A Lady Depressed

A couple weeks ago my wife stopped by a Burger King with our youngest son. We had just dropped off our older three at camp, and our younger son was depressed, so we thought some time in the BK play area might cheer him up.

As my wife and I sat in the play area and our son played in the tunnels and on the slide, I couldn’t help but notice a lady who was there with her son. I couldn’t shake the feeling that she just seemed to be masking some relatively heavy depression. The longer I sat there the more my heart went out to her.

Personally, I am a big believer in the power of prayer, and I just really felt that she could use someone to pray for her. I’m sure there is much more that she could also have used, but I firmly believe that God can do amazing things through prayer and can easily handle those other issues for her through the right people. Since I do not live or work anywhere near her, other types of assistance are best left to those who do and who God will use for that purpose.

More than anything, at that particular moment, she really just looked like she needed to know that someone noticed her and that she mattered. So, I walked over to her table, sat down and asked her if I could pray for her. She said she wasn’t really a churchgoer, and I simply told her that she didn’t need to believe in God for Him to believe in her.

I prayed for her and her son and shortly after my wife and I left with our son. But I couldn’t help thinking that there are so many other people out there that just feel like they’ve got nothing to offer, their life doesn’t matter and will never get any better.

Of course, each of us only comes into contact with a certain number of people in our lives, and there are only so many of them that we are in a position to help. But, sometimes, just a simple encouraging card, at the right time, can do wonders. And, even if we each simply touch the people in our own circle of friends, family and acquaintances, combined, we can make a huge difference.

However, that bigger picture wasn’t yet in view. It soon would be, though.

A Call From a Friend

As it happens, just prior to taking my kids up to camp, a good friend had gotten in touch with me and, in the course of the conversation he began telling me of a new service he had recently started using called SendOutCards. He said it was an online service that allowed you to quickly and easily mail custom postcards, greeting cards and even gift cards and gifts to anyone you wanted to, very inexpensively.

He was, of course, using the service to send all sorts of cards to people (both for business and personal reasons). Naturally, knowing that I also have business customers, he thought I should know about it since it was working so well for him.

Sorry, Not Interested

At first, I really didn’t have a great deal of interest. Even though I know how nice it is sometimes to receive an encouraging card in the mail, especially one that’s completely “out of the blue”, I really didn’t see the value in using this service. I’ve never really been a big card sender (personally OR for business) and, after all, it’s not like I can’t just go down to the store and buy a card anytime I like, if I really feel like sending one.

But, Then, The “Lightbulb” Moment

It didn’t take long, however, for me to realize the immense potential of this new service, not only to keep in touch with and express my appreciation for my AMSOIL and AGGRAND customers and dealers, but also to just encourage people, even on a whim, simply because it is so inexpensive and so easy to create and send a card. And, that’s when I had the idea for WhyTheCards.com (even though you certainly don’t have to use SendOutCards to be a part of the vision of this website).

Thinking about that lady at Burger King and so many others that I see everyday that are clearly depressed and just “going through the motions”, I wanted to do more to encourage them – to let them know that they DO matter, that there are people that DO care and that God has a special purpose for their life and doesn’t intend for them to be constantly depressed.

Enter – The Greeting Card Virus

By myself, I can only encourage and support so many people. But, if I could spread my vision through thousands of other people, we could literally uplift and encourage millions of people (and with this economy, who couldn’t use a little encouragement, right?).

WhyTheCards.com is really designed to be a way to “infect” people with the “encouragement virus”. Hopefully, as each person comes into contact with it, they “get the bug” and see the vision to be an encourager.

There’s an online service makes it really easy and inexpensive to do it, but there’s no reason that someone with the vision for this couldn’t just use a big box of nice cards to do the very same thing. Either way, whoever you send your cards to will know that someone cares about them, believes in them and is willing to spend some of their own time and money to let them know.

In fact, YOU may actually be seeing this site as a result of a card that was sent to you – either by me or by someone else that has caught the vision of this website. You may not even know the person who sent you the card, and the reason is simple and two-fold:

1. Those that have caught the vision for what this website is about REALLY want this to spread as rapidly as possible, and the more people that get the vision and start sending notes of encouragement (just because they can), the faster that will happen. So, not only are we sending cards to people that we know, but we are also spending the time and money to send cards to people that we’ve never met. Which brings me to point 2 …

2. I, and many others like me, wholeheartedly believe that EVERY individual on this planet was created by God for a very special purpose, and, for that purpose they were created with unique and special gifts and abilities. I also believe (because the Bible is very clear on this point) that God, the Creator of the Universe, intends for us to have a GOOD and JOYFUL life – not, necessarily one without trials and trouble, as these are what make us stronger and build character – but, a good and joyful life nonetheless (trials and joy are NOT mutually exclusive).

