3) Why in the World Haven’t I been Using SendOutCards.com?

I can’t think of a single reason. If you ever needed a good tutorial on how to make great use of this site, just see this streaming video from Eddie Smith, in which he shamelessly gives an example of how he promotes his latest book through this service… :-)

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1467461/
How_To_Promote_Your_Books_With_SendOutCards.wmv

(Note: That URL will wrap, so if you have trouble with it, just go to the online version of this item at www.brigada.org. We’ll make sure it works there.)

SendOutCards lets you choose or design a greeting card, write a message, then click “send.” The service then prints it, stuffs it, and mails it — all for less than you would pay for a standard greeting card! As the service puts it, they’re ” changing people’s lives for good one simple card at a time.” (OK — that’s pretty dramatic, but the service is really good. :-) )

Now maybe you don’t have a new book to promote, like Eddie (Why not?), but you could use the service to say thanks for a special gift, or as a way of sending out a birthday greeting? Imagine using this service from overseas, to send greetings to folks in the USA. They have 10,000 cards from which to choose, including post cards, greeting cards, and special 3-panel cards. You can include your own pictures — and even your very own handwriting. (Course, some of us would then be sending out cards that others could barely read, but that’s beside the point.) It’s a really cool service, if your card recipient lives in the USA, that is. It’s $99 to join, then about $1.50 per card, plus postage. And when they add the postage, they use a real live stamp. So as Eddie says, ” My dad was chairman of the SBC, FMB two terms back when missionaries could hardly talk with home base. It’s unbelievable that today a missionary in an Internet cafe in Pakistan can send a quality greeting card with his own photos and text to anyone in the U.S. with a .44 cent first-class stamp on it!” Eddie’s right. Quite reasonable, when you consider what you’re getting. (Thanks Eddie!)