Punchbowl Blog

This post was written by Stephanie Fader, Sr. Marketing Manager

Remembering the specific birthdays of all of your dear friends and family members can be tough, especially during the busy fall and holiday seasons. For those of us who are more forgetful, however, there are still ways to stay on top of important dates and celebrate them with a heartfelt gesture.

For Punchbowl customer Betsy D., this has been a familiar predicament and she recently shared her experience with us. Betsy has been a long-time customer of Punchbowl and says that our Reminders service has saved her on many an occasion when she forgot until the last minute to send a card. Most recently this happened on her best friend’s birthday. When Betsy received the email reminder from us she did what she always does — she visited the site to send a free eCard to her friend. However, what Betsy found surprised her.

When Betsy arrived at the site to send a card, she was prompted to “create a digital card.” She had not yet seen our new Digital Greeting Cards service, a way to send thoughtful well-wishes online that have the look and feel of traditional greeting cards. Betsy, who has followed our site improvements over the years, was intrigued and started to explore the options from the card designs and categories to the envelope liners and custom postage. She was so thrilled with Digital Greeting Cards that she was compelled to write to tell us!

Betsy says, “To be able to customize the card so much, make it really like an actual card you’d send in the mail with the envelope and everything…it’s terrific! I absolutely love it!”

Thanks for your feedback, Betsy. We’re so happy we could help you celebrate!

Do you need a way to keep track of all the birthdays, holidays and anniversaries in your life? Try our free Reminders service to build your list and we’ll make sure you never miss another special occasion. Also, if you haven’t tried out our new Digital Greeting Cards service, browse free eCards now!

This post was written by Matt Douglas, Founder & CEO

As Punchbowl has evolved over the years, we’ve had a number of great partnerships with companies like Oriental Trading, 1-800-FLOWERS, and LivingSocial. As a start-up, these partnerships have been important to our company and critical to our growth.

Now that we’re in the last quarter of our fiscal year, I’m spending most of my time planning for next year. We have a plethora of possible partnerships in front of us — and I’ve decided to hire a senior person to join our team to help us with sales and business development. In the past we’ve had great success spreading the word about key new hires on our blog and on social media, so we’ll try it again. If you know anyone that might be a great fit for this position, please share this post. Thanks in advance!

VP, Sales & Business Development

Punchbowl.com is looking for an experienced consumer-internet sales and business development person to drive revenue for the company. We’re looking for a senior person with a proven track record of closing deals with large media companies and consumer national brands. The VP of Sales & Business Development will report to the CEO at the company’s Framingham, MA headquarters.

Job Description:

• Sell custom brand sponsorships to drive incremental monthly revenue on our consumer site
• Sell email advertising sponsorships to companies and agencies that are interested in presenting relevant, timely offers to our registered user base
• Identify and sign co-brand and white-label licensing deals with digital media companies and online retailers to extend the distribution and reach of our products
• Develop and report on key traffic metrics to quantitatively gauge the impact of all business development activities
• Work with the CEO to define new markets and customers to sell our suite of products

Position Requirements:
• 7-10 years experience and successful track record with sales & business development in a consumer setting
• A large rolodex and strong reputation in digital agencies, digital media, and consumer package goods
• Significant experience with relationship management, traffic acquisition, and analysis in an online business
• Proven project management skills with the ability to multi-task
• Excellent communication and presentation skills
• Enthusiasm and passion with readiness to join a startup

To apply for this position:
1) Create a user account at http://www.punchbowl.com and check it out
2) Send a *ONE PAGE* resume, quick impressions of the site, and brief introductory email to punchbowljobs [at] gmail [dot] com.

We *DO NOT* pay recruiter fees. Please: no recruiters or headhunters.

This post was written by Stephanie Fader, Sr. Marketing Manager

Chocolate bars and gummy worms and candy corn – oh my! It’s probably no surprise that Halloween is officially the sweetest holiday of the year. It beats out Easter, Valentine’s Day, and Christmas. In fact, Halloween candy sales average about 2 billion dollars annually in the U.S. alone. With bags of candy on store shelves for weeks in advance of the holiday, it has us wondering how Halloween became synonymous with candy in the first place?

We did a little digging and came up with this timeline:

• 1940s: Trick or treating became more widespread in the U.S. However, rather than candy, trick-or-treaters received nuts, cookies, cakes, coins, and toys.

