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The Internet is a wonderful forum for regular people, with some form of talent, to find an audience. Whether they are authors, artists, or inventors, the initial investment is minimal.
What determines whether the new venture is going to be a success or a flop is often how well the products match a niche in a market and how well it is introduced to the world.
Let me tell you of one that is so right that you have to wish it all success in the world. This is the story of an English artist, Jacquie Lawson who back in the year 2000 delighted some friends by making her own greeting cards.
The cards were getting so much attention that Jacquie in February 2002 decided to launch her commercial venture. “Big deal”. I hear you say, “there are lots of Internet sites to send greeting cards.”
Well, this one is different. First of all, the cards are several notches above your average greeting cards. They have their unique style, they are animated, and they come with sound. Each card tells a little story, sometimes funny, sometimes touching, sometimes in the form of a brain-teaser.
Of course, they provide the usual scheduling functions for sending out the cards, the notifications when cards have been sent and picked up, and they also tell you if the cards were returned because you messed up the e-mail address of the addressee.
What you don’t see with the Jacquie Lawson cards are ads, pop-up’s and endless SPAM, selling you other products from the card publisher and/or related companies. Why?
This is a strike of genius. With Jacquie you are a MEMBER. For a modest fee of $8 - or the equivalent in other monetary units - per year, you earn the right of unlimited access to the Lawon services.
Think about this:
Now that ‘everyone’ has discovered the convenience of using electronic greeting cards for their worldwide exchange of cute personal messages, here is a series of innovative cards which separate themselves from the ‘pack’ by being beautiful, witty, and ‘different’ in many ways.
You become a member of this club for a fee that should not be prohibitive for anyone. By being a member, you also earn the freedom from all the commercial clutter which otherwise is necessary to finance the operation.
The marketing of the memberships has a chain-letter quality. Most people who receive a Lawson greeting for the first time will probably be impressed by the quality, and may want to go to the web site to learn more.
Since they probably know that they will need to send out their own greetings from time to time, they may be more than happy to plunk down a modest fee for a classy home of their greetings for the next year.
AND THE BEAT GOES ON....
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