Happy Friday

big, big h/t to Sam Watterson and Calvin and Hobbes

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The Power of the Personal Letter

It’s funny. In the rush to be more productive, to squeeze more stuff into every day, we often times forget the importance of the personal touch.

Consider the email revolution.

Email has so supplanted postal mail as the primary form of written communication that a trip to the mailbox for most academics is a twice-a-week drudgery to empty the junk mail, pick up journals that are still not available online, unwrap (and give away) another complementary textbook, and notice what paper the administration deems important to send your way.

So it was with some surprise and intense curiosity yesterday that I found myself in front of my mailbox yesterday on the way out the door.

For you see, there was a letter. Not a bill. A letter, that, when opened, included a sheet of good paper with printed words on it that closed with a signature. It was so unexpected, it was special.

You can bet I answered it this morning.

So in this email world, consider the fact that postal mail now has a new, rather special function. It’s a form of “boutique” communication, just as special as a Fex Ex envelope.

And it gets noticed.

See also Your Personal Brand