![]() ![]() He would not say how many of those visitors were paying customers, but he said, “the business model is working very well.” Wright said that ’s traffic climbed steadily after the company introduced it in April, reaching about 500,000 visitors in December. “When the novelty starts to wear off, the question is whether users will just think of this as another thing they have to do,” he said. If the number of paying customers reaches an undisclosed threshold over the next several months, he said, Hallmark will most likely retain the service on its site and continue to share the revenues with Smilebox. visitors who clicked on the Smilebox feature turned into paying customers more often than Mr. “It’s a little too early to judge it fully, but so far so good,” he said. In that partnership, the greeting card company in December started offering a modified version of Smilebox on .Īccording to Steven Ruschill, who oversees online initiatives for Hallmark’s new business development group, the Smilebox partnership has yielded “pleasantly surprising” results, despite his company’s having done nothing to promote the service. “Getting people to pay has always been a problem, so they’ve got to find a hook.”Īndrew Wright, the chief executive of Smilebox, believes he has found at least one hook into a bigger market, thanks to an alliance with Hallmark. “This looks to me like a niche business,” said Christopher Chute, an analyst with IDC, a technology consultancy. Building a successful business of any significant size, though, may be asking too much. ![]() Should Smilebox gain enough acceptance with consumers before the free photo services offer up competing features, analysts said, it may well build a successful business. ![]() Smilebox then delivers e-mail messages to the user’s friends and family, inviting them to view the book. Rather, since users download the template, they need only drag images to the desired locations on the template, then upload the entire file to the Web site. ![]() Unlike many other photo-sharing services, Smilebox does not require users to upload photos to the Web site and edit them there. (Smilebox also offers a free version that includes advertisements and fewer music and template choices.) Next, users can choose from among 700 musical selections to accompany the photo book, and decide on other visual flourishes, like animated transitions between pages. Those with dozens of holiday photos might choose to collect them in a virtual photo album with holiday themed artwork on the borders, for instance. users pay $1 or $2 to choose from among 350 graphic templates for their digital photos, or pay for a $5 monthly subscription for unlimited access to the templates. The kicker is that, in a market cluttered with free services that have struggled to produce profits, Smilebox is actually attracting paying customers. Now, a start-up based in Redmond, Wash., is offering customers the opportunity to build online scrapbooks with animation, music and artwork. If you choose to do business with this business, please let the business know that you contacted BBB for a BBB Business Profile.Īs a matter of policy, BBB does not endorse any product, service or business.FOR years, Internet users have treated online photo services like a batch of holiday snapshots - checking them out for a while, then letting them collect dust on the shelf as soon as something new comes along. BBB Business Profiles are subject to change at any time. When considering complaint information, please take into account the company's size and volume of transactions, and understand that the nature of complaints and a firm's responses to them are often more important than the number of complaints.īBB Business Profiles generally cover a three-year reporting period. However, BBB does not verify the accuracy of information provided by third parties, and does not guarantee the accuracy of any information in Business Profiles. BBB asks third parties who publish complaints, reviews and/or responses on this website to affirm that the information provided is accurate. BBB Business Profiles may not be reproduced for sales or promotional purposes.īBB Business Profiles are provided solely to assist you in exercising your own best judgment. ![]()
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