• On 25 Aug 2014
• By Christine Kirby

Review of 5 Virtual Card Companies

Digital greeting cards can be a great way of sending a special message to someone far away. Whether it’s for a birthday, anniversary or to say congratulations, they can help you make a real connection. Several companies offer a this service, but how do they stack up against one another?

Hallmarkecards.com

Hallmark has a wide selection for every occasion. Most of the choices available in their stores are available in a digital version as well. One benefit to using Hallmark is that they are a large company and can afford to license material from other companies, so you can send a message featuring Family Guy or Peanuts characters. You have a menu with several options, including occasion, tone, and character. To send a message, you are required to register with Hallmark, but this is a simple process. Afterwards, it is a simple three-step process. In terms of privacy, Hallmarkecards.com not only saves your information, but they also share it with their marketing partners.

Punchbowl.com
Punchbowl started out as a party planning service that sends save-the-date evites, and branched out into virtual greetings. They offer a smaller selection and the designs are more simplistic, but they make up for it by offering additional services. You can include a gift card from over twenty different online and physical stores. You also have the option of adding photo of yourself or the recipient. Punchbowl.com allows you to change the font of your text or of their prewritten message. About half of Punchbowl.com’s choices are free and can be sent without registering. To access the other half, you’ll have to become a member. The company only collects the information of the recipient. If you are a member, they will use and share your information. They do retain the name and e-mail address of your recipients, but they do not share it or send them additional e-mails.

Paperlesspost.com
Despite the name, Paperlesspost.com operates an online evite service as well as a traditional invitation service. This is what they are best known for, but they also have a large selection, both paper and virtual. Their free selection is not as good as many other online services. They have a much better premium section. These require the sender to purchase credits in order to send them. After registering, the process of adding your own message and finishing touches is very straightforward. All senders are required to register, and you can log in with Facebook. The website collects and shares your personal information and may send special offers. When you send evites to others, it retains the information and may use it to help them connect with other users of the site.

Smilebox.com
Smilebox.com offers a large selection of animated and highly customizable virtual greeting messages. They have many free selections with the same features as the premium ones. To access the premium section, users will need to pay an annual fee, but they offer the option of a seven-day trial. When you try to personalize your message, there is a bump in the road that may stop some users. Senders are required to download the site’s software, install it on their computer and register for an account. After doing so, they can personalize the message, and then e-mail it, post it to a Facebook page or print it. The software is not difficult to use, and you can customize your greeting with your own photos and slideshows. Smilebox.com keeps and shares membership information, but not the recipient’s information.

Someecards.com
Someecards.com allows you to send funny, mostly sarcastic and frequently risqué messages. Their standard set cannot be personalized, but senders can include an optional message with them. Users can create their own messages by selecting a picture and entering their own text. The process is very simple, and no registration is necessary. Senders only need to make a selection, enter their information, and send it. Someecards.com collects your name, e-mail address and the e-mail address of the recipient, but it does not share this information or use it for marketing purposes.

• On 19 May 2014
• By Christine Kirby

10 Reasons Why E-Cards Are Better than Traditional Cards

When 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.

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.

• On 14 Apr 2014
• By Christine Kirby

Virtual Cards: The Modern Greeting Card

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
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.

Simply 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!