Friday, January 9, 2015

Saying 'Thanks'

I've been seeing a lot of stories out there lately proclaiming January as "National Thank You Month." I'm guessing it's not an official holiday in any country, but any excuse to encourage people to write more letters is always fun.

Of course, they're not calling it Thank You Note Month and there are many ways to say "thank you." But, the preferred method here at 365 Letters is to write a note or letter.

These Thank You! cards are available from Crane & Co.
For a casual thank you letter, you can get the "thank you" part out of the way up front and then continue your letter to include your regular chatty conversation.

But, for a more formal thank you, you might want to use a nice thank you card and keep the note topic to the official appreciation.

One standard piece of advice for writing thank you notes for gifts is to specifically mention the thing you're thanking them for. And, if possible, mention how you've used it or what you plan to do with it. For example, if you received a gift card over the holidays, let the giver know you used it for a specific purchase or maybe that you're saving it till you get a chance to go shopping next weekend. If you received a blender for a wedding present, you might mention that you can't wait to try it out on breakfast smoothies.

Let's say you received a gift you don't like, and you've exchanged it for something more appropriate. You can still send a thank you note, and you can still express appreciation for the gift. It's not really a lie. If you exchanged it for something you really like, then you can be appreciative of the original gift that eventually allowed you to get what you wanted. Even if you re-gifted it, you can still say thanks, since the unwanted gift saved you the expense and time of shopping for a gift for someone else. And, there's no need to mention the exchange or re-gifting. Just say thanks and that you appreciate the gift. That's all you need to say. If you think the letter's too short, move on to another topic, such as the weather or your family.

Good luck with the thank you notes!

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