Thursday, August 7, 2008

Greeting with a Personal Touch: SendOutCards.com

This one has me very excited! Right out of the gate, I will rate this web service as one of the most innovative SaaS applications I've seen in 2008. Following the Wil Schroder start up model, this service uses the Internet to provide a robust solution that alleviates the friction in a human transaction.

With the rise of email and social networks, the old tradition of sending paper cards has fallen by the wayside. Why? Here are some my thoughts:

  1. The Time Investment - the process of sending traditional greeting cards is a long process of hand writing, addressing, and then making a trip to the post office or mail box to send the message.

  2. Higher Costs - take into account the rate of postage, the price of the gas you will to get to and from the store and post office, and that most decent greeting cards can range from $4 to $5 at the store, and it's reasonable to average more than $10 per card in expenses.

  3. Finding the Right Card - the options are limited at your typical retail locations, so you may not be able to find the right fit for the occasion. Yet design and printing custom cards just adds on to the already lengthy time commitment.
SendOutCards has developed a SaaS solution to address all of these negatives, and in my opinion, has done a hell of a job in designing a turn-key solution.

How It Works
For a reasonable fee, Send Out Cards allows users to upload a database of contacts, and then design, save and send personalized greeting cards for a variety of special occasions. Users also have the ability to purchase and include gifts along with their cards, which include retail and restarnat gift cards, food items and even books. Users also have the ability to create custom cards by uploading images, logos and photos to be included in the layout.

One of the most interesting features is the ability to include your very own handwriting style in the printed copy. Users have the option to submit characters, punctuation and personal signatures via a provided paper form, which is then be mailed back to Send Out Cards. Once received, Send Out Cards scans the document and creates a personal font for the user and implements it on their account.

The company handles all printing, postage and mailing of the cards, which saves end users considerable amounts of time and energy, encouraging them to once again send tangible greetings to contacts.

Who Can Use This?
Send Out Cards is absolutely for everyone - from business professionals conducting client follow up, to busy moms looking for a less time consuming way to send holiday greetings to friends and family. The user interface is friendly and intuitive, and transitions between various screens are quick.

I believe that this unique platform is one for the books, and will have a long life ahead of it. I've already become an avid user of this application, so please feel free to visit my SOC homepage and follow the link at the top if you would like to try sending a free card.

5 comments:

  1. Nate,
    I love it, i'm sharing it with my wife tonight! Maybe next year my Dad won't disown me b/c I didn't send him a card.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Solid business concept. I like the ability to schedule a bunch of customized cards.

    Hypothetically you could plan a year in advance. Interesting networking tool. I can't wait to check it out.

    Also, well written post. Clear and effective. You should post more often!

    ReplyDelete
  3. interesting thoughts!

    arlene,
    Tacoma florist

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for all your comments! If you do use the free card offer, please post and let me know what you think of how it works...

    Nate

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nice write up Nate!!
    I am an Card Sender with SOC

    Besides this being a great Relationship Marketing tool with ability to send personal cards in your own hand writing, with your own signature and I have to mention the fact that you can easily insert any digital picture into your cards as well.
    I have found this to also be a great system to keep up with all the birthdays and anniversaries. I have even been able to reestablish with people I have not seen or heard from in a long time by sending them an unexpected heartfelt card.

    Remember: People will forget what you say and people will forget what you do but people will never forget how you make them feel!!

    Send Out Cards
    Changing Lives One Card at a Time

    Mike

    ReplyDelete

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