To my delight yesterday, I received the note cards I ordered from David Castle, an artist I found here in blog world. I like to keep a variety of note cards on hand to adhere to a rule I established when I started my own business as a professional writer.

I write good, old-fashioned Thank You notes to my clients, no matter how small the project is. Sometimes I write them before I get the actual contract, just because the client has spent quite a bit of time and effort with me to help me scope out the work and come up with a proposal. I try to sneak one in right after the contract is signed if there’s time.

At the end of the project, and not with the invoice, I send out another note, thanking them for their business and looking forward to the next project.

Sending Thank You notes makes sense on so many levels. I know that I’ve been impressed with vendors who took the time to thank me when I was doing the hiring. And people, I think, appreciate a handwritten note so much more these days, when almost everything is delivered electronically.

Because so much of what I do is delivered electronically as well, sometimes I realize I’m working with a client and I don’t have a physical address for my contact, even though we’ve been talking every day. But I can usually do a quick internet search to get a mailing address, and I frequently get an email note back from my client when the note’s received.