• 1950s: The rise of trick-or-treating gave candy producers an opening to market their products aimed at kids. Candy was also easy to buy and economical, which made it the optimal choice for those entertaining trick-or-treaters.

• 1960s: The growth of Halloween candy was still on the rise, though it was often in the form of a small bag of loose candy like candy corn, Hershey Kisses, or Tootsie Rolls.

• 1970s: Parents were less comfortable with homemade or unwrapped treats, which gave way to the idea that commercially wrapped candy was seen as the safest option.

• 1980s: Candy manufacturers produced smaller versions of their full size candies on a large scale. Trick-or-treating as we know it became about dressing up and collecting as much candy as possible.

Here are a few more tidbits to satisfy your sweet tooth:

• Halloween is responsible for 75% of all candy corn sold during the year — you can celebrate this fact on October 30th, National Candy Corn Day!
• 90% of parents admit to sneaking goodies out of their kids’ Halloween candy stash
• 73.5% of households plan to hand out Halloween candy this year

Want another way to incorporate candy into your Halloween celebration without the calories? Make your own Halloween candy costume! Check out these 5 Halloween candy costume ideas that you can make at home for yourself or the kids.

All this talk of candy make you want to host a Halloween party? Start planning yours today!

This post was written by Stephanie Fader, Sr. Marketing Manager

Are you ready for a frightfully good time? Halloween, one of the most popular holidays in America, is creeping up on us and there are so many spooktacularly fun ways to celebrate. But first, let’s take a look at some fun facts about Halloween as you start to think about your plans…if you dare…

• Last year, an estimated 41 million trick-or-treaters across the U.S. ventured out into the night to collect their candy from a total of 117 million households.
• At least 50% of people plan to dress up in costume this Halloween. For adults, the most popular costume choices are witches, pirates, and vampires. For kids, look out for little princesses, superheroes, ghosts, and ninjas.
• Pets get in on the costume action too: 14.7% of pet owners plan to purchase a pint size costume for their furry friends.
• Last year, 1.1 billion pounds of pumpkins were turned into grinning jack-o’-lanterns or delicious pies.
• Illinois, New York, and Ohio are the top pumpkin producing states.
• Halloween ranks 2nd behind Christmas for total dollars spent on decorations. Popular Halloween decorations include life-size skeletons, extra large inflatable pumpkins, and fake cob webs.
• There are a number of cities and towns across the country with ghostly names. They include:
  • Frankenstein, Missouri
  • Tombstone, Arizona
  • Cape Fear, North Carolina
  • Skull Creek, Nebraska
  • Spiderweb, South Carolina
  • Goblintown, Virginia
  • Screamer, Alabama
  • Black Cat, Arkansas
  • Bloody Corners, Ohio
  • Hell Hollow, New Hampshire

How will you celebrate Halloween this year? You can find party themes, decorating tips, recipes, costume ideas, and more in the Halloween party ideas section of the site. If you’re ready to start planning your party, send a bootiful Halloween invitation today!

This post was written by Stephanie Fader, Sr. Marketing Manager

While the beginning of fall may find you back in the grind, this week we give you something to look forward to — Thursday, September 29 is National Coffee Day!

Can you believe there are over 100 million coffee drinkers around the world? They consume more than 400 billion cups of joe every year! National Coffee Day celebrates the iconic role of coffee in our daily lives. From that first sip in the morning to that pick-me-up with an after-dinner treat, coffee is truly a beloved beverage throughout the nation and beyond.

Another fun coffee fact: nurses and physicians rank first and second, respectively, as the top two coffee drinking professions according to a survey done by CareerBuilder and Dunkin’ Donuts last fall.

Here are a few ways that you can celebrate National Coffee Day this year:

• Send free National Coffee Day cards to family, friends, and co-workers. When we launched our new digital greeting cards service a few weeks ago, we created a special category of new digital cards just for National Coffee Day. Digital greeting cards enable you to send cards online that have the look and feel of traditional paper cards.
• Learn more about National Coffee Day and find out where to get free coffee. Visit the Reason to Celebrate page for National Coffee Day to find out which coffee shops are offering free coffee. You can also share the page with your Facebook friends and Twitter followers so they can get in on the free coffee fun!
• Join the National Coffee Day conversation on our Facebook page. Our Facebook community will be sharing their own tips for how to celebrate and where to get free coffee. Stay tuned and add your own tips and suggestions.

