Sunnygram Helps You Connect With Your Loved Ones

Unlike that other tech blog that covers Twitter all day, I try to find new startups that have actual value and business models. I came across Sunnygram earlier this week and it fits my criteria. Sunnygram sends your loved ones weekly newsletters through the postal service for those who aren’t connected to the Internet. The service costs $10/month.

Here’s how the service works:

• You signup and provide the name and mailing address of the person who will receive the newsletters
• The recipient will be assigned a custom email on the Sunnygram domain
• You send your emails and photos to that email address – you can also give out that email address to others and they can send emails and photos to the recipient as well (e.g. sister and brother sending a newsletter to mom)
• Once a week Sunnygram prints the photos and emails and mails them to the recipient

I wondered if there was a way for the recipient to reply to the mailers. Sunnygram provides a phone number that the recipient can call and leave a recorded message which is sent to the Sunnygram account holder. In addition the recipient can reply via a postage-paid card which is scanned and sent to the account holder.

I think $10/month might be cutting it close in terms of any chance for profit when you take into account mailing and printing costs. I’d vote for a 2x a month option for $10/month and a weekly option for $20/month. If they can sell Sunnygram into the elder care and 55+ communities in the U.S., the service could do very well. In fact, I could see bulk mailings to hospitals to reduce the cost on both sides.

Perhaps an expansion for Sunnygram would allow companies to send newsletters to their customers via postal mail.

Here’s a video demonstration of how Sunnygram works: