You've probably been really disappointed with the selection of greeting cards for any occasion that you find in retail stores. There are multiple copies of the same card with the same short verse that does not adequately express what you want to say to the recipient of each card. You won't have this problem when you look for ecards online in the wide selections available. You can personalize such greeting ecards as well and add music, which is not possible in traditional greeting cards without paying a high price for each card.

Along with being able to include personal greetings to your electronic greeting cards, you can add amusing animations. Characters that move in some way or dance across the screen in the ecards (http://www.care2.com/ecards) that you send will surely help to brighten someone's day in a way that is not possible with the traditional paper greeting cards. There are also sites online that allow you to add a voice reading the greeting that you write in the space provided. Some sites even give you the opportunity of adding your own voice so that you can truly send a unique greeting card to anyone on your contact list.

In retail stores, the traditional greeting cards you can choose from are birthday, Christmas, Valentine's Day, anniversary, bridal or baby shower, congratulations and get well cards to name just a few of the categories available. In the lineup of ecards there are many more categories, such as New Year's Day, Kwanza and all kinds of holidays, cards of awareness, workplace, friendship and just because.

Just about everyone sends Christmas ecards (http://www.care2.com/send/catxmas1.html) to those on their contact lists but not many even realize they can send a New Year's greeting in this format as well. Most of the online sites offering electronic greeting cards do have some designs available free for anyone to use.

There are also sites that require an annual subscription, but they offer a 30-day free trial so that you can experience the full site without having to pay any money. You have the option of canceling your subscription before this trial period expires, but once you see the wealth of ecards that await you, chances are you will realize how cost-effective such a subscription can be.

Most ecards, even those that are free, are accompanied by music and poetry written just for the occasion. Along with this poetic greeting you have unlimited space in which you can write whatever you wish to the recipient. You are able to write a letter to this person or simply send a short Hello to someone whom you haven't seen in a while.

There are different ecards available for each day of the year (including, of course, birthday ecards) allowing you to send greetings for simple occasions, such as National Bubble Bath Day, which is January 8. January 10 is Clean off Your Desk Day and there is an ecard for such a date. This would make the perfect ecard to send to an employee with a messy desk or even the boss who always seems to be drowning in reams of paper. Just choose a month of the year on the online site to see the many choices you have for sending a card for every possible occasion.

You no longer have to make time in your busy day to go shopping for a greeting card or limit yourself to only a few special occasions. Ecards make it possible to always show others you are thinking about them, whatever time of the day or night you decide to start looking for the perfect greeting.