As a result, those that catch the vision of this site can send an encouraging card to a complete stranger and be completely genuine in their desire to uplift that person and encourage them to chase after their dreams and to reach out to others in need. After all, hopefully, we do that all the time, as we go about our day – maybe leaving a larger than necessary tip for our waitress, leaving behind one of our dozen roses for the cashier, giving a penny to a kid who desperately wants to ride the mechanical horse, allowing a stranger to cut in front of us in line because they are clearly in a bigger hurry than we are … I could go on and on.

Just “Be Nice”

It’s about a mentality of encouragement and just, overall, “niceness”. In fact, this really isn’t about cards at all. That’s just the beginning of it. Once somone gets in the habit of sending encouraging cards to people (to friends, family AND potentially even strangers), they begin to see opportunities to be an encourager every moment of the day. It becomes a way of life.

If we all could simply catch the vision of this simple website, a vision of encouragement and just “being nice”, we could, literally, change the world. It doesn’t take some national celebrity, big name politician or elaborate “save the world” organization – it simply takes each one of us, spreading the vision and LIVING the vision. THAT is what will change the world, and THAT is what we’re trying to do here.

It Starts With a Card

All I’m trying to accomplish with this site is to “plant the vision” and encourage a simple action that supports the vision: send a card. You could even send a few for freethrough a really easy to use online service if you like.

Or, if you’ve got a big box of nice greeting cards sitting at your place, and you just want to write an encouraging note to someone every few days or every week, that’s EXACTLY what I’m hoping for. I want to open the eyes of thousands of people to just how encouraging it can be to someone to receive a heartfelt card that simply says “I appreciate you” or “You’re special”. It only takes a minute and it doesn’t cost that much to encourage someone, and there’s just something unique about getting a card in the mail vs. simply an electronic email or a text message (because it’s so out of the ordinary these days).

If you don’t already have a big box of nice cards you can send to people, there’s an online service here, through which you can send out some really nice and really free cards (postcards or greeting cards). Just login, create some cards and start sending. Otherwise, there are plenty of ways to buy some inexpensive cards to use for this purpose.

I truly believe that once you send out a few cards and see how much people appreciate it and are touched by it, you’ll want to send more, and you won’t mind spending a little time and money each week to send out a few cards of encouragement.

I Ask Only ONE THING of You:

Whatever note of encouragement that you send to somone I would really appreciate it if you would please include the WhyTheCards.com website address so that the people you are encouraging may also take a look at the site and join the “movement”. Obviously, the more people that catch the vision, the more people we can reach and encourage, and what better way to help people catch the vision than to simply send them an encouraging note.

When I send my cards, I simply include the website address at the end of the message, as in the following postcard:

Postcard Front Image

Add the WhyTheCards.com address to your cards - spread the vision!

Also, if you belong to any social networking sites, like Twitter, Facebook, Myspace and the like, please use the buttons below this article to tell your friends about this site. I really think we can have a MAJOR impact on people’s lives if we just get the word out.

Of course, you could explain the vision of this site yourself, if you like, and encourage people to join us, but, the “vision” will probably spread faster and easier if we all just have one central location to point people to, such as WhyTheCards.com

TAKE ACTION!!

If you’ve read this page and you see the value of what I’m trying to do, don’t just sit on it. Do something about it. Go out and buy a big box of cards. But, don’t just make them cheap, cheesy ones. Get some that have a really nice, motivational or encouraging image/note on the front and/or inside.

SendOutCards has about 13,000 cards in their database, and there are ALOT of really nice encouraging cards to choose from (and you can make a postcard OR greeting card out of any of them). But, you can get nice boxed cards at the store too. Just try to find a good deal, because the nice ones can be pretty pricey.

Make it EASY!

Once you’ve either setup a SendOutCards account or have gotten yourself a big box of cards (so you can easily send a card on a whim when someone specific comes to mind), then you might even want to pre-stamp some cards and pre-address them with your information. That way, when you decide to send a card, all you’ve really got to do is just write a little note, pop it in the envelope and stick it in the mailbox.

The more work that will be necessary when it comes time that you want to send a card to someone, the more chance you won’t do it.

Be Consistent

The more you do it, the more often you’ll just think of people on a whim and send them a card. It will become second nature. But, until it does, set yourself some sort of alarm (either with your cellphone or PDA or using Yahoo or Google Calendar or something) that will beep or send you an email or similar note reminding you to think of someone to encourage and send a note to. Eventually, it will just become a habit, but, until it does, timely reminders once a week are a great way to make sure you don’t “lose the vision”.

SOC Makes it Easy, but It’s Not a Necessity

With an easy to use online card designer, a huge database of professionally designed cards, a contact manager and calendar/reminder system (and the fact that THEY do the mailing for you), SendOutCards makes it REALLY easy to send a note to someone on a whim or a prompting. That’s the WHOLE PREMISE of their company. Sending a REALLY NICE, full color, customized greeting card for $1.50 or less (including postage) is AWESOME in my book.

Of course, there are plenty of other places to get cards. Check out your local Dollar Store or similar. Try doing a Google Search for Inspirational Cards or something similar. Lots of options come up. Zazzle.com is one that will come up. They’ve got a really big database of cards, and it looks like you might be able to customize them just a bit. Buying in “bulk” cuts the price quite a bit, so maybe that’s an option.

