WEBVTT - Send handwritten notes

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to send handwritten notes. You may be

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<v Speaker 1>wondering why this is a productivity tip. I know that

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<v Speaker 1>writing notes takes time. It's always quicker to send a

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<v Speaker 1>text or email, but sending handwritten notes doesn't take a

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<v Speaker 1>ton of time, and precisely because so few people do it.

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<v Speaker 1>Using pen, paper and stamps can create a strong enough

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<v Speaker 1>impression that you come out ahead. I've always liked stationary

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<v Speaker 1>and pens, but I really saw how special people consider

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<v Speaker 1>handwritten notes about a year or so ago, when I

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<v Speaker 1>was trying to get people to pre order a previous

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<v Speaker 1>book of mine called Off the Clock. Lots of authors

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<v Speaker 1>do these preorder campaigns, and in my case, if people

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<v Speaker 1>ordered a hardcover version of the book before the release

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<v Speaker 1>date and sent in their address through before on my website,

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<v Speaker 1>I said I'd mailed them assigned book plate. This is

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<v Speaker 1>basically a fancy sticker that they could put inside the book,

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<v Speaker 1>so even though the book was coming from Amazon or

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<v Speaker 1>Barnes and Noble or somewhere like that, it would be

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<v Speaker 1>signed and made out to them. Simple enough. Then I figured,

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<v Speaker 1>since I was signing a sticker and my team was

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<v Speaker 1>getting it into an envelope, why not write a note

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<v Speaker 1>thanking people for buying my book? So I did. Most

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<v Speaker 1>of my notes just said something real quick along the

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<v Speaker 1>lines of thank you so much for pre ordering off

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<v Speaker 1>the clock, I appreciate the support. I hope you enjoyed

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<v Speaker 1>the book. I stuck these notes in the mail. Then

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<v Speaker 1>a funny thing happened. People kept taking photos of the

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<v Speaker 1>notes and posting them on social media. Apparently it was

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<v Speaker 1>cool enough to get a handwritten note that it was

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<v Speaker 1>worth posting alongside photos of avocado toast or cappuccino. Fom art.

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<v Speaker 1>People who liked my books were sharing news about my

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<v Speaker 1>new book with their friends. I did not write these

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<v Speaker 1>thank you notes to create a social media campaign, but

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<v Speaker 1>it was an effective one. In the past year or so,

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<v Speaker 1>I've spent some time thinking about why this is. I

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<v Speaker 1>realized that handwritten notes stand out because almost no one

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<v Speaker 1>sends them. Even the Christmas cards I get these days

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<v Speaker 1>are often just a photo with no note. When I

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<v Speaker 1>look at the mail I get, it's usually ads or

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<v Speaker 1>solicitations for nonprofits or bills. Whenever I do get a

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<v Speaker 1>handwritten note. I opened it immediately, I get a warm

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<v Speaker 1>fuzzy feeling about the person. I bet other people do

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<v Speaker 1>the same. It just feels special to get a note,

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<v Speaker 1>and that warm fuzzy feeling can go a long ways. Indeed,

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<v Speaker 1>I bet a handwritten note creates at least ten times

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<v Speaker 1>the impression of an email, but it doesn't take ten

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<v Speaker 1>times as long to write. Since the Before Breakfast podcast

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<v Speaker 1>is all about being efficient and effective, that seems like

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<v Speaker 1>a big win right there. So if you're listening to

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<v Speaker 1>this podcast and would like to start sending handwritten notes,

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<v Speaker 1>how can you build this into your already busy life. First,

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<v Speaker 1>you can make handwriting notes take less time by keeping

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<v Speaker 1>supplies on hand. I buy boxes of pretty thank you

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<v Speaker 1>notes and large batches. These can wind up being to

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<v Speaker 1>fifty cents a piece in bulk every year or two.

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<v Speaker 1>I also order several hundred note cards with my name

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<v Speaker 1>on them and matching envelopes with a nice interior design.

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<v Speaker 1>They look really fancy, but if you order enough, you

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<v Speaker 1>can get them for two dollars or less a piece

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<v Speaker 1>that's cheaper than a greeting card but looks a lot

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<v Speaker 1>more impressive. I also keep stamps and return address labels

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<v Speaker 1>in my top desk drawer. This means that grabbing a

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<v Speaker 1>note card and an envelope and a stamp takes just

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<v Speaker 1>a few seconds. Writing a few lines can take just

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<v Speaker 1>a minute or two. The whole process doesn't need to

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<v Speaker 1>consume more than five minutes. You can do this while

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<v Speaker 1>you're waiting for a conference call to start. You might

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<v Speaker 1>challenge yourself to start by sending one note a week.

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<v Speaker 1>You can probably come up with one occasion a week

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<v Speaker 1>if you think about it. One idea look on social

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<v Speaker 1>media to see who has a birthday coming up. Sure

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<v Speaker 1>it's easy enough to post happy Birthday on their feed,

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<v Speaker 1>but why not send a card to write a short

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<v Speaker 1>note with a memory from the past year or previous birthday,

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<v Speaker 1>and then wish the person many happy returns of the day.

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<v Speaker 1>Or you could send a thank you note. Maybe something

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<v Speaker 1>happened recently as a result of an introduction someone made

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<v Speaker 1>for you a long time ago, why not thank the

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<v Speaker 1>person now. Or maybe something memorable happened in your life

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<v Speaker 1>around this time of year many years ago. Think about

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<v Speaker 1>the friends or relatives who are with you when the

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<v Speaker 1>memory happened. Why not send a note saying you're thinking

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<v Speaker 1>about the person and you hope he or she is

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<v Speaker 1>doing well. I know that because everyone relies on electronic

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<v Speaker 1>communication these days, you might not even have the person's

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<v Speaker 1>physical mailing address, but you can get them pretty easily.

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<v Speaker 1>Even if you don't have a massive holiday card file.

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<v Speaker 1>You can mail your note to the person's office I

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<v Speaker 1>mean corporate addresses, or you real pretty easy to find.

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<v Speaker 1>You could google the person's name in the town where

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<v Speaker 1>they live and the address will often pop up because

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<v Speaker 1>property purchases tend to be public records. Or if that

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<v Speaker 1>sounds a little bit creepy, then just shoot the person

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<v Speaker 1>an email and say you have something to drop in

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<v Speaker 1>the mail, ask if you can get his or her

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<v Speaker 1>mailing address. Most people reply quickly to an email like

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<v Speaker 1>that because they're pretty excited to get something other than

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<v Speaker 1>bills in the mail. So take a few minutes today

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<v Speaker 1>and order some note cards and start thinking about who

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<v Speaker 1>you'd like to write. I promise it will be worth

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<v Speaker 1>your time, because, guess what, people are a good use

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<v Speaker 1>of time, and handwriting notes is a good way to

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<v Speaker 1>show people that they map. In the meantime, this is Laura,

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

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<v Speaker 1>our time. Hey everybody, I'd love to hear from you.

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<v Speaker 1>You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.

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<v Speaker 1>Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast pod. That's B the number four, then Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>p o D. You can also shoot me an email

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<v Speaker 1>at Before Breakfast podcast. At i heeart media dot com

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<v Speaker 1>that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. For

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