LOCAL PROFILES

How did Real Estate appraiser Jeanne Caligiuri end up as the creator and president of corporate greeting cards business Idiooz? She saw a need and filled it. "It's just good marketing to keep your business name in front of clients—and potential clients—as often as you can," she says. "And technology is the easiest way to reach more people these days."

Though Jeanne is a Las Vegas transplant, she's lived on both coasts and has friends, family and contacts everywhere in between. "My soul is in New York," she says, "but my heart is in the West."

Born in Brooklyn, Jeanne moved to Westchester County, NY, as a young child and grew up in the Yonkers area—just a few minutes away from the city, yet enjoying a smaller town atmosphere. She graduated from college with a degree in communications and honed her marketing skills while she worked as marketing director for a television station.

In the late 1980s, she made a move to Connecticut and began her career as an appraiser for Great Western Bank. The success she enjoyed in that business eventually led her to a position as regional appraiser. But Jeanne was ready for a change of scenery and climate at that point, and asked the company if they had a similar opening in California, where she had relatives. They did, and she accepted the job.

"I liquidated everything," Jeanne says. "I packed up 13 boxes of essentials and sent them to my cousins in California. I drove my company car to the airport, and had another company car waiting when I arrived in California." She immediately fell in love with the climate and the laidback atmosphere of the West.

Her career thrived on the change as well, and she earned the position of reviewer, overseeing the work of appraisers in the field. In her dealings with other businesses and professionals, Jeanne began to see the need for a more personalized way to stay in touch with clients and potential clients on a regular basis. She recalls a birthday e-card she received from a business associate. "It was one of those generic messages that said 'Happy Birthday to the following people who have birthdays this month,' and then included a list of names," says Jeanne. "I wanted something more personal." The incident set her mind to work on a solution. "My thinking evolved from 'I want my own birthday card' to 'How can we offer personalized messages to clients?'"

That's how Idiooz was born two years ago, and Jeanne's ideas about the services her business offers just keep developing. "I'm an idea person," Jeanne says, "but I count on my excellent programmers and graphic designers to make it all work."

Specifically tailored for business use, Idiooz doesn't compete with other e-card sites. Its e-cards are designed to keep in touch with clients and potential clients and cover a wide variety of business needs as well. In addition to birthday, holiday and other special occasion e-cards, Idiooz includes reminder cards, "we're moving" messages, and a section of Real Estate e-cards to suit every possible scenario.

Idiooz also offers unique e-mailing options for busy business owners with large client bases. The site will store business databases and send out reminders, holiday e-cards and even birthday cards at the proper times for each client. "Initially it takes half an hour to an hour to input birthdays and pre-program the information," Jeanne says, "but once it's done, everything is automatically personalized and sent for you. It's a great marketing tool."

Senders can also take a couple of minutes to add a personal message to an e-card, and the cards can be designed to include recognizable images or wording from each business. "If a business has a catch phrase that they want to use or a logo that they'd like to include, we can do that," Jeanne adds. "We can even make their business card into an e-card."

Jeanne believes that now more than ever there is a need to keep your company's name in front of clients. And savvy business people are utilizing electronic media to reach more customers and potential customers. "It's an affordable way to personalize your communications and get your image out there," she says. "Great customer service is what keeps clients coming back."

In addition to Idiooz, Jeanne is still an active national review appraiser, so she doesn't have a lot of spare time. But when she does, she enjoys traveling to see friends she has made from the East coast to the West coast. "At least once a month I find something neat to do or someplace to go," she says, "from New York to California."

Because corporate greeting cards and the services offered by Idiooz are so distinctive, the company is also being featured in the Cool Tools section of the November issue of REALTOR® Magazine. To find out how personalized communications can benefit your business, go to www.idiooz.com or contact Jeanne at idiooz@lvcoxmail.com.