Believe it or not, when you send out a greeting card, there are certain rules of etiquette to follow. Indeed, your close friends and family won’t begrudge you if you don’t follow every single etiquette rule. Nevertheless, if you want to impress the recipient, or if you are sending out a greeting card, there are certain rules of etiquette to beat in mind.

Following proper greeting card etiquette can seem puzzling at first, but adhering to a few simple rules will help you make your recipients feel truly special every time one of your greeting cards arrives in the mail.

■Keep It Personal

Although technology has made it more convenient to print off mailing labels in a matter of minutes, it really is best to handwrite the addresses on your envelope. If you use mailing labels, it eliminates the personal touch associated with greeting cards and makes it look as if you sent out hundreds of impersonal greetings to everyone you know. While this may not be far from the truth—particularly if you are sending out greeting cards to business partners—you certainly don’t want to send this message along with your greetings. If you have more greeting cards than you can deal with personally, you might want to consider hiring someone to personally handwrite them for you.

The personalization of your greetings also extends to the card itself. While you may print your business information on the inside of your card, you definitely should sign the card yourself. Writing a short message inside will also further the impression of your greeting card. Just a few words is enough; something as simple as, “Wishing you the very best” will suffice. You will be amazed at just how far a short message such as this can go toward building up relationships—whether it’s a personal or business relationship.

Finally, be mindful of e-greetings, as these have too little personal impact, if at all. This is especially true with business associates. E-greetings simply do not make the same impact as paper greetings and, in fact, may even be offensive to some clients. Although e-greetings can be enjoyable and are simple to send, these greetings should be used only with your closest friends and family. Even then, proper etiquette dictates sending a paper greeting for major events, such as holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries.

■Know the Recipient

When sending out greeting cards, it is important for you to know enough about the recipient to avoid accidentally being offensive. This can be tricky when sending out greeting cards to business associates, and the time you spend to ensure that the greeting is appropriate is very important. For instance, you may offend a client if you send a Christmas card to one who is of a religion that does not celebrate the holiday. As a result, you can individualize your greetings or you can send out greeting cards that would not be offensive to any particular group. In the case of Christmas cards, for instance, you might send out cards that simply wish “Happy Holidays” instead of specifying one religion.

■Address the Envelope Properly

Ideally, you should send your greeting cards to the home of the recipient, even if the person is a business associate. If you don’t have the home address, sending the greeting to the place of business is also acceptable; just be certain to keep it as personal as possible.

When sending a greeting card to the home of a business associate, the spouse of the associate should also be mentioned. It’s okay if you don’t know the name of the wife in the case that your business associate is male, because you can address the envelope with a “Mr.and Mrs.John Doe”. If the business associate is female, whereas, you will need to find out the name of her husband so you can address the greeting card properly.

If one or both of the recipients is a doctor, there are extra rules of etiquette to follow. If both are doctors, the envelope should be addressed with “The Doctors Doe”. If they have different last names, however, the best way to start the address is with “Dr.John Doe and Dr.Jane Smith”. If only the husband is a doctor, the envelope is addressed with “Dr.and Mrs.John Doe”. If the wife is a doctor and the husband is not, the proper label is “Mr.John Doe and Dr.Jane Doe”.