business cards

All That Goes Behind a Business Card Design

June 10th, 2021 by dayat No comments »

It is a fine summer morning and you are in a happy mood. You have just returned from a long and important overseas business trip and you have attended a number of seminars and exhibitions. As you sit down with a cup of coffee your secretary enters and hands you a stiff piece of rectangular paper. She announces that a well-dressed man had come to meet you regarding an important business deal and had left behind his business card. As you glance through the card, you are impressed by the quality of the board used to make the card. What strikes you is the superb color combination the logo and the lettering of the card uses. Your eyes are riveted to the same and you just cannot take them away.

You also recall how many business opportunities you had lost in these meetings, seminars and exhibitions just because you did not have a business card. It is high time that you got a decent one made for your company. If you search the net, you will come across many ads that are selling cheap Business card designs that you can use for your business card design. It is not recommended that you use them for your official business card. If these designs are available on the net, you are not the only smart browser and in all probabilities others must have downloaded and used the same for designing their organization’s business cards. Check the net again and go in for some blank business cards online and select one whose base color and quality of card appeals to you.

Better yet, appoint some professional to make the selection for you. They are your best option when it comes to designing a professional business card for they have been in this business for many years and know how to design and print a perfect business card that adorns your wallet. You may go in for plain white colored cards, or ivory cards as they are called, for making your business card. If you so wish, you might also go in for color business cards that are the rage nowadays. During your sojourn you might have also come across business card maker programs. These programs are helpful when you need to print a limited number of business cards immediately

They are perfect when you have exhausted your current stock of business cards and need some immediately. However you need to ensure that you have your business card design in your computer before you can use the special software to make a few copies of your business card. Come to think of it, what is the need of such a program when you have the business card design on your computer? In all probabilities the agency that designed your card might have provided you with a `one up’ card design. This means that if you print it using a personal printer, just one card will appear on the printed A4 sheet. Not a wise judgment and too much loss of paper.

The special program will take the business card design that you have on your computer as the source and will make multiple copies of the same and arrange them on a single sheet of paper with cutting guidelines. This ensures that the paper is not wasted and that all the business cards are laid out properly. Just use a slitting knife to cut and separate the individual business cards and you are in business. Before jumping in, make sure that you have got the business card design of your official business card designed by professionals. They ensure that your card will stand out among others and when the purchaser has to select from a number of business cards lying on his table, his eyes are attracted by yours and that he picks yours only.

This results in you procuring the order you were hunting for a long period of time. Take some time and try to make a collection of the business cards of leading organizations and put them out on the table. Look at them and examine them carefully. Can you see what makes them tick? Most of them will be having simple designs and a good color combination. Not just the color combination of the text and logo, but also the color that is used in the background of the card. You will also notice that the leading companies also maintain a certain standard in their business card design. They never clutter up the card with too much text or information.

There are some folks who cram up their business cards with all the information it can hold. This is not done, for a business card is business card and not sales literature. Let the additional info be there on your sales literature and keep the business card as simple as possible. This will ensure that the card will be able to pass across the information it was supposed to convey immediately. Would you rather want that the CEO of a reputed company scanned all through your business card just to find your contact information? A proper business card design should have as much `white space’ as possible on it. People should be able to access the necessary information immediately.

When going in for your business card design, do not go in for a design that requires multi-fold cards. If you use such a card, you can be rest assured that the CEO will dump it in the trashcan without even bothering to glance at it. Get your organizations business card design designed by a professional. This might cost you some additional money, but it will ensure that your business card conveys your true image. After all this is what a business card is supposed to do. They are not required to promote your products. They are meant to project your image and they can do it only if designed by professionals.

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How To Choose An Online Business Card Printer

March 10th, 2021 by dayat No comments »

It’s gotten way too confusing to order business cards online. How do you choose a business card printer when there seem to be millions of them competing for your business?

Shopping for business card printing online is like shopping for any other product – your goal is to find what you what, for a reasonable price, from a reputable dealer. The problem when buying business cards online is making sure you’re comparing apples to apples, as the saying goes.

Finding the Business Cards You Want

Your first task is to find an online business card printer who carries the type of business card you want. Most online business card printers offer full-color business cards in a standard size (3″ by 2.5″), so a simple search for “business cards” or “business card printing” will find those.

You will need to decide whether to use custom artwork for your business card or one of the pre-designed backgrounds or templates offered by many business card printers. Again, many online business card printers allow you to order business cards either way.

Don’t be put off by the idea of using backgrounds that are available to everyone else; odds are slim that any of your direct competitors will find and use the same background. And these are professionally done designs that flat-out make you look good to prospects. (Much better than a homemade business card!)

If you need different cards, such as die-cut business cards or embossed (raised print) business cards, those are also easy to find using your favorite search engine. Many business card printers offer more than one type of card – raised print, one-color or full-color, for example. Some even offer magnetic cards, sticker cards and more.

For the purposes of this article, we’ll assume you’re looking for full color business cards.

Paying a Reasonable Price for Business Cards

Business cards are the bargain buy of the marketing world, but comparison-shopping for business cards can be a nightmare. It’s not enough to compare style and price of business cards between printers (say, 1000 full-color cards, printed on one side – 4/0).

Besides the style and price, you also should compare:

the thickness of the card stock (a 14pt card is sturdier than a 10pt card);
whether or not a protective coating is included in the price (and which type – a card can be “glossy” without having the protection of UV coating, and UV coating is generally considered more desirable than aqueous coating);
whether or not there are extra charges, such as a fee to upload your own images;
how many (or how few) business cards you can order at a time;
shipping costs; and, last but not least;
the reputation of the business card printing company.
Finding a Reputable Business Card Printer
Online business card printers who’ve made it to the top of the search engines, and stayed there, are generally okay – but not necessarily.

In fact, one popular, high-ranking business card printer online has such a pattern of complaints that they’ve received an “Unsatisfactory” rating from the Better Business Bureau. (This company’s cards are also of substandard size, although it’s hard to tell unless you directly compare them with another business card.)

So one guideline is to look for a designation such as Better Business Bureau approval or Bizrate certification. If a company has won such a designation, they’ll probably mention it somewhere on their website. Testimonials are another clue – but it isn’t hard to find a dozen happy people out of thousands of customers, so read them with a grain of salt.

Another way to assess a business card printer is to request samples of their business cards – not only will you get to examine actual cards, but you’ll get a feel for their customer service as well.

One Last Complication

Did you know that many, if not most, of the business card printers on the web are dealers for two or three huge wholesale business card printing companies? That’s right – you spend all that time shopping for the right business card printer and you probably don’t realize you’re comparing identical cards.

(You usually can’t tell until you reach the section of the website where you actually choose and edit a business card template or background – the URL will change.)

Now there’s nothing wrong with these online business card dealers, many of whom add value by educating people about business cards, just as I do, and nothing wrong with the business cards. But knowing that many business card printers online offer the exact same cards should save you some comparison time!

Given the affordability, portability and versatility of business cards, it is certainly worth taking time to shop around for the right business card printer for your business. And now that you understand some of the differences, you’ll make a more informed decision when you next go looking for a business card printer on the Internet.