Business Cards!

setupdisc · Jan 23, 2016

I've seen a variety of different types: traditional (single-sided) cards, dual-sided cards, high gloss and semi-gloss cards, and even some with holograms on them for those willing to spend a lot.

A few times I've run into people giving out mini CDs (the 125mb and 250mb CDs) along with their business cards for technical industries.

What kind of cards do you have? Do you feel that your design is best for what you do? And would you change it from what you have now if you felt it would make a better impression and impact upon your clients and your business?

thedude · Jan 24, 2016

I'm all about the new business card types. I prefer stuff that's biodegradable, especially if your business is green themed. I seen some awesome business card samples online with different printers though. I like the foil, custom shape cuts, embossed, raised, punched, and pressed cards.

setupdisc · Jan 24, 2016

Have you ever tried to make and print your own cards @thedude or do you just have a company do them for you whenever you need them?

Years ago I used to do my own, but I don't have the time that I used to (at least, not right now to be able to print them out on stock). There's a lot of neat designs and changes since I last did it, too. So I was just kinda curious about that. There's a few companies that always email me and ask me to get cards with them. Vistaprint is one of them, but there are some local places that do, too.

Right now I'm just using plain cards, but I'm about out of them. So I was trying to see what other people are up to these days with their cards and what they like to use the most that gets the best results for them.

Schmetterling · Jan 25, 2016

I've seen a lot of weird ones, some with themes, some with many colors or funky designs but I think it's best to keep things simple. One single background color, preferably white or some other light color, with simple to read text written in a dark font.

sar777 · Jan 29, 2016

I read a post one time about a network professional who actually doesn't give out business cards. His point was that in today's world with smartphones and everything else, that when someone asks for our business card we should have the ability via our smart devices to immediately send someone their information instantly online. For his business apparently, it has succeed in that he's made his potential clients reconsider the amount of paper and printing they are spending as well as their inability to adjust to a new paperless society. Not necessarily advocating doing that for everyone, but depending on what your market sector is, it could make you stand out in a networking event being the person who is not taking or handing out business cards, but is instead instantly starting the online conversation with someone while you are still in the event.

Cleveland76 · Jan 30, 2016

I think business cards are still appropriate, but there is no need to invest in costly fancier cards if you are just starting out and on a tighter budget. Keep in mind, your information on them may change over time, such as your address, phone number, title, and web site, so there is no sense getting stuck with hundreds of expensive cards that you can no longer use. You can get a basic box of a couple hundred cards from sites like Vistaprint for around $20 or so. That should be fine. If you come up with a good logo/card design, you can still wow them with something creative, without having to pay for costlier materials or printing processes.

One word of warning though if you do go with Vistaprint - you may want to use a custom email address when registering with them, since in my past experience, they are *really* pushy with their flood of promotional emails they send you once you are in their email database.

111kg · Feb 4, 2016

None related to the design, but rather to their use: every time you make a gift, speak with a person, or make a public speaking hand him/her a business card and make sure they make the connection between you and your company. This way, they will associate a certain need with you, therefore the chances of getting them as paying customers will definitely increase.

It's just one of the tips I learned from my mentor.

briannagodess · Feb 4, 2016

I just have a basic business card. It's nothing fancy but I made sure it's legible and easy on the eyes. I had it made from a store that specialises in making business cards. They offer quite affordable packages so I jumped on that chance of creating business cards for my brand.

I think business cards are great ways to connect to people in real life. It's a good way to have other people know where and when and how to find you. It might be an old-school way, but it still works well!

CoolSpot · Feb 4, 2016

sar777 said:
I read a post one time about a network professional who actually doesn't give out business cards. His point was that in today's world with smartphones and everything else, that when someone asks for our business card we should have the ability via our smart devices to immediately send someone their information instantly online. For his business apparently, it has succeed in that he's made his potential clients reconsider the amount of paper and printing they are spending as well as their inability to adjust to a new paperless society. Not necessarily advocating doing that for everyone, but depending on what your market sector is, it could make you stand out in a networking event being the person who is not taking or handing out business cards, but is instead instantly starting the online conversation with someone while you are still in the event.

Most modern smart phones can actually do this through nfc, its awesome, well it would be if more people knew how to use it. If you are running a service like plumbing or computer repairs, i would say a business card to be left after you have done a job, just something for the customer to put on the fridge or whatever in case they need the service again, or to leave in stores for the store to give out if someone asks about a service you provide.

swalia · Feb 4, 2016

I prefer simple and minimalist type of cards. I have business cards which are provided to me by the company I work for. For my own astrology business, I have opted for simple cards which give all the required details.

Nikita · Feb 5, 2016

I've had experience designing and printing cards as a service and the trend I noticed is that more corporate or traditional types of businesses usually just opt for plain cards and I think that is appropriate, whereas "fun" businesses usually have a little more room to be playful. Having a unique business card certainly helps in being more memorable and even though I think these days we are a lot less reliant on them, they still do work well, as I have gotten a lot of clients this way.

ctfranklin28 · Feb 5, 2016

I actually need to take the time to do the work for this. I've been planning business cards for the longest, but I haven't taken the first step. I think that it's partly my mindset (still thinking in freelance mode). As a freelancer, all of my clients were online. so I really had no need for one. LinkedIn served that purpose.

As I start transition out of that space, I'm finding the out the areas that I neglected.

It's so easy to call yourself a business, but it's not easy to do the call of business.

dyanmarie25 · Feb 9, 2016

As of the moment, I am not using any kind of business card, but if ever I would incorporate it to my marketing scheme, I would prefer the basic one, some sort of a minimalist type, the simpler the better.

onlinecashcity · Feb 9, 2016

I'm not going to contact somebody or not just based on a business card. I'm going to contact them because I require their service. Before I call them, I would research them and look for reviews/information. If you lined up two cards and i liked one over the other, I wouldn't even care. I'd have to look at them further, not just a card.

I'm sure it helps having a more noticeable one, but that's just my opinion.

Vinaya.Ghimire · Feb 9, 2016

Since I work online and my business also run online,I don't have a necessity of having a print business card. However, I have a brochure of my offline business. The brochure contains information on my business.

davidper · Mar 8, 2016

it really convenient when you need it because it's full of information and very sophisticated large

jona · Mar 8, 2016

We experimented with the CD cards for one of our business. The problem is not the CD's content, that's very easy to do, or used to be because no CD will be able to auto run content on any modern Windows, so if you want to display something as soon as they introduce the CD you are out of luck, you have to count on the persona actually navigating to the CD on the explorer and launching whatever it is that you put there, but I digress, that's not the problem, the problem is the actual label that you put on the CD, you can create some home made labels but they always look kind of unprofessional and not very neat, so that's the first impression that people are going to get from you even before using the actual CD, not to mention that most modern computers are now lacking a CD drive.

Corazon · Mar 15, 2016

My business card is the official card issued by the office. It has the traditional design with the usual contents such as the position and phone numbers plus email address. But my husband's business card is the modern design with a photo. It is more attractive to look at. Business card is very important especially when you are searching for connections because meeting new people requires the courtesy of your business card.

Gemma · Oct 21, 2016

Currently using business cards with a simple and clean design. They're matched with the colors and fonts on our website and work well in all business situations.

normasbathandbody · Aug 17, 2017

I order my business cards online and can make them as well. but how does one send someone a business card instantly on a device?

Log in