I would have to disagree a bit with the statement above. In my own humble opinion,yes, you are the product, but unless your card reflects the same quality as you do, then your card is NOT working for you. So in a way you are the product and your card must also be an extension of this product.

You are correct on that sometimes photos may not be the best choice for a business card. They can be used if you hand out your cards a lot but keep in mind that photos require 4 color printing and often times cost more to print. Also, as mentioned above, your image changes over time and so your image on the card would also have to be changed as well. A well designed logo would never have to be changed at all.

You are also right in that fancy design does not mean anything unless it serves the purpose of getting your information out to your intended market in the best way possible. However, that does not mean your card has to be plain and boring.

Plain and boring does nothing for you as your card will not stand out and you will not be unique enough. You want your card to be an extension of your own unique style of performance. A well designed card that has a proper layout of the information can be a great tool in anyone's marketing tool box.

Please PM me if anyone wants examples of cards or logos or wants to chat about their own materials. I would love to help you out.

Kyle

I use 100print.com and I'm due to receive my first shipment this week. (Wohoo!)

I'll check out some of the other places listed. If I can get them cheaper, and the same quality heck, WHY NOT!?!?!

As for 'ordinary' business cards working for successful people - yes to an extent.

The example given for a banker may not be totally accurate.

As an example, when you go to a loan officer at say Wells Fargo Bank those people are "using" Wells Fargo's reputation. They don't need a fancy card because Wells Fargo has already spent hundreds of millions of dollars building their own reputation.

For the one man business (as most of us are), we need something that "kicks it up a knotch" (thanks, Emeril).

I'd say the nicer card the better. You need great content and a photo is helpful.

That said, in a one-man-band business, we have to give people a way to keep our card. I agree the show is what will ultimately get them to REbook you.

However if you want to be booked off just a contact, you need everything working in your favor, business cards included.

Cheers fellas and thanks for the additional resources!

Robert Bloor

PS: I design my own cards using Macromedia Fireworks Studio 4.

Fireworks can be used as long as it outputs in the format that is needed for the printer. Most online places use CMYK digital printing. In this case, a hi-res 300DPI cmyk file works fine for them and their applications.

However, if your printing only spot color in an offset fashion, fireworks might not be the best application to use. You will want an application where you can specify the exact Pantone Printing color.

The best industry standard applications for use in designing cards or logos or any materials are:
- Quark Express - page layout
- Adobe Illustrator - Flat art and logo design
- Adobe Photoshop - Photo manipulation and optimization.

Hope some of this information is of help to others.

Kyle

I know people that have had good luck with http://www.vistaprint.com also.

I use vistaprint too. A very nice heavy stock, they are fast, and a nice price: 5000 for $55.00

Vistaprint is not bad and great prices as well. I would just not reccomend using their template designs.

Create a design that is unique to yourself and your magic and that sells you and your performance style. A unique card will stand out more. If you give them your design, vistaprint is still a cheap way to go.

Kyle

Business cards are a needed waste.
I have nice cards. People like them. Don't think I have been hired from a card for about 97% of the gigs in my life time.
They look good on mailings and go home with the kids, but after a month or so, few hang on to them.
AND IF THEY DO, they can not find them when they need them.

Of course some do hold them and some do call but most do not.

Gee, I wish I had $1 for the amount of times some one has handed me a card and a few days later I can not find it or it gets so bent up I just toss it, imagine what happens to your card.

People ask for my card all the time and it is why I said it is needed. But most just do not use them.
All the cards I tack on boards dwindle down week after week and yet I can say not one person has ever called from marketing my card on boards at stores and banks.
This is just an example of what might happen to the cards. They take them, it goes in the pocket. Maybe it gets crushed or stacked with papers or a coffee cup placed on top. Or they forget and put it in the wash. They are only practical if clipped to a bigger mailing but then, they do not need your card since you number is in bold on your prom materials. Very few scan business cards and very few have card files if we are talking about LAY FOLK.

Someone is taking them but since I track my marketing, I know the majority of work is not gained through someone keeping your card.

Just ask and you might hear "oh I heard about you from Mrs. Martain. She said you were great. She said she had a card but could not find it so we looked up up in the phone book."


So I agree to a point with starpower that you do not need to go overboard.
If you do it right, just your name and the word ENTERTAINER in bold letters would make a statement.
They might think you must be good not to over hype your card.

I use Vista Print. I had not heard of the other ones until now and will check them out. Always update to glossy and they run many sales. Every month they're 20-33% off some products.
IF you use their on-line publisher, you can upload all to them and design it on the screen.
I do a little of both. I did my front work in photoshop and then worked on the back using their set up.

I would agree most business cards are a necessary waste. But then most business cards give the person no reason to keep them.

Like any material, create a reason for them to keep the card.

I know a card design currently used be a handful of performers that get kept simply because they're so amazing to look at and have unbelieveable information on them.

Robert Bloor

Vista print sales link for March 04. It should work.
I am pretty sure you can upload your own design for the sale. http://www.vistaprint.com/vp/ns/splash/s......%3A25+AM
Starting at $3.99 for 250 if you need to try them out

Keeping a card is one thing but generating a sale is another.

