The dot com bubble may have burst, but for certain styles of business, the web is still the perfect vehicle.

One such company, which creates real paper letters and cards via the Internet and posts them into the UK postal service, is now targeting Bermuda for potential customers.

Anyone who has experienced the gut wrenching anxiety of trying to get a card to an aunt, nephew, granny or godchild back in the UK with only 48 hours to go until their birthday, will appreciate this product.

Mouseofcards.co.uk allows customers to create letters or cards on the web which are then printed and posted in the UK post.

Founder, Mark L'Estrange, says that his expat service could have been tailor-made for Bermuda with its large English expatriate population.

Mr. L'Estrange says that when he was an expat himself, he noticed that while he could communicate with most of his friends back in England by e-mail, there were some people who did not have access to e-mail. From there it was a short leap to the idea of "expatpost".

Before he started this venture, Mr. L'Estrange worked on different islands across Southern and Eastern Asia teaching scuba diving.

"For nearly a decade in remote locations where communication opportunities come infrequently the ability to send real mail out would have been invaluable had it been available. I then came back to the UK and started the service I myself needed so badly while I was away."

The website was launched in July 2001 and now receives 4000 hits per day. According to Mr. L'Estrange, the service is particularly relevant for anyone in a remote location or living on an island such as Bermuda.

"There is no escaping physical distance when it comes to traditional postal mail and that takes time.

"We cut out that distance around the globe as well as the requirement to walk to the post-box!

"We do away with the need for stamps and stationery and any excuses I used to have for not writing to people."

No more queuing up at Hamilton post office. Customers simply go onto the Internet and open an account, then they can create a card, either using their own digital photo or something from the library of images.

The cost for sending a card from Bermuda to London is ?1 GBP ($1.50 approx.) + local postage for users in credit. In the case of a first class Royal Mail delivered letter to London with 98 percent next day delivery postage is 28p. (42c.) If you include the price of the average birthday card in Bermuda ($4) plus postage from here to UK of roughly $1, that's a significant saving.

Mr. L'Estrange has persuaded some influential investors to back his idea.

Internet veteran, Steve Pankhurst, one of the brains behind friendsunited.co.uk has also invested in the company.

One island that he has never visited is Bermuda.

But the Internet entrepreneur says that he is actually considering Bermuda as a potential base for his company: "The company is of course Internet based so can be run from any location in the world.

"The weather, the diving, the sailing and of course your diverse Island community I think would truly suit me and what's more I have a feeling that I might suit Bermuda too."