Ever since I started to use the computer at a young age, I have become less a fan of writing things out. There are times when I like to write to take quick notes, but gone are the days for me to write something more than a page. I don’t know if that is a good or bad thing, but I would just rather type something if I need to; it is just faster and more efficient in my opinion. The same goes for writing letters or cards, I absolutely hate having to do them if I don’t need to. I know my wife is not a fan of the fact that I don’t like to write them as I make her do it for me sometimes.
Well, I got the chance to play around with an app called Postable, and it may have solved my problem. It gives me the opportunity to use my computer to write and create cards to send to people, so that way I won’t have to waste time writing them. Better yet, my wife will be happy that she won’t have to write my cards for me. In the end, it could be a win-win situation. It just might be what you need for Father’s day this Sunday, or other special days coming up.
Getting Started
One of the first things you are going to want to do when you first sign up for Postable is to get your contacts into the app. You can do this by importing your address book from your computer or you can also manually add addresses. Postable also gives you a link that you can share with others where you can make them do the work, by adding their info themselves. I like this option, especially for special occasions like weddings, instead of having a guest book, you can have an iPad or laptop set up where guests can get their information entered into Postable.
Adding contacts to Postable
Writing and Sending The Card
Before you actually start to write cards to people, you need to choose one appropriate for the occasion. Right now, Postable only has thank you cards that you can send to people for a variety of occasions. I am sure in the future they are going to be adding more so that they can expand their business.
Choosing a card
Once you find one that you like, you have the option of sending it to one person or to a group of people. You can now start to write your card, by choosing one of your contacts or by adding one manually. There are also a variety of fonts that you can choose from that look like actual handwriting, to try to give it a more authentic feel.
Writing your card
When you are done writing all of the cards you need to send out, you are now ready to pay for them and send them off. Each one, at this moment, costs $2.00 and postage costs $0.46. Once you are done purchasing them, your card will then be sent off through snail mail. The person will then get a real card in the mail that actually almost looks like a real handwritten one.
Paying for your card and postage
Could This Work?
I personally really like this service for a couple of reasons. One, I don’t have to write cards and the person I am sending them to gets a quality, physical card from them, and we all know people throw them away 5 minutes after they get them anyway. Secondly, Postable, is actually cheaper than going to the store, finding a card you like, and then mailing it off. Most now days are easily in the $4-7 range and so with this service, I am actually saving some money. I think where Postable can get a little expensive is if you are sending out a lot of the same card to people. Most times you can buy the same card in bulk at the store, which will be cheaper than this route.
The trick for Postable is to be able to offer a better selection of cards and to be able to offer certain ones in bulk. The goal is that they have to be able to convince people that it is going to be worth it rather than doing it the old fashioned way. Will Postable gain a lot of traction? I am not sure, but I do think they meet a need for people. You do have people like my wife, who are purists when it comes to cards, and absolutely loves to get hand written ones from people. You probably won’t win that group over. But, if they can somehow convince others that this is the way to go to send out the occasional card to someone, then they might have something.
Final Thoughts
In the end, I really liked the service and I thought it was well done. Yes, I am not the hugest fan of writing cards, but putting that aside, I really thought that Postable did a good job of giving you an app that was easy to use and navigate. I liked that I could easily get in, write a card and send it off to someone in a matter of minutes. I would love to see them continually improve their offerings and continue to think outside the box on how they could attract more customers.
Would you use something like this or does this take away from the sentimental value of getting a “real” card? Would you get offended if you received a card like this? I am interested to hear your thoughts, so hit us up in the comments below.