Well the Christmas ads have started.
Halloween is gone, as is my Scorpio birthday, so it’s time for merchants to hawk their wares. And it’s no different for you.
This is the time of year for office parties and people sending Holiday Cards (also known as Christmas cards). And if you’re going to send out cards, now is a good time to start thinking about it as you’ll want to send them out in a few weeks.
Rather than rephrasing what I wrote last year about sending out Christmas cards that help promote you and your show, I’m going to re-post some parts of it. If you want to read the whole thing you can see it here. Happy Holidays!!
The first thing to consider is what kind of picture can you put on the front of the card that represents your show? What picture will tell the story? If you have a cooking show it could be you in the kitchen, or cooking in a field – but make it fun. It should be a picture that makes people smile.
When I send out my Christmas cards the picture usually involves me riding a motorcycle somewhere kind of nutty or extreme. A couple years ago I sought out a snowstorm to ride in to take pictures of me riding my motorcycle in it with a Santa hat on (for those of you don’t know much about motorcycles, they don’t mix with snow very well). The bottom line is you want a picture that will make people take notice.
Secondly, once you have your picture sorted you need to decide what to have printed inside. On one card I sent of me in a snowstorm the inside read “Wishing you warm thoughts this holiday season.” It should be something witty and relevant to the picture (alright I know it’s not super witty but it is relevant)
Thirdly, sort through the business cards you’ve collected at festivals, seminars, and random networking events. Then go through your email list of people you’ve emailed with that are in the business, (send cards to people you’ve met who are trying to sell their shows as well – you never know what these relationships can develop into later). You’re going to send all these people cards. It doesn’t matter if they know who you are yet. That’s the point of this: making sure they do know you when you’re ready to pitch.
I generally like to send my cards around the 10th of December so that it’s getting there about 10 days before Christmas. That way there’s a full week of it being in their office, assuming it doesn’t get filed in the trash.
Remember, Christmas is a time of giving. So why not give yourself the gift of self-promotion.