (Immediacy is important to the art of thank-you.) All it takes is a click of the reply button on an email or a text.You don't even have to talk anymore. Although that is always an extra nice touch. Nicer still is going as far as to write a note, get a stamp and put the thank-you in an envelope. And as for being too important to take the time - the digital world has leveled the playing field in so many ways. Thank-you's are not exempt. No matter if you are one person or a big corporation.

The point is, it doesn't have to be elaborate or require setting the egg timer for. It's an easy, simple and budget friendly tool to differentiate you from the masses. 

Of course you don't have to say thank-you. Ever. You can forget it. You can live in the delusion that the more expensive tools to get your name out there will compensate. But they won't. Because when you never say thank-you - that gets noticed - and not in the way you want.

Thank You Cards by Tara Dixon of Gratitude Designs

This blog also appears on The Huffington Post

Desire #39

Desire # 39: 

Send my thank you notes by hand

I remember when I thought it was really cool to get an email. That was before spam, email marketing and the proliferation of electronic communication in business. It was also before my emails were accessible from every mobile device known to peoplekind.

And now email is so...well...so common.

And I'm not one to be common. 

Between my birthday and Christmas I noticed what a treat it was when there was actually something to open in my US Mail besides a bill or a catalog. And so the desire to go back to  writing thank you notes by hand, the way I used to in the olden days took root.

There is nothing ordinary about picking out a thank you card and taking the time to compose  a thoughtful message. It requires remembering all those things no one does anymore, like write in a handwriting that you take pains to make sure is legible and going to the post office to buy a stamp before dropping it in the mailbox.
Think about it!
How many thank you notes have you received lately that were not electronic?
When was the last time you went to the post office?
How many people even remember to say thank you?

Yes, I know it does not seem very green to many of you.  And yes, it takes longer. You can't just type a rush of words and hit send. You have to have a card. You have to think before you write because there is no spellcheck to self correct. A pen forces you to write in whole sentences the way a keyboard does not always mandate.

And then there is the subject of stamps. They cost money. This old fashioned thing is definitely pricier.

But it is so much more fun! 

I ordered a box of beautifully designed note cards from my friend Tara Dixon who has just a launched a whole line of Gratitude Designs in which 5% of all profits go to benefit The Flawless Foundation.  I wrote my first two thank you notes of the year Sunday. I sprung for stamps knowing while this might not be very green, I was contributing to my postal worker's salaries.

An example of Tara Dixon's Gratitude line.

I got to reflect back on the reason I was sending the notes in the first place before I scribbled my message because  there is no delete button on an ink pen if I made a mistake. I got to relish the gift again. I got to put attention on my friends who were ever so deserving.

There was nothing chore like about this. I was not doing something  I had to do but rather enjoying something  I wanted to do. I was practicing an art, one that seems to have gotten a bit lost in the tech maze and one I am determined to not let fade away.


Do you send thank you notes? How?
Are you surprised when you receive one, especially if it's in the mail?
How does it make you feel?