10 Reasons Why E-Cards Are Better than Traditional Cards

rainWhen it comes to making someone feel special, there are many ways to express your sentiments. An electronic-card or e-card is a simple way to show someone that you care. Here are some reasons why e-cards are better than the traditional card.

1. Cost
The average traditional greeting card costs around $3.50, which does not seem like much until you have 50 birthdays, thank you notes, or wedding invitations to mail. Then, add in postage and pretty soon that $3.50 becomes hundreds of dollars per year on stationary. Ecards can be sent to more people for less money and even free at some websites. No postage or shipping costs necessary.

2. Easy and Fast Delivery
Forgot to put a traditional card in the mail? Forget someone’s birthday or anniversary, but you’re suddenly reminded? Not a problem. Ecards are quick and easy solution. They can be designed and emailed immediately. The recipient doesn’t even have to know that you nearly missed sending out a heartfelt congratulations or birthday greeting. As long as recipient gets the email by the end of the day, your secret is safe.

3. Schedule Delivery
Not only can you send an ecard immediately, but you can also schedule it to be sent in advance. If you’re more of a planner, this is an excellent way to make sure that you share your anniversary or birthday messages on time every time. Never miss an important event again.

4. Customized
Some messages cannot be fully expressed by a traditional card, but with an ecard you can make each message special. Create a custom sympathy message when the words on a traditional sympathy card are not enough. Perhaps, you need to share a custom message to your loved one that only you can express. The ability to create custom messages allows you to say as much or as little as you decide.

5. Animation
Email animated messages with music and sounds to express your congratulations or thank you. An animated ecard will bring joy to person who receives it.
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6. Save Time
Imagine that you have 100 guests for a wedding. Tradition dictates that invitations must be hand-written, and that can take a long time. Then, you have to think about shipping issues, such as invitations getting lost in the mail. Save time by sending online invitations to your big events. You can also save time after the wedding by sending online thank you notes.

7. Go Green
Your special messages can be delivered electronically to help you go green. The messages that you wish to share with your loved ones can be expressed as easily and effectively online as it could in a paper format. Go green and use less paper.

8. Less Clutter
Instead of mailing a lot of paper notes to your loved ones, help them live with less clutter by emailing your messages electronically. Now, they won’t have to worry about where to keep all this paper that they receive each year. They will no longer feel obligated to display the notes that you’ve sent them all over the house, and they’ll be clutter-free.

9. Save the Messages
Sentimental? Electronic messages can be saved and viewed for a long time, but without the mess and clutter. All the recipient has to do is save the link in the message, and he or she can view your message for years to come.

10. Easy
Electronic greetings are easy and anyone can do it. If you can navigate the Internet you can create thoughtful message to email to anyone. It’s so quick and easy. After a while, you’ll soon find that e-cards are not as impersonal as you may have thought. They are a quick, easy way for you to make the loved ones in your life feel special.

Virtual Cards: The Modern Greeting Card

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Opening up your email box, you see a message from a beloved family member or friend… it’s a virtual greeting card. Whether the card was sent from your sister for your birthday or from your wife just for fun, you’re a bit curious to learn more about this ecard trend.

Etiquette and Ecards
Knowing some rules of etiquette is always important when you are choosing one of these deliveries. When someone has passed away, you should generally opt for the more traditional method of sympathy message unless otherwise requested. At a time of great mourning, opting for something that is seen as casual is not the best idea. Furthermore, you may want to reconsider this type of note when you want to thank someone for a gift. Many people prefer a traditional route as opposed to an online one when they are being thanked for a present.

Who Loves These Deliveries ecard1
The decision as to whether or not you want to go traditional with a greeting depends upon the recipient. For example, if your mom has trouble turning on the computer, then she’s probably not the best candidate to receive this love on her anniversary. On the other hand, if your husband is always thrilled to have the newest technology on the market, then you might want to deliver this special token of love to him on his birthday. Take home message: Consider how computer-savvy the recipient is before choosing this method of delivery.

The Environment
When you have a sister or brother who loves to help the environment, you can convince him or her to try out this method of messaging too. When you opt for an old-fashioned anniversary note for your husband, you have to use up paper. Consider the envelope too, and then think about how many other people are buying these for their wife, mom or other loved one. Then, you will realize that millions of paper cards really add up and can have a significant impact on the environment. Instead of wasting paper, take to the internet and some love can be sent to your relative or friend and to the environment.

The Need for a “Tangible” Gift
Some people worry about these types of notes because they want to deliver something tangible to their family members and friends. You can choose this type of note, but then you can provide something fun through the mail. For example, coupled with flowers delivered to the house, the online note is an excellent idea. You can still use the latest technology and provide your loved one with something that he or she can hold. Whether you’re offering this gift to your dad or to your best friend, the recipient will love the thought.

ecard2Simply Fun
Heading to the store and picking up a bouquet of flowers or a mass-produced note is something that plenty of people do. However, individuals usually do this when a special event like a graduation is on the calender. These situations are a bit more formal than a birthday or anniversary. But, you could go to a website right now and deliver a special note to your friend, just because. You do not need to wait until a major event comes around to use an ecard, send it whenever you want!

3 Software Programs For Ecard Design

ecardPersonal mailing postcards are a thing of the past. In today’s society, almost everything can be done online, and that goes for postcard-like mailings as well. These new types of cards are called Ecards, and one can design and personalize these cards for just about any occasion, including a graduation or a wedding. Below are three of the most popular software programs that deal in ecard designs.

1. Personal eCards – This is one of the more popular free ecard software programs currently available. It has a lot of features, but it doesn’t have as much as other paid programs. It comes with a snappy interface. It is easy to share, and it has good looking default templates. However, it offers less customization that a variety of other paid for programs, but it does make sending a personalized card to someone easier either by email or even on a popular social media network for all your friends to see at once.

2. Ecard Magic – This software program was developed by Focussoft, one of the leading program software provides in the market. This program has a variety of backgrounds and formats that can be chosen from, but they also add animated images in order to make their product more fun. You can actually make cards designed for a wedding, a graduation, or even just a common greeting between friends and family.

You can personalize your card with this program by uploading a photo of you or your family for for intimate occasions. You can create different moods with your cards by changing the color or by adding a unique touch. This software program even has a batching feature. Basically, this allows you to send the same card to a variety of different people. It makes sending out invitations and holiday greetings extremely easy and convenient, because they no longer have to be done by hand with all the hassles of dealing with the traditional mail system.

3. Ecard Wizard – This software program is designed to work on the Windows operating systems 98, 2000, XP, Vista, and 7. It comes with a variety of custom templates, and you can actually choose from a variety of formats and backgrounds. You can make your own design, change the color of text, and even add your own greeting to personalize it specifically for the one you are sending it to. For some occasions, you can actually find animated images to bring life to your card, which is not possible when sending a normal card through traditional mail.

Although this product is a purchase product, meaning you have to buy it, the developers have added a free trial version with limited capabilities in order to allow you to test out the product prior to purchasing it. Golden Goose Media, the developers of this program, have even made it more convenient by making a mobile app for android phones. This means that you can make your cards on the phone from the convenience of your phone as well.