Most importantly, don’t forget to take time out for a coffee break of your own sometime during your day — whether it’s before a big meeting, after you drop the kids off at school, or after dinner with dessert. Enjoy National Coffee Day!

This post was written by Stephanie Fader, Sr. Marketing Manager

With the first official day of fall right around the corner (Friday, September 23) and summer winding down, it’s time for our favorite autumn activities to begin! We recently polled the Punchbowl community to find about what they like about fall and combined them with some of our team’s favorite activities.

Here’s the top 10 things we love about fall:

1. Crisp Fall Days: When the sky is clear and the air is fresh, taking long walks to enjoy the weather is refreshing and enjoyable. Chris T. on Facebook especially likes “crisp walks in the park with my dog.” You’re not alone there, Chris!
2. Football: Whether you’re a fan of the NFL or your college alma mater, football season is in full swing! Check your team’s schedule for the next big game and invite some friends over for a football party.
3. Pumpkins: Picking out the perfect pumpkin can be a tough task: do you choose the perfectly round one or the slightly lopsided lumpy one? Although they may eventually be turned into pie or carved into a scary mask, trips to the pumpkin patch are another activity that fall wouldn’t be complete without. Once you find the perfect one, get tips for how to carve a pumpkin.
4. Oktoberfest: It’s the great beer festival held annually in Munich, Germany that draws an attendance of more than 5 million people a year! We can, of course, celebrate closer to home with many cities hosting Oktoberfest celebrations modeled after the original event.
5. World Series: The end of baseball season means cheering on your favorite team as they compete in the Fall Classic. America’s favorite past time is definitely a favorite of ours as well.
6. Fall Foliage: Certain areas of the country are treated to the beautiful sight of watching the leaves change color each fall. Green slowly gives way to reds, oranges, and yellows, creating brightly colored trees. If you don’t live in an area where the leaves change color, plan a weekend getaway to the northern states to witness nature at its finest.
7. Apple Picking: What could be more quintessentially fall? Head over to local apple orchard to pick your own apples that can later be turned into delicious homemade pies, muffins, and cider. Don’t forget to grab a cider doughnut at the orchard!
8. Fall Baking: With all of these terrific foods in season during the fall (the aforementioned pumpkins and apples), there seems to be a lot of baking going on! Pumpkin pies, apple crisp, and other fall pastries were among the favorites mentioned on Facebook.
9. Indian Summer: So maybe we aren’t quite ready to give up on summer yet! We’ll take one last spell of warm weather before the chilly winter takes over.
10. Halloween: No fall list would be complete without the biggest of fall holidays — Halloween! There’s so much to enjoy about this holiday beyond candy and costumes. Many people, like Ian S. on Facebook, enjoy decorating for Halloween in the weeks leading up to October 31. Others have fun planning Halloween parties. Will you host a party this year? Get Halloween ideas and start planning!

With so many things to look forward to this fall, we can’t help but be excited about the new season. Stay tuned to our blog for more ways to celebrate this fall!

This post was written by Matt Douglas, Founder & CEO, @mattdouglas

I’m very excited to announce that after many months of development, Punchbowl has introduced a new Digital Greeting Cards service. The new service is a suitable alternative to traditional paper greeting cards complete with folded designs, matching envelopes, realistic postmarks, and the complete mail-opening experience.

In conjunction with the announcement, we have unveiled DigitalGreetingCard.org, a new site for the digital greeting card industry. The site aims to spur conversation about the impact paper greeting cards have on our society, culture, and environment. Visit the site to declare your independence from paper greeting cards and ask your friends to do the same.

Here’s the full announcement:

Punchbowl introduces new Digital Greeting Cards service

At long last, new technology brings to life a suitable alternative to paper greeting cards

Framingham, MA (PRWEB), September 12, 2011 — Today, Punchbowl launched Digital Greeting Cards, a new service that offers the ability to send thoughtful well-wishes online that have the look and feel of a traditional paper greeting card.

Digital Greeting Cards is a suitable alternative to traditional paper greeting cards complete with attractive folded designs, matching envelopes, realistic postmarks, and the complete mail-opening experience. The cards can be personalized with accents such as envelope liners, custom postage, and rubber stamps. Digital Greeting Cards eliminates the need to visit a store, find a physical mailing address, and purchase postage stamps. It’s a more convenient way to express important feelings to those you care about the most.

