X-mas Business idea...has this been done?

[Colt McCoy]

Outsourced holiday cards..has this been done?

A company could have an online catalog of holiday cards. Pick the card(s) you like and e-mail the company your mailing list. They take care of the rest. Maybe an option to scan your signature and have it printed in the cards? Might work for corporate card senders too.

What do you think?

[spex x]

Great idea. I don't know if this has been done or not, but I do like it. You'll have to do some thinking about how you will price the cards. I think that price will force you to limit your card selections b/c you'll have to buy the cards in bulk. Also, printing will most likely get expensive if you're offering a quality product.

[Colt McCoy]

Good point. Maybe there's a way to buy them as you get orders. I hadn't really thought thru the details yet.

I just remembered I saw a couple of years ago about a guy that hired a few crews of illegals and was making $250k/year putting up Christmas lights and was thinking about what else people hate doing during the holidays.

[crubfrush]

If my wife wasn't on top of this already, I'd definitely consider this.

My only concern would be how real my signature looks. I don't want my mom finding out I outsourced my only communication with her =\

[elus2]

this is a service you'd use more as a business/consultant to send seasons greetings for your clients. this would just be weird to send to friends/family members imo.

op,

when you have enough clients, you can expand the business to do birthdays as well. your clients would just need to add birthdays when sending out their customer info. this way the business can thrive year round.

[Colt McCoy]

[ QUOTE ]
My only concern would be how real my signature looks. I don't want my mom finding out I outsourced my only communication with her =\

[/ QUOTE ]

Heh...good point. I've seen some printed signatures that are very good.

I guess another issue would be getting people to trust you with their mailing lists.

[BiPolar_Nut]

I've seen this type of service offered before. Possibly via a spam mail when I was consulting.

Good idea with good potential...although I think you may be starting a little late to put together all the details in a well thought out and professional manner for this holiday season. By all means, use this season as a learning experience tho, and start building a customer base for next year.

I'm certain this kind of service exists, but obviously it hasn't been marketed well since nobody has mentioned being aware of it. Out-market your competitors. Profit.

Good Luck!

[Ron Burgundy]

This is an excellent idea. A few years ago, a lawyer friend of mine payed me $8 an hour to do his xmas cards and send them to all his clients (he has hundreds of clients). He considered it the biggest pain in the ass ever. I'm sure he and many people like him who send out masses of cards would love to have a service like that.

With the signatures, you could have the customer sign a blank piece of paper, then scan and email it to you. Then you could print an exact copy of that sig on the cards. I don't know how to do that though.

If you ever get this business going, PM me and I'll contact my buddy to get you your first customer.

[elus2]

these articles might be informative

http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz...213_237770.htm

http://www.powerhomebiz.com/guide/cases/cheryl.htm