Just don’t “chinz out” and buy a bunch of cheesy cards because they are cheap. And, don’t go the E-card route to save some bucks. When was the last time an electronic card that you received by email had as much effect on you as a card you received in the mail?

Use the SendOutCards price as a comparison point. If you can get some really nice greeting cards for about $1 or less (about $1.40 including postage is the retail price you’ll pay through SendOutCards), then you’ve found a pretty good deal. SendOutCards postcards are 50 cents or less, so anything in that range is also a good deal.

You might not get some of the special features that SendOutCards offers if you buy a box at the store or through an online retailer, but, maybe you don’t need them. You’ll have to decide that.

Send a Gift

In some cases, you might want to send more than just a card. If you know someone who’s having a rough time financially, you might include a giftcard to a store they frequent, some homemade cookies or a gift basket with items they wouldn’t buy for themselves. Obviously, you can’t send a gift or giftcard with every card you send. The vast majority of people simply can’t afford that. But, every once in awhile, it is nice to be able to for certain people or for certain occassions.

With SendOutCards you can include giftcards for restaurants, book stores, hardware stores, department stores, coffee houses, movie rental places, etc. Various denominations are available for many of the cards. Or, include an actual gift with your card: baby items, kids toys, seasonal items, gourmet foods, gifts for pets, bath and beauty items and much more.

You can, of course, do the same thing WITHOUT SendOutCards, but they sure make it easy. Either way, if you feel a prompting to send more than a card, whether you use SendOutCards or not, don’t ignore it. Chances are the person you send it to will be more blessed than you can even fathom. There is a reason we have the promptings that we do to help certain people. Most times, it’s because they really need it.

YES, I am a SendOutCards Distributor

I know you’re thinking it, and I have no reason to hide it, so I may as well point out the elephant in the corner. A short time ago, when I decided I was going to use SendOutCards for my business mailings I also decided I may as well become a SendOutCards distributor, since it seemed like an awesome service that alot of people could use and would benefit from.

That being said, I want you to know three things.

NUMBER ONE – I don’t EVER promote anything that I don’t believe is a highly superior product or service as compared to anything else available, and, it HAS to offer a tremendous benefit to the user (normally in terms of significant financial or time savings). I despise “home business” opportunitues that sell hugely overpriced products and services so they can provide big commissions in order to convince every customer to become a distributor (just so they can get a decent price).

SendOutCards offers a tremendous savings over traditional cards even for retail customers, and the online interface for creating cards is outstanding (although the rest of their site organization could still use a little work).

NUMBER TWO — Twenty percent of everything I earn through SendOutCards will go to helping and encouraging people (other than myself and my family). I give 15% of ALL my earnings to my church, but, unlike a traditional church which spends a great deal of it’s available funds on construction, upkeep, utilities and renovation of church buildings and facilities, our church body meets in our homes. Thus, nearly ALL of our funds can be used to actually help people in the community.

The other 5% I would like to place into an account that I would simply use for either sending more cards so that this vision can be expanded even further or for other community projects that my church may not be involved in, but I would like to be. Either way, the funds will be used to help and encourage people who really need it.

NUMBER THREE — At the time of this writing, I am earning absolutely nothing through SendOutCards. I just signed up for the service a couple of weeks ago, and this is not my primary business. I have been selling AMSOIL and AGGRAND products for 13 years and have no intentions of stopping. They are both excellent products that have developed into a very good business for me. SendOutCards is just a great service that I saw value in and thought others would too.

Who knows, maybe they are the next NetFlix. From 2003 to 2008, SendOutCards grew from a business based out of some guy’s garage to a 50 million dollar business. 2009 is projected to reach 80 million, I believe. May as well hop on and see where this train goes.

Now Go Do Something

Start acting on the promptings that come to your mind. You’ll be amazed at how much YOU will be blessed when you encourage and bless others. The more you do it, the more you’ll WANT to do it. Just send a few cards to people you know that could use a little “pick me up”. If you want to check out SendOutCards go ahead and use the free gift account to send out a few free cards. If not, just don’t cheap out. If you’re going to send a card to pick someone up, send a nice one. They’re worth it.

And don’t forget to send people to WhyTheCards.com so they can pick up the vision too. Together we really can make a difference. Put the address in your cards, post it to your social networking accounts, link to it from your blog or website. Anything we can do to spread the word.

If you put the address in your cards, you don’t need to make it prominent or include an explanation of any kind. Just write the address down at the bottom on the inside of the card. By not providing any explanation at all, the recipient of your card will likely be curious and will check out the site, hopefully catching the vision and sending their own cards.

Come Back: Tell Your Story

I would love to hear your stories of how people were blessed by a card and/or gift that you sent. Put your story in the comments section at the end of this page or even submit a “testimonial” type article. The more people who post to the site, the more new visitors will be excited about the possibilities

How to Create a Card with SendOutCards

Thanks,

Mike Kaufman