Law Firm Holiday Card Planner

It’s by no means too early to begin planning your playing cards for the vacation season. To make the job simpler, here’s a 12-step information to creating the vital choices, together with a timeline for getting all of it achieved.

Open up your calendar and add these deadlines!

A Vacation Card Guidelines to Make Your Job a Little Simpler

Obtain the 12-step planner PDF and get a bounce in your vacation to-do’s. You should definitely share the hyperlink along with your employees and get these deadlines into your calendar.

Share the obtain hyperlink along with your colleagues: https://bit.ly/HolidayCardPlanner

1. Which Vacation Are You Observing?

In recent times, some attorneys have determined to beat the vacation card rush and ship “Blissful Thanksgiving” or “Blissful New 12 months” greetings. Most, nevertheless, ship their playing cards to reach in early December to take the standard “season’s greetings” strategy to cowl the various holidays occurring on the finish of the yr, together with Christmas playing cards. Many holidays? Sure. Al-Kijra, Chanuka, Christmas, Kwanzaa and Chinese language New 12 months to call a number of.

It’s clever and considerate to keep in mind that many purchasers and colleagues come from completely different faiths and ethnic backgrounds. Some observe their vital holidays at different instances of the yr solely. Regardless of the vacation and nevertheless you specific your message, it’s a good suggestion to begin the mission in September. So in case you are studying this now, you might be off to an excellent begin!

2. E-card, Printed Card or No Card?

Do you wish to signal your playing cards by hand or merely hit “ship” to distribute? Maybe you wish to do each or perhaps you don’t wish to ship a card in any respect? Though many corporations have turned to e-cards, the signed printed card, together with authorized Christmas playing cards, remains to be a favourite. No matter your determination, make your choice quickly and get began straight away on design ideas and updating mailing lists.

3. To Contribute or To not Contribute—That’s the Query!

Some regulation corporations choose three, 4 or extra charitable organizations to contribute to on the holidays, others one or none. Some corporations even make a contribution within the title of their shoppers and skip the greeting card.

4. What’s Your Message: “Blissful Holidays,” “Blissful New 12 months” or …?

What would you like the cardboard to say? “Wishing you one of the best within the New 12 months?” “Heat vacation needs to you and yours?” “Season’s greetings?” Or maybe you wish to go down the humorous message path or just convey good needs? The choices are countless, in fact. Simply be sure your message accepts the celebration of varied vacation traditions and that it’s concerning the recipient as an alternative of all about you. One of the best strategy is to maintain your content material easy and concise.

5. What’s the Inventive Idea?

Having chosen the vacation message you want to specific, you must think about the “artistic.” What photographs will you employ? What phrases will you select? Do you wish to embody animation or music in your digital card? In the event you incorporate music, what is going to it’s? Maybe a cheerful ‘merry Christmas’ tune? Vacation playing cards historically use many various photographs, together with wintery panorama scenes, shiny vacation lights, presents being wrapped or unwrapped, wreaths and images of cities wherein the corporations reside. Simply guarantee that the tone and spirit of the cardboard displays your agency’s model. If meaning one thing extra uncommon, artistic or quirky, plan on manufacturing taking a bit extra time then a standard card, because the extra artistic parts which can be added the longer it could take to get the idea via inside approval and manufacturing.

6. Who Will Obtain the Card?

Perhaps you’ve determined to ship each digital and print vacation playing cards. How do you determine who receives them and which lawyer or attorneys will signal and ship them? Do you create one central checklist that’s accepted by agency administration (simply typing that phrase makes me cringe), or do follow teams develop their very own lists and assign attorneys to ship and subsequently arrange the signature course of? For bigger corporations, this turns into one of the crucial troublesome parts of the vacation card mission. Another choice is to have every particular person lawyer liable for their very own vacation card distribution. The primary concern right here is that one recipient could obtain a number of playing cards out of your agency. Some corporations imagine this reinforces the significance of the recipient; others suppose it makes the agency look uncoordinated and wasteful.

As for the precise mailing checklist, you ought to embody shoppers, prospects, mates of the agency, actual or potential referral sources and agency alumni. Employees managers could want to ship greetings to distributors {and professional} affiliation colleagues. In some corporations, the connection between agency and shopper is broadened by together with paralegals, assistants and secretaries within the signing teams, or encouraging them to ship their very own greetings to their contacts within the shopper group.

7. Who Indicators and Sends the Card?

For a solo lawyer, it is a excellent time of yr for a honest handwritten notice on every card. Legal professionals in bigger corporations who could make this work whereas coordinating with others discover it to be one of the best strategy for them as properly. Many alternative methods have been developed for the precise signings, one being to arrange giant convention rooms for signing classes to make sure that everybody who touches a shopper indicators their card.

