Semi-finalist Q&A: Mail a Hug

Mail a Hug creates happy cards, hand-signs them with the personalyzed words of the customer (such as: Love, Joe), stamps them with postage, and mails them at the US Post Office. The emotional activities include changing people's lives by showing them that their loved ones care and have not forgotten about them. Information from their grant application is available here. Read below for more, and if you have questions for our semi-finalists don't hesitate to ask them in the comments section.

Also, don't forget to cast your vote! YOUR vote will determine which entrepreneurs most deserve to be amongst the finalists.

Dear Idea Cafe Voters,

As Chief Hugger at Mail a Hug, www.mailahug.com, I am honored to be a semi-finalist in the current grant competition at Idea Cafe.

Please allow me to tell you a little more about myself and Mail a Hug:

How did you come up with the idea for Mail a Hug?

In 2004 my father, Clifton Higbe, had a debilitating stroke that left him paralyzed and incapacitated. After his lengthy stay in the hospital, he was moved to a nursing home so he could be cared for 'round the clock. My dad had a few regular visitors and I flew down to Sacramento from Oregon every other week to visit him. From those visits alone I could see that he was the lucky one. Most residents get few, if any, visitors, phone calls, or mail.

My dad received a card in the mail every single day from his mother-in-law letting him know that she was thinking about him and wishing him well. He looked forward to the mail and it was the hi-lite of his day (with the exception of my visits, right dad?).

That's when the idea of Mail a Hug was conceived! It saddened me to see how lonely the residents felt, and I wanted to do something to change that!

I know that families want to keep in touch with their loved ones whether they're in a Nursing Home, Assisted Living, away at College, in the Military, or just down the street. I also know how busy life can be. Therefore, Mail a Hug was created so families can keep in touch more easily.

What makes Mail a Hug unique and why do I think it will be a success?

Mail a Hug is unique because of the simplicity in ordering and the affordability.

We create or select the happy cards that are sent to your loved one; we hand-sign them with your personal comment and name, for example, Love and Hugs, Roy; we address them with really cute address labels, as well as 'Special Delivery by ....your name here...' return address lables; we put the postage on them; and we mail them at the post office. Every card and gift has an adorable sticker that says, 'You've been hugged!'. (see, I'm smiling just thinking about it)

It takes about five minutes to sign up and we are extremely affordable; for instance, two cards per month is only $6.50. When you sign up, you can order as many months as you like.

For a five minute effort at such a low price, the reward one gets from ordering Mail a Hug is incomparable! The feeling of love and happiness that your recipient feels is unforgettable. Our service is 100% guaranteed.

I know we'll be successful because of the lives we've already changed, and the return business we've had from every single customer. Most customers order one or two months for starters, and then when they see how happy they make their loved one feel, they order a whole year at a time!

The business of Mail a Hug is all happy. I am happy when I make the cards and think about the recipient opening them, our customers are happy when they get they heart-felt feedback from their loved ones, and the recipient is happy to know they are loved! And who doesn't love getting surprises in the mail!

Another reason why I believe we'll be a success is that I am completely passionate about Mail a Hug. After a year and a half, my passion has only grown with each and every card I send out.

Our top-business relate accomplishments, or lessons learned?

Our biggest accomplishments are the lives that we have changed with our service. One of our customers orders Mail a Hug for his aunt who lives in another state and she has never been married and has no children. This aunt was one that was never demonstrative of her feelings toward her family members (sister and nephew). If she loved them, they didn't really know it. The order she receives is for one card per week plus one gift per month (the monthly gift is also chosen by Mail a Hug, and is usually cookies and tea, or chocolate, or something simple and sweet. Its so cool to get some goodies in the mail!) Anyway, she now tells her sister and nephew that she loves them, she actually phones them to thank them for the goodies and cards, and she shows her cards to everyone who comes into her room at the nursing home where she lives!

I get so much feedback about how happy the recipients are with their cards that they show them off to anyone who will listen!

Why should the Idea Cafe regulars vote for you?

Idea Cafe Voters should vote for Mail a Hug because I want everyone to have this feeling of joy inside of them that I have, that my customers and their recipients have. My motto is, 'It truly is in giving that we receive'. If you could ask any of my customers if it is true in their lives due to Mail a Hug, the answer would be an instant 'YES'.

If we can get the word out to all the Nursing Homes then you, the Idea Cafe voter, would be able to say that you attributed to changing peoples lives.

I spend every moment I can thinking about Mail a Hug, I have more ideas than time to work them all, I wake up in the middle of the night with ideas about our service, and my passion is unstoppable!

Our mission is to enrich the lives of millions, one hug at a time!
You can help us do that.

Thank you,
Liz Crouch
Chief Hugger
Mail a Hug