Question for you, mghia:

Do you think that business cards, brochures, lead generation letters, phone calls, etc. all work together in SYNERGY to create interest from the prospect, and cause the response of having them call you?

- Donald.

P.S. The cards that Robert Bloor spoke of, have a powerful call to action on them, and a powerful offer. More than just a name, title ("entertainer") and a phone number. They are like mini lead generation ads!

I make them myself. I am a graphic designer, or at least was. I get 5000 doublesided full color uv coated business card for $150. that's a darn good deal!

Here's a site that is the wave of the future for business cards. I'm looking into it, Spendy, a real keeper for the customer. ( I thinking of an empty hat and then the rabbit appears!)
http://www.lenticular.biz/printing.html

Who the heck can justify over a dollar a business card?

Over a dollar a business card is just way too pricey in my book. Of course you must weight that against how much business your card or promo piece actually brings in.

Kyle

Kyle,

Ha! That card better bring me 10 more shows for everyone I give out.

Here's another thought - at some point is your message lost?

If I have a fancy card that if you tilt at an angle makes baseballs appear under cups - at what point to people become more interested in my card than they are in me?

Robert Bloor

Robert, Maybe a picture of you can appear from a hat.
Of course at a dollar a card, I will give them out judiciously to create a good impression on select clients. Besides, it's a tax write off!

After reading about 100Print on here, I decided to order a set from them. I've got some good things to report and some not so good things.

First, the cards look good. I've ordered from another site listed here, TwigOneStop, but Twig's minimum order is 5000 cards and I didn't need that many, so I didn't mind paying slightly more per card for a lower total price. I didn't use my credit card for this, I sent a money order. This caused more emails back and forth, but I'm glad that they accepted this less immediate method of payment. As promised, the cards arrived within 10 days after they received payment. And don't forget, postage is included in the $40 price!

Now for the not so good news. First, I downloaded a template for Photoshop from their site to make it easier to format the file to their specifications. I believe this template contained a virus. My anti-virus program quarantined the virus, so no harm was done, but still, who wants to get infected? Next time I will create the file by following their specs and if anything is wrong, I'll let them straighten it out.

One more note - neither good or bad, just for your information. In their emails to me I thought that the person writing me was either too busy to write clearly or else English was not their first language. The mailing address on the web site was in Ohio. When I received the package, the return address was in Taiwan.

Oh, btw. I requested samples and got samples of 100Print's own business cards. It turned out, these were to help me choose the type of paper I wanted. But still, I probably should have seen some samples before ordering.

If anyone would like to see how my cards look, email me.

Tate Elliott
tate_elliott@juno.com

Always get samples from printers before deciding on using them. Not all printers are created equal and many have various qualities based on what method of printing they do. Only samples will tell you if the quality is up to par for your work.

Also, when asking for samples, make sure to ask for a variety of samples and samples that are close to what you are after. If you tell them what your card is intended to look and print like, they should be able to supply you with samples that are close to what you are after.

Read carefully the fine print and the section on how they like to receive your files. This is critical as supplying them with wrong files can not only delay the process but it can end up costing you money and your design might print wrong and the color be way off.

Some of these places run with whatever file you give them and they will not fix it for you without additional cost. Make sure you provide them exactly what it is they need to do the best job for you.

You might also want to ask if they can supply you with a proof for you to check out what they have before they print up the rest of the cards. Some places will provide this for you at no cost, but you must ask for it ahead of time. This is a great way to make sure everything is correct.

If anyone has any additional questions regarding printing or the design of their own cards etc., please e-mail me at magic4u02@aol.com. I would be happy to help anyone out.

Kyle

Following the advice of The Dean and others, I tried 100print.com and just got the 5,000 2-sided, full color, glossy, coated cards in today.

I can back up Tate's comments: return address was Taiwan and quality is great!! Took 9 days to receive from the day I sent my artwork to them. Came via UPS.

Greetings...
I just used http://www.overnightprints.com for some cards...

They also offer full-color double sided digital prints on a heavy card stock (you can choose UV glossy coating), 1,000 for $39, and they usually ship and print within 24 hours of order. They are in California. The quality of the cards I got is very good. The best thing about them is their web site-- you can either design your card online using their templates, or upload a design you have created (they accept a variety of formats, including incredibly MS Publisher. They also have info for you to use in creating your design so it prints properly). Once you choose to upload your design, it will appear onscreen via their web site, overlayed with bleed outline (they do full bleeds), trim margin, and safety margin (since trimming isn't 100% accurate). Very easy to work with. I believe they use offset lithography.

Joe N.

PS- they do postcards too, and also offer samples.

PPS- If you need banners made, I also just used http://www.sugarhousebanners.com, out of Salt Lake City, UT. They also have design on-line, or upload design, FULL COLOR digital printed banners, in various colors and sizes, VERY GOOD PRICES. I got a 2 foot x 6 foot banner (full color, vinyl) for $42, printed and shipped within a day (they emailed a proof .GIF within a few hours of me placing the online order).