October 5, 2008

Postcards for my clients

One of the hardest things about moving is saying goodbye. I let the gals in the Table of Contents know a couple of months ago that I’d be leaving, and am gradually sharing the news with neighbors and other friends. It’s been gratifying to learn that many of them will genuinely miss me. What really surprised me, though, is that one of my clients almost burst into tears when I told her. She’s a warm and friendly person that I’ve done a lot of business with over the years, but I think it’s the situation that brought about my move as much as the move itself that made her so emotional.These are tough economic times in Hawaii and it’s very discouraging for all of us to see so many small businesses folding. The few inspections I’ve had in the last few months have all been for people who were leaving the islands because they couldn’t make a living here anymore, just like me. It’s a sad process to watch and an even sadder one to be overtaken by. The only good thing about business being so slow is that I won’t be seeing most of my clients and having to tell them face-to-face that I’m leaving. That’s an emotional overload I don’t think I could handle right now. They’ve supported me over the years, though, and I do want to thank them for that and give them some referrals so that I know they’ll be in good hands after I’m gone. I think the easiest way to do that will be with postcards. VistaPrint can produce them for me for less than three cents apiece, and using coupon code PC50 will allow me to add fifty free oversized postcards to my order. I’m also thinking about using their mailing service. I’m handling my move by myself and it’s all pretty overwhelming, so letting them take care of that chore will ease free me up for things that only I can do. Once I’ve decided how I want my message worded I can design my postcards online, upload my mailing list and be done with it. It would be nice to have an aloha party and spend an afternoon thanking each of my clients personally, but that’s just not something I have time for now. VistaPrint offers quality design and print services at budget prices, even for smaller orders like the one I’ll need (less than three hundred postcards.) I’ll be keeping that in mind once I arrive at my destination, too, because I’ll be needing professional printing services to help me get the word out about my new business. You’ll know all about it first, of course, but it’s nice to know that VistaPrint can help me with flyers, business cards and all of the other printed materials I’ll need to let folks know that skeet has arrived.