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Poll: Are you planning to send year-end greetings to at least some of your clients? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Are you planning to send year-end greetings to at least some of your clients?".
View the poll results »
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| Merry Christmas | Nov 16, 2022 |
I don't send year-end greetings, I wish a Merry Christmas!
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:36
Member (2008)
Italian to English
For me, there is no such thing as Christmas and I get slightly annoyed when other people try to get me involved in it.
This year the winter solstice (the rebirth of the year) takes place on 22 December at the 5000-year-old burial mound at Newgrange in Ireland.
For reasons I have never quite understood, Christians shift this event to 25 December (4 days later) and believe it marks the anniversary of something that only happened once: the birth of their prophet, Jesus ... See more For me, there is no such thing as Christmas and I get slightly annoyed when other people try to get me involved in it.
This year the winter solstice (the rebirth of the year) takes place on 22 December at the 5000-year-old burial mound at Newgrange in Ireland.
For reasons I have never quite understood, Christians shift this event to 25 December (4 days later) and believe it marks the anniversary of something that only happened once: the birth of their prophet, Jesus Christ.
The winter solstice (on the other hand) is not a one-off event that happened 2022 years ago; it is part of the eternal, infinite movements of the universe.
I don't believe in Christianity but I do believe in these ever-present, never-ending movements of the cosmos and the mysterious laws that govern them.
If I were to send "winter solstice" greetings to my clients, they would probably write me off as a nutcase.
So I just quietly note the turning of the year and say nothing.
This short video explains what happened in 3,500 BC when the sun rose and illuminated the burial chamber.
It's the same sun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngADMns8W78&t=17s
[Edited at 2022-11-16 09:16 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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| I used to, but... | Nov 16, 2022 |
I used to send a number of e-cards and even personal paper cards to all my customers but over the years they are fewer and fewer (not the customers, the cards). If I happen to have a job close to the holidays, I may add something (I work with two “historical” clients who have different cultural practices and traditions). I always respond to those who send me an email (clients, colleagues, suppliers, my accountant…).
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Kay Denney 
France
Local time: 18:36
French to English
I sent out greetings cards for the first couple of years of freelancing, then in 2020 it really didn't seem appropriate because nobody was feeling festive or anything, and I was busy with a big project in December 2021.
This year I'm up to my eyeballs in a huge project due for mid-January. In France we can send New Year greetings up to 31 January so there is still time for that, but it won't count for this poll because it's about the beginning of the New Year rather than the end of the ol... See more I sent out greetings cards for the first couple of years of freelancing, then in 2020 it really didn't seem appropriate because nobody was feeling festive or anything, and I was busy with a big project in December 2021.
This year I'm up to my eyeballs in a huge project due for mid-January. In France we can send New Year greetings up to 31 January so there is still time for that, but it won't count for this poll because it's about the beginning of the New Year rather than the end of the old one. ▲ Collapse
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| Thanks for the reminder! | Nov 16, 2022 |
I had completely forgotten😱 As everyone knows, year-end greetings require lengthy preparation.
I will start work now.
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Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 12:36
German to English
| Greeting with final invoice | Nov 16, 2022 |
I usually send a best wishes message for the coming year along with my final invoice for the year in December. It's been a successful strategy in most cases for decades.
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Metin Demirel
Türkiye
Local time: 19:36
Member (2018)
Italian to Turkish
+ ...
| Like the weekend | Nov 16, 2022 |
Just like I wish a great weekend in our final contact in the week before the next contact on Monday, I only wish a happy new year if we're in touch for a project and we know we will not hear from each other before the start of new year. To me, sending greetings feels like "I am here and I need jobs, lest ye forget."
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| I send an e-card | Nov 16, 2022 |
I have a fair idea of which clients will send me a greeting, and I send an electronic card to them.
A non-profit organisation provides some attractive e-cards each year, and I take the opportunity to thank good clients for their business and wish them well in the New Year.
I regard it as painless marketing - reminding them I am still here and happy to work with them again.
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Some of my clients have also become personal friends over the years, and they will receive my holiday greetings in that capacity.
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Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 18:36
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
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| Haven't thought about this. | Nov 17, 2022 |
But I sure expect a ton of year-end greetings from "clients" who never sent me any work and probably never will. You know, those who added me to their database for the sole purpose of sending me year-end greetings.
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:36
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Lingua 5B wrote:
But I sure expect a ton of year-end greetings from "clients" who never sent me any work and probably never will. You know, those who added me to their database for the sole purpose of sending me year-end greetings.
Ha ha- I get the same thing!
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Hayley Wakenshaw
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:36
Member (2018)
Dutch to English
| I like the personal touch of a handwritten card | Nov 23, 2022 |
I've always appreciated this sort of thing when it's been very personal and not a mass mailing done automatically through a database.
I've been translating for years, but I'm trying to make it a proper, full-time job this year. I like to cultivate good relationships with my clients because it's just a nicer way of working. So this year, for the first time, I've designed a card that matches my branding and I've sent it to clients and some of the agencies I've contacted recently.
... See more I've always appreciated this sort of thing when it's been very personal and not a mass mailing done automatically through a database.
I've been translating for years, but I'm trying to make it a proper, full-time job this year. I like to cultivate good relationships with my clients because it's just a nicer way of working. So this year, for the first time, I've designed a card that matches my branding and I've sent it to clients and some of the agencies I've contacted recently.
Also, even when you include international postage, I reckon having a (subtly) branded card hanging in an office for a month is really cheap advertising.
[Edited at 2022-11-23 18:11 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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But I was thinking of sending greetings to all my virtual colleagues. So let me be the first one this year: Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
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Tom in London wrote:
believe it marks the anniversary of something that only happened once: the birth of their prophet, Jesus Christ.
[Edited at 2022-11-16 09:16 GMT]
Not entirely true. Read the good book, especially Matthew and Luke. You'll will find that he was borne twice, once before the year 0, and once after the year 0. Even the visitors to the crib are different (shepherds and wise men from the east who followed a star at the eastern sky. That they didn't end up in China is still a miracle to me, but that aside).
[Edited at 2022-11-23 18:35 GMT]
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