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A Strange Request, But I need your advise

by yourreviewer
8 replies
Hey guys,
I wanted to do this for a long time but somehow I have postponed it till now. I want to send out postcards to 50 random people in U.S. with a message of wishing them good luck and health in their lives. I am not attempting to sell them anything or expecting anything from their end. I just want to do it out of good faith.

1. Are there any laws against sending postcards to random people?

2. Is there an online database where I can get random addresses? I don't necessarily want to send the postcards to folks in my state alone.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Dan
#advise #request #strange
  • Profile picture of the author Adaptive
    Hi Dan,

    For the legal advice, you should probably ask for the local postmaster. I'm not an attorney, but my impression is that since you're not selling anything, an initial contact is fine. If you repeatedly sent messages, were asked to stop and didn't, you might get in trouble.

    Most larger libraries have telephone books from other cities.

    Regards,
    Allen

    P.S. If you write a book about your idea and how it turns out, I'd be interested in reading it.
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  • Profile picture of the author yourreviewer
    Thank you Allen. I appreciateyour guidance.
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  • Profile picture of the author greenovni
    Long time ago I used to send a flyer about my business in the mail to people. As long as I paid for the postage, it was ok.

    It is considered business mail and the USPS has a very cool page about it including information about bulk pricing.

    USPS - Welcome to Business Mail 101

    To get addresses, you should know that the web is a massive database of them

    To get you rolling in the right direction, you can use Anywho.com , type any random Last name and pick a state and viola! instant and limitless names and addresses.

    I hope this helps and would love to know how it turns out!

    Greenovni

    PS. If you need any help, don't hesitate to ask.
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  • Profile picture of the author yourreviewer
    Thank you so much. This is awesome.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tom E
    Dan,
    The thought behind it is very noble, but if you send an anonymous letter to someone wishing them good luck and health in life, it's very likely that they will put the majority of their attention on "who on earth sent this??".

    My glass is always full - I'm a total optimist, but I have to admit, if I received a letter like that, I would be wracking my brains for weeks trying to figure out who sent it.

    If you really want to make a difference in people's lives, why don't you make a decision to give at least 5 people a compliment every day for the next 10 days? I guarantee you that you will leave a much greater impact on those 50 people's lives than the ones receiving those postcards. Besides, you'll end up feeling incredible on a daily basis from doing it.
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    • Profile picture of the author yourreviewer
      Originally Posted by gr8tocre8 View Post

      Dan,
      The thought behind it is very noble, but if you send an anonymous letter to someone wishing them good luck and health in life, it's very likely that they will put the majority of their attention on "who on earth sent this??".

      My glass is always full - I'm a total optimist, but I have to admit, if I received a letter like that, I would be wracking my brains for weeks trying to figure out who sent it.

      If you really want to make a difference in people's lives, why don't you make a decision to give at least 5 people a compliment every day for the next 10 days? I guarantee you that you will leave a much greater impact on those 50 people's lives than the ones receiving those postcards. Besides, you'll end up feeling incredible on a daily basis from doing it.
      Interesting advice. I did think about the "who on earth sent this" but I wanted to try it. One of the problems I have is that I am basically a very shy person and I fear that I might end up embarassing myself when I try a real life compliment . I will give that a try as well.
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      • Profile picture of the author Tom E
        Originally Posted by yourreviewer View Post

        One of the problems I have is that I am basically a very shy person and I fear that I might end up embarassing myself when I try a real life compliment . I will give that a try as well.
        If you're shy, take it online. Give 5 people a day a compliment online - on this forum, myspace, facebook...the sky's the limit
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  • Profile picture of the author greenovni
    Being a very shy person might be something that you want to overcome. No better way than to try it. I bet that once you give a compliment and blush, the person receiving it will appreciate it more as it is "real".

    If you want to overcome the "who the hell sent this" problem, just write on the card itself that you are just trying to change the world 1 compliment at a time and it was sent completely at random because "you might need it" considering how the world is now a days.
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