One of the best strategy could also be a mixture of organized signing and particular person attorneys sending their very own playing cards, working with the connection associate to make the choice. I’m not positive taking just one strategy is manageable, given all of the variables. Clearly, for some shoppers you wish to present a unified message. For others, that strategy could not make sense as a result of the contact your agency has with the shopper consists of quite a few individuals from utterly completely different departments or places of work. Your employment attorneys could also be coping with the HR professionals, the place your litigation attorneys could also be working solely with one lawyer within the compliance division. So, your employment attorneys can signal one card for all of the HR professionals and the litigation lawyer can ship one card to the compliance contact.

It goes with out saying that that is all an organizational nightmare. (See why you might want to begin early?) Be sure that now that you already know who may have total accountability for this signing and mailing mission. In the event you don’t, you’ll be sorry afterward.

8. The place Do You Buy Vacation Playing cards or How Do You Develop an E-card?

There are numerous locations the place you may simply buy the usual “cookie-cutter” vacation card, together with lawyer Christmas playing cards, imprinted along with your agency title or not. Merely sort “company vacation playing cards” into the search engine of your selection. For a extra distinctive vacation card, one thing that solely your agency may have, attain out to a graphic designer or an organization that creates digital greetings. There are a number of corporations geared towards regulation agency vacation e-greetings.

9. What In regards to the Envelope or “From” Discipline in Your E-card?

It’s straightforward to get so centered on the cardboard that you simply neglect to plan the envelope. If in case you have a number of places of work and attorneys sending playing cards, you’ll need to create envelopes with return addresses from every workplace. Nothing says, “I didn’t put any thought into my vacation greeting” like a vacation card from a Boston lawyer despatched in an envelope with the agency’s New York return tackle. Additionally, attorneys in smaller places of work have been recognized to really feel marginalized by the implication that they aren’t within the “dwelling (necessary) workplace.” In respect to an digital card, on the entrance facet you’ll want to determine whether or not the “From” subject of your e-mail ought to be crammed with the “Regulation Agency Identify LLP” or every particular person lawyer’s title.

10. Must you Conform or Buck the Vacation Card Tendencies?

The pattern towards digital vacation playing cards continues. In the event you determine this strategy higher represents your agency or saves you time and money, be sure to let your designer know up entrance as a result of it may take extra time to develop one thing that’s distinctive.

11. How A lot Will All This Value?

In fact, how a lot you spend will depend upon completely different elements of manufacturing. Print playing cards are costly and, like something a agency prints, the upper the amount the dearer the mission. You additionally need to anticipate that the price of print playing cards goes up with every one you ship due to postage. The e-card makes the stamp and printing prices of the cardboard and the envelope disappear. But, digital playing cards aren’t essentially the inexpensive various. Would you like a static card, easy repetitive motions, complicated repetitive movement or one which tells a narrative? The extra artistic parts, animation and story, the dearer the e-card. I’ve seen quotes for e-cards within the following ranges:

Static: $1,500 to $3,000

Easy repetitive motions: $5,800 to $8,500

Tells a narrative: $12,000 to $24,500

That mentioned, I’ve additionally seen a lot decrease costs from smaller design corporations and freelancers. In the event you select this course, you’ll want to buy round and ask for samples and references. (And truly name the references!)

12. We Need to Begin When?

Check out this timeline for planning and delivering your agency vacation card. It turns into fairly apparent that point is already tight (assuming everybody is constant to follow regulation throughout this era).

September: Simply getting began.

Earlier than the top of September, it is best to have already thought of:

The seller or designer you’ll make use of to create the cardboard

The final artistic idea and replica in your card

Whether or not or not you’ll be making a charitable contribution as a part of the vacation greeting

Acquiring your first spherical of draft ideas for evaluation and choice, particularly in case you are a authorized skilled

October: Maintain the Venture Going.

By this time, it is best to have addressed:

Figuring out the variety of print playing cards you want and ordering them

Figuring out what number of envelopes you’ll need and ordering them

Starting your mailing checklist course of

Informing the agency’s attorneys (if a couple of) of when and the way the playing cards will likely be distributed to them for signing

Prepping another employees or departments that contact the vacation card mission on their function in implementing

November: The Actual Countdown Begins.

It’s virtually over. Sustain the momentum, and by the top of November, it is best to have:

The E-card full and printed playing cards in hand

Mailing lists up to date and confirmed

Printed playing cards distributed to attorneys

Signing of the plenty full (for those who take that strategy)

Began snail-mailing proper after Thanksgiving

December: The Holidays Are Right here!

It’s virtually time to have a good time. By the top of the second week of December, it is best to:

Full your mailing, ideally in early December

Deal with any last-minute requests for added playing cards

Incorporate your e-card in your agency web site

There Is Nonetheless Time!

OK, so maybe you didn’t learn this text till mid-November. It’s acceptable to ship playing cards out all through the top of December. You should have a troublesome time discovering a vendor to create a customized card in your agency — they’re busy working for others — however nothing’s not possible. Nevertheless, you’ll wish to gear your message extra towards “Blissful New 12 months” if it goes out towards the top of December. You’ll additionally need to eradicate any intention to ship the cardboard out with a number of signatures.

Good luck and comfortable holidays!