“In the past few years, we’ve seen the dramatic shift from paper to digital in books, newspapers, and magazines,” said Matt Douglas, CEO, Punchbowl. “Digital Greeting Cards is the next chapter in the evolution from paper to digital.”

Highlights of Digital Greeting Cards include:

• Hundreds of free designs, organized like the greeting card aisle
• Greeting cards that have the look and feel of paper cards
• Card delivery that replicates the act of receiving and opening a paper card
• Inks, fonts, and text controls to easily write a heartfelt message
• Custom accents such as envelope liners, rubber stamps, and postage stamps

“When I saw the new Digital Greeting Cards, I couldn’t believe how much they resemble paper cards,“ said Adrienne Donohue, Punchbowl user. “For most occasions, I’m going to make the switch from paper cards to digital.”

In conjunction with the new product launch, Punchbowl has also unveiled DigitalGreetingCard.org, a new site for the digital greeting card industry. The site aims to spur conversation about the impact paper greeting cards have on our society, culture, and environment. Consumers can visit the site to declare their independence from paper greeting cards and ask their friends to do the same. For more information, visit http://www.digitalgreetingcard.org

Digital Greeting Cards fills a gap between paper cards and eCards. Traditionally, paper cards have been reserved for more meaningful, milestone events while free eCards have been seen as a way to send a casual, fun greeting for lighthearted occasions.

To explore the new Digital Greeting Cards service, visit: http://www.punchbowl.com/ecards

This post was written by Stephanie Fader, Sr. Marketing Manager

Thanks to all of you who’ve given us great feedback on our recent customer testimonials. We’re not going to publish one on our blog this week because we’re gearing up for a big product launch. What is it? When will it arrive? You’ll have to check this blog next week to find out!

This post was written by Stephanie Fader, Sr. Marketing Manager

This summer Anne-Marie hosted a surprise birthday party for her boyfriend Jason. If you’ve ever thrown a surprise party, you know it can be a lot of work — especially trying to keep the surprise from the guest of honor. For Anne-Marie, she had the added stress of planning a destination birthday party! Here’s how she did it…

Anne-Marie rented a house in Lake Placid that was big enough to accommodate all of her guests. Her tip: work with a realtor to find the right rental property. As you can imagine, anytime you have overnight guests it makes collecting RSVPs all the more important!

In addition to providing basic party details and lodging info on the birthday invitations, Anne-Marie offered guests the option to contribute to Jason’s gift via PayPal (she used the “Contributions” feature to do this). She also included personal notes for guests and sent frequent updates to guests as details of the event were confirmed.

Throw in fabulous catering, amazing guests, and you’ve got a milestone birthday party! Oh, and Anne-Marie’s terrific idea to use the Contributions feature for the gift had a great payoff. Anne-Marie says, “The absolute best moment was when we offered Jason his BIG present: a Les Paul electric guitar he has wanted for years!”

Great idea, Anne-Marie! Thanks for sharing your tips.

Do you want to share your Punchbowl experience? Get in touch with us via Facebook or Twitter. You can also send us an email.

This post was written by Stephanie Fader, Sr. Marketing Manager

With Labor Day less than two weeks away, it’s time to get down to business and make a plan for the long weekend. We know what this holiday means for families — the end of summer, kids are back in school, and typically it’s the start of a busy fall season. But what is the origin of this holiday?

Labor Day was first celebrated on September 5, 1882 with a parade of 10,000 workers. The event was organized by Peter J. McGuire, a secretary for the Carpenters and Joiners Union. Over the next decade celebrations for Labor Day expanded to over half the states in the U.S. Then in 1894 Congress passed a bill that officially declared the first Monday in September to be Labor Day.

Here are some interesting Labor Day facts from the U.S. Census:

• 153.2 million people ages 16 or older make up the U.S. workforce as of July 2011
• The average commute is 25.1 minutes
• 3.2 million commuters travel 90 or more minutes to work each day
• 16.5 million commuters leave for work between midnight and 6am
• 5.9 million people work from home

If you are lucky enough to have Labor Day off, celebrate with family and friends. Have a picnic, head to the movies, organize a weekend getaway, or host a Labor Day cookout. Want more ideas for how to celebrate Labor Day? Explore additional Labor Day ideas now!