SendOutCards.com

Butts Rowley is a local independent distributor, since March this year, representing the US based online greeting card company, SendOutCards.com.

Unlike other online card companies, which allows users to send an internet link to a personalised card on the internet, SendOutCards users get to personalise one of the 18,000 card options or even create their own cards using their personal photos, which is then mailed to the recipient, anywhere in the world.

Once a user logs on to www.sendoutcards.

com/142484, subscribes to the service, they can create their own secured account where they can store information like names, addresses, birthdays, anniversary dates or reminders to send appreciation messages.

Users receive emails to get their cards out in time for these occasions. There is also an option to send gifts or gift cards, which can be selected from options on the website, along with the card.

The card is printed and the order is fulfilled within 24 hours after the user completes their order. Mailing time differs according to the postal service within the country in which the recipient lives.

“Receiving an emailed link to a card does not compare to going to the mailbox and seeing a card among all the bills and whatever else is mailed,” Butts Rowley explained during a recent interview with Newsday. Another benefit of SendOutCards, she said is it is more convenient than heading to a store to purchase cards.

“I remember years ago, I remembered (at the) last minute to buy a card for my husband for Father’s Day. It was important because it was his first Father’s Day. When I got to the store, what they had left on the shelves were not very impressive and I could tell that he was not impressed with what I got. SendOutCards makes it hassle free. You can access it at any time and you could choose from the wide selection of cards or make your own,” she said. The cost of the card, she said, is cheaper than most of the options available at card shops.

The service is utilised in the United States by businessmen and companies, including realtors, dentists, doctors, mortgage companies and other businesses which rely on customer- based earnings.

“People feel underappreciated.

This is a simple tool to show appreciation. It is inexpensive and time saving. A lot of companies take business from people and do not say thank you. The experience is not personalised. This little tool could help many expand their business,” she said.

SendOutCards has also been used to teach school aged children appreciation and can be used as a fund raising initiative.

“Teachers can use card therapy to instill an attitude of gratitude in their children. If students start at around eight years old, sending cards to show that they care, they would probably grow up to be better people,” Butts Rowley said.

Several local schools, she said, have already expressed an interest in this initiative.

To raise funds, organisations such as schools or churches, can become distributors themselves and encourage parents or members to take out subscriptions to the service.

Therefore every time they send a cards or gifts from the website, the organisation will receive the profits from these sales and raise much needed funds.