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I got a postcard in the mail the other day.  At first, I was puzzled.  I hardly get postcards any more.  Nobody has mentioned a vacation. Then I turned it over.  It was from one of my readers (thanks Tom Allebach).

He sent me a postcard telling me how much my blog inspired him.  It made my day.

I only know Tom slightly, but he took the time to reach out and send a physical, tangible card, rather than an email.

It was delightful (and memorable). In fact, I am going to save it.

Make a tangible connection

We get so caught up in tweeting, snapchatting,  and facebooking, that we forget that having something you can hold in your hands can make a much stronger connection.

I talk about marketing a lot, but really good marketing doesn’t try to sell at all.  It tries to make connections. And that’s exactly what Tom did.

Try postcard marketing

Go on, send your clients a postcard. Make a human connection.  You don’t have to try to sell something. In fact, it’s better if you don’t even attempt it. Just say hi and tell them you appreciate them.  Send one to a blogger you admire.  Or a podcaster you like to listen to.  Bet they’ll notice that more than an email or a tweet.  They get lots and lots of those.

They may even keep the postcard. Nobody prints out emails or Facebook posts and pins them to their walls.

In fact, I bought a card yesterday which I’m going to send to someone I know online, but have never met.  Shhh, don’t tell.