Networking With Holiday Cards

Plan it now, then relax and enjoy the holidays.

Success is best when it’s shared.
—Howard Schultz

I don’t know if Sir Henry Cole was a grumpy man, but I’d like to think so, because it would be amusing to imagine that the tradition of sending Christmas cards was created by a curmudgeon. According to a Scientific American article that looks at holiday card-sending from an anthropologist’s point of view, Cole needed “an expedient means of clearing the backlog of mail on his desk that demanded an answer.” It seems that Victorians took seriously their social duties responding to mail. Cole cornered an artist and together they worked up a card prototype.

The final product read “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You” and featured a festive family engaged in a toast. He mailed this to 1,000 people and was satisfied that he had fulfilled his social letter-writing obligation.

The article goes on, and you should read it because it’s fun, or at least interesting,  with some unsurprising conclusions about who the task of writing and sending cards fell to, right from the start: the women.

(Actually, that wasn’t the case in my family. The Welsbacher Holiday Letter was my father’s domain, pecked out on his typewriter with two fingers and including a generous space at the end for Mom to hand-write a short additional note. The opening graf generally involved a tortured explanation about how even if the recipient hadn’t received it until well into the new year, technically the letter was on time because he finished writing it in the old year. This left him with considerably less room for the actual letter, which I suspect was his goal.)

One could argue that the social obligations of the Victorians translate today to our professional use of business networking practices, which can make all the difference in both job- or client-seeking efforts and the quality of working environments themselves. Such networking can quite legitimately extend to sending out targeted holiday cards, an easy way for you to get a leg up in this cold, hard world.

It might seem early to start thinking about holiday cards, networking or otherwise, but as I write, I’m admiring the Christmas luminaria my neighbors placed around the edges of their sidewalk just before the Labor Day weekend.

These good-hearted neighbors might be a little overzealous with their seasonal decorating calendar, but still. Sending cards involves a fair amount of time and effort, both the mindless parts—buying the cards and stamps, stuffing the envelopes, and schlepping them all to the post office—and the part that requires thought: figuring out who to send to and what to say. It wouldn’t hurt to start thinking about this career-focused project before the final six weeks of the year take over with the heavy-duty cooking and gifting among family and friends that is the bane and delight of modern-day society.

An article on CNBC advises that you start by grouping your business candidates based on “just say a quick hi” to the ones you really want to get closer to—Group A.

How big these groups are depends on how much time you’d like to put in. But if reaching out to a dozen or more people feels overwhelming, just focus on that A group, say, three to five people.

The article says e-cards are fine for the groups lower in the alphabet, but for those Group A folks, a physical card is best. Career coach Angelina Darrisaw, quoted in the article, says she’s sent holiday or thank-you cards to people who “have kept them on their desk for a really long time.”

If you aren’t familiar with an individual’s personal preferences or culture, Darrisaw advises staying away from using the term “Christmas” not only because many people don’t celebrate that particular winter-time ritual, but also because the season can be a trigger. She suggests offering wishes for a good new year as a safe alternative. You can follow with a short update on your life and work, or give a quick thank-you for the past year’s work fellowship and perhaps cite something you’re looking forward to doing in the new year.

Include at least one line that’s specific to the person you’re writing to. If you don’t know them well, check their social media to get a sense of hobbies or other interests.

A Semgeeks article cites five categories of people you’ll want to include in your business holiday card-giving. Your boss (“give specific examples of ways their management style has enhanced your career”), your coworkers (“we all need a good friend at the office”), your mentors (even if “you haven’t spoken to this person in months, it’s always nice to let someone know that they made a difference in your life”), your clients (“if you have exciting goals to share, include them in these successes”), and vendors, suppliers, and wholesalers (“it’s nice to connect with vendors and suppliers because it helps you to be on the same page”).

This 2022 article closes with a thought I share:

Many people think that personalized holiday cards are a thing of the past, but I have to disagree. Maybe fewer people take the time to send out custom cards, but that makes them all the more rare. A heartfelt message can go a long way in strengthening working relationships and boosting your career and professional network.

A much older article at EHS Today offers card-writing advice from a decade back, when the plethora of social platforms wasn’t quite so front and center. But if you’re writing an old-fashioned paper card, it’s good, solid advice. Here’s a trimmed excerpt:

· Choose a high-quality holiday card that will not offend its recipient. Be mindful of religious and cultural differences, particularly with your international recipients.

· Choose a design that is appropriate for your business associates.

· Include one of your business cards inside the greeting card.

· Sign each card personally.

· Check the spelling of your contacts and their corporate name.

· Keep your contact list accurate and up-to-date. Make sure you’re not sending a card to someone who has left the department or the company.

· Don’t be late. Remember that many companies close during the holidays and people take vacations to be with family, so send your cards early.

The Muse, a job search site, primarily provides examples and templates for what to write, some of which strike me as pretty stodgy, but there’s also a smatter of interesting advice, including the suggestion to include the contact person at your dream job: “Who knows? If you ever apply there, they might remember you sent this card.”

It ends with this: “Final tip: if you run late, make them new years cards.” Yeah, there were years when Daddy fell back on that cop-out, too.

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Lagniappe: Malvina Reynolds (1900­­–1978) was an American singer-songwriter born in San Francisco and schooled at Berkeley. Perhaps you know her best-known song, but perhaps it’s been a while since you’ve listened to it, here sung by Reynolds herself.