How do I Close a Christmas Newsletter?

You've written letters and holiday greeting cards before, so why does writing a closing for a Christmas newsletter feel daunting? Maybe knowing that it might be stuck up on the fridge for others to read adds an extra level of pressure. A simple "Warmest wishes!" doesn't seem strong or personal enough.

The way you close a holiday newsletter depends on the audience and the impression you want to leave with them. If you're writing a family newsletter to share with your loved ones, you probably want to make sure they feel your sincere best wishes for a wonderful holiday season. If you're crafting a company newsletter to send to customers, vendors and other professional contacts, it's a tougher needle to thread; you're sharing holiday wishes but also trying to retain their business.

No matter your goal or audience, here are some suggestions for festive and appropriate ways to sign off a holiday newsletter.

When you're writing for an audience of family members and close friends, you can be as lighthearted, personal or as serious as you want to be. Just be mindful of the tone of the rest of the letter and the sensibilities and religious beliefs of your audience.

For example, writing a funny Christmas letter and closing it with a quip about how you're looking forward to it being over might delight your best friend, but offend your devoutly religious relatives who consider the Christmas season to be sacred. At the same time, if it's been a tough year and your holiday letter is filled with updates about your family's health challenges, ending with a chipper "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!" might strike readers as odd.

That said, here are some examples for ways you might close a personal holiday newsletter.

• Write a few sentences at the very end of the letter sharing your own/your family's hopes for the year ahead, then add something like "We're wishing just as good things for you and your loved ones in the coming year! For now, we're also wishing you a very Merry Christmas/happy holiday season!"
• If it's been a challenging year for you and your family, you might want to end on a note that thanks your loved ones for the ways they helped you. "While there have been some tough times and painful losses this year, seeing the way my/our community supported us filled us with gratitude. Your support has already been the best Christmas gift I could have asked for!"
• Sign off with a simple message like "Season's greetings from our family to yours," then add a quote underneath as the true final word of your newsletter.

Striking the right tone for your business holiday newsletter can be tough for a few reasons. One, you might be sending the letter to hundreds or even thousands of people whom you don't know well. You probably want to create a balance between "general best wishes" and "thanks for the business this past year; please give us your business again next year" without being tacky about it.

You also want to strike a tone of "friendly people you can trust" without veering into overly personal territory. Your holiday newsletter might use a casual tone, but it's still professional correspondence. (Obviously, things like "hugs and kisses," "lots of love" or "xoxo" aren't going to be appropriate sign offs for most businesses!)

Here are some examples for ways you might close a newsletter or holiday card on behalf of a business.

• "Our team is proud to have served the [X] community for [X] years, and we're looking forward to another great year ahead. We hope you'll be a part of it!"
• "The team at [X] will be enjoying a well-deserved rest over the holiday season so we can spend quality time with our loved ones. We're wishing you the same, and looking forward to hitting the ground running in January for another great year!"
• "From our team to yours, thank you for being a part of another great year here at [X]. Wishing you all the best this holiday season."

Finally, sign off with a simple "Happy Holidays/Warm Wishes from [X]." A sign off like "Merry Christmas" or "Wishing you Christmas blessings" might be well-received by most of the people on your mailing list. But, there's no reason to alienate non-Christian customers or business contacts who don't celebrate Christmas when writing "Happy Holidays" is just as easy.

Even if the content of a holiday newsletter or Christmas card is interesting, it always feels a little impersonal to receive a generic mass-printed message. Adding a personal note to each copy of your newsletter shows each recipient that you've actually been thinking about them this holiday season.

Consider leaving the greeting portion of the letter blank and filling in each name by hand. Also, leave space in the bottom margin of the letter so you can jot a personal message there. Write something like, "It's been too long since we've seen your whole family—let's catch up in the new year!" or "We're looking forward to another year of working with Jane, Bob and the rest of your team!"

This might not be feasible for you to do for every copy, depending on the size of your mailing list, but do it for as many people as possible.

Now, stop stressing about how to close the newsletter and start working at getting them printed and mailed out in time!