Free(?) Business Cards

FREE!!! We all seem to like the sound of that, yet with business cards we really need to think about what FREE really means.

I’m not going to tell you where to get them, but I will tell you why NOT to get them. Let’s start with whose business are you looking to promote? It better be yours and if so, why would you want to have the printing company’s website address appear on the back of your business card? You should be more concerned with you and your business and that means you should be designing a business card from the ground up with your company logo, what you do and your contact info (obviously there are other things you can put on your business card, but these are the essentials).

Next, let’s look at all those “cool” background images. Guess what? That cool image you picked has been picked by thousands of other people. How original is that? I was at a networking event a while back, with about 80-100 people attending. Everyone is doing the meet and greet thing, exchanging business cards and trying to convince people to do business with them (not how you should be doing networking, but that’s another story). In a matter of twenty minutes I collected 3 business cards from 3 different people doing 3 completely different businesses… and all 3 had the same background (and all 3 were free business cards from the same place, no surprise there). Hmmm. That’s going to set you apart and get you noticed NOT. If you are going to use a background image, why not take the time and a little money and create something original. Maybe something that even relates in some way to your business?

Yes, money is tight. Yes, on the surface, free sounds good. Yet we are all competing for our prospect’s and client’s dollar. If we spend a few bucks to have a professionally designed and printed business card that is unique, maybe, just maybe, that along with the value you offer will get you noticed and remembered.

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