The Asheville-based technology company eTag LLC recently launched its online business, Dog Tag Art, where anybody can go online and create a personalized pet ID tag.
If that weren't enough, eTag on July 30 was awarded a $25,000 grant by the Business and Technology Incubation Center at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College to help it along.
Here's a little bit more about the company's founders, from their Web site, www.dogtagart.com:
In order to offer pets around the world the hippest, most stylish, virtually indestructible dog tags available we use a “crowdsourcing” platform which allows designers and pet lovers alike to upload their most current graphic art. We then apply their awesome works to ever lasting aluminum dog tags using a permanent, full color sublimation process.
We can also offer you more room on the tag’s back to say what you need to say to keep your pet safe: name, phone number, allergy statement, favorite food? With four lines fitting 25 characters apiece, you can nearly fit a Twitter post on there!
If we use your design, we’ll pay you $1 for every one of your tags sold and you’ll be profiled on our site. So you’ll be famous and make some cash too!
The Team
Jack Carrier
Idea GuyKristen Campbell
Social Media ButterflyBarry Silverstein
Marketing GuruDale Wyrick
Marketing Kung Fu
Here's more about how www.dogtagart.com works: using the "crowd-sourcing" idea, an artist can create a design and load it to the site. For every tag with that artist's design sold, that artist gets paid $1. Sweet. The tags aren't limited to cats and dogs. They can be used for luggage, runner IDs, even cameras.
What's next for the company? There's this:
The eTag LLC is currently working on plans to launch an enhanced version of the ID tag that will include web-based identification capabilities that take advantage of social media. “It’s a semi-hi-tech solution to an old problem,” says Carrier. “Things get lost, pets run away. We’re going to combine a permanent tag using rich, full-color graphics, like the ones we sell now, with a web-based, automatic, real time dispatch service in an emergency situation. It’s a combination of security, fun, and fashion.”
So, congratulations! Great to see such creative local entrepreneurs, and see them supported in such a strong way by A-B Tech. Way to go, www.dogtagart.com!
Orginally posted on the Ashevegas blog here.
