I believe in the power of the business card. While it has been eschewed by some, maybe many, in the modern professional landscape in favor of air dropping device to device, simply being added to LinkedIn or even the awkward let me type that into my phone, nothing replaces the original calling card. Why miss an opportunity because you simply do not have one? It could be a reminder of an occasion where you had a personal exchange with someone. Perhaps it was displayed at a booth at an industry conference or it accompanied some documents you had to sign. Even if the receiver allows it to languish before adding it to the recycling bin the card was a physical interaction in a world that’s increasingly remote. It is serving as a tangible impression of you when you can’t physically be there. It actually helps you to stand out since they are becoming a rarity.
The business card is a chance to introduce your brand and relay who you are and what your company does. At minimum it has the contact information of the person who can get what a prospective client wants. But with smart design you can attract attention that excites a client to want to contact you and your business. If your business is in need of design and branding help you can use sites like Fiverr.com to hire a graphic designer at a price you are comfortable with. Fiverr.com is a great resource for finding all sorts of professional and personal experts to work on a freelance project basis. Since I was unsure about what I was looking for exactly, I opted to pay for a contest on 99 Designs by Vista. I knew I wanted to promote my business and needed a consistent logo and branding for a reasonable rate. I had several talented artists compete to design a logo and develop my branding. It is a very cost effective way to see different points of view in high quality artwork. The process provides perspective and helps you to distill what it is you want. It enhances your ability to give constructive feedback to achieve a design you are absolutely in love with. You can even quit the contest within a certain time frame if you feel like nothing is working for your vision for a full refund. The winning designs are what you see on this website and social media accounts. I am now incorporating them into a business card that I am designing myself using Canva. I plan on printing them at Moo.com which I have used in the past. I really like the quality of their paper and customized features such as custom colors on the edges of extra thick cards, metallics and a variety of fun stock print templates. They also have unique sizes that are atypical for business cards such as slightly shorter and wider business cards, square, and mini cards. They also allow you to have different designs within your order batch for additional customization. They really illustrate how business cards can be exciting and relevant and anything but old-fashioned. It costs a little more so if you are looking for a good standard and less expensive way to print you can use Vistaprint which I have also used for business cards as well as personal occasion cards.
Canva is an amazing tool for anyone that needs to graphic design and wants an easy and user friendly way to do it. It also offers social media templates and direct uploads so it is a necessary tool for those of us who operate in those areas without a graphic design background or department. I could have made my own logo here but as I mentioned before I did not know exactly what I wanted. Now that I have the logo I am able to utilize the business card template which I edited for the slightly shorter and wider Moo size. Let me know which of the Logo Options below you like best by clicking on the Logo Option you like the best and leave a comment on my post on my Positively Styling Facebook Page and VOTE for your favorite.
VOTE FOR WHICH LOGO DESIGN YOU LIKE BEST FOR MY BUSINESS CARDS at https://www.facebook.com/PositivelyStyling
Card Logo Option 1
Card Logo Option 2
Card Logo Option 3
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