Business Cards

[briduhunt]

I went to a small maple seminar in the Lethworth High School and attended a class on opperating the mapleing as a buisness and the first thing the guy said was that you need business cards. I did get a lot out of his talk and think I will be getting some business cards real soon but was just wondering who out there has them and has it worked at expanding their business. I am going to be a bee keeper starting this spring startiing with one hive and my goal is to have 10 hives with in 3 years. I plan on selling the honey and other bee wax products so I am considering waiting on getting the business cards after I have honey to sell. Not sure if I should wait or just have cheap cards made right now for just the maple products I am selling and have new cards made latter. Any input would be appreciated.

[softmaple]

we do bees also and it could take 2 years before any honey. this is our second year with bees and hopefully this year we can get some honey if they survive the winter. as to the business cards, print your own on your computer. staples sells sheets of business cards for your printer. that's what we use and it seems to be fine.

[LawnMowerMan]

I Know for my lawn business I just make my own, some heavy weight card stock, a paper cutter and printshop, I have made my own for 9 years now.

I also bought the packets of fridge magnets, they are sticky on 1 side so you can just stick your business card to it, instant fridge magnet! ;)

I guess if you are giving out ALOT like hundreds it may be cheaper to get them made, not sure, seems like the only discount back when I looked was for orders of over 500. At that time I did not need that many.

[dnap63]

Business cards are great if you are talking with someone and you give them your card. I believe they are a tool that keeps your contact information available, but they are only as good as the impression you make with the person you hand it to. there are also places you can get free business cards onlinesuch as vistaprint.

[Stickey]

I find vista print pretty reasonable. I thought 500 would last me a life time. I've re ordered a couple times. They go quick when you really get rolling.

[Sugarmaker]

We make our own I give out a lot of them. Luckily my son Adam does the art work and the designs then I run them off on the card stock that you can tear apart. Works good for us and you can get as much color as you want.
He might do art work for others if they need it.
His email is adam@abomb3d.com
His web site is www.abomb3d.com
Adam is a animator and modeler and can help with web sites also.

Regards,
Chris

[3rdgen.maple]

Okay it is reall simple to do briduhunt. I am in the printing trade and will tell you just the artwork alone is not cheap but after that if you make no changes the cost goes down. Also the more you order at once the price per each drops alot. But with all that said here is what I do. First go to an office supply store and by Avery business card stock, there are many stocks and colors available, make sure it is clean edge business card paper, next go to avery.com, they provide a free webpage where you can design your own from a wide array of designs to choose from, next set your printer to maximum dpi or the highest quality setting you can get, print them out and gently set aside to let the ink dry, last snap them apart and they look as good as any. Just got done printing 400 of the again for work. Also like already said get online and find some magnetic business card holders and pass them out with your maple and honey so your customers can stick them on the fridge and always remember who to call when they run out. If you don't want to go through that I can get you hooked up with a printer. Maybe give Jon a generic layout and he can bring it back home and I can see what I can do for you.

[KenWP]

Okay 3rdgen what happens if you have generic cards will this Avery web site print on them too or do you need a upc code. I had to make my own business cards up for lodge a couple years ago as to buy them at the time was like a dollar apeice in my town. After I got mine printed I got all these offeres from guys to print them cheaper. Go figure.

[3rdgen.maple]

Sure will Ken there is no upc codes or special deals to get on there. There are just alot of different avery card stocks and it has you choose from a list of papers to pick the number of the paper they list it by. I would guess since all cards are the same size and the same amount on the sheet you could just pick one that best fits what paper you have. They also have some adjustment capabilities so if you print out a sheet and it is off center you can shift the image around. You just design one card and it automatically lays them all out on the sheet. But like I side make sure you get the clean edge cards as they look professional. I really like the website it allows you to download your own pictures to set as a background if you want and it walks you through it step by step, save it when you are done and when you run out open the file and print some more.

[Groves]

Avery also has a free downloadable program that lets you design all sorts of things. labels, envelopes, business cards, etc. It's no InDesign, but it's a good program none-the-less.

[Loun]

If you are looking to get the word out about anything, then you need at least business cards and possibly even a website (even if its a one page deal that just gives your basic information)

For business cards:
I have used this place in the past -
http://www.overnightprints.com/businesscards
You can get 1000 cards for 39.95 or double sided for 49.95 they are thick stock, can have rounded corners and are color. That would last you for a while im sure. I think 500 are 29.95 / 39.95 double sided.

For a website:
Domain name is $8.02 per year... www.moniker.com
And a place to have it hosted is $9.95 a month www.phatservers.net
Even if you build your own (you can do it through Microsoft Word if you really needed to) it helps give a place for people to see what you have to offer.

Just my 2 cents, although im somewhat partial, ive been doing graphics and building sites since 1998 lol. But its truly not hard and its such an easy way to tell people what you do.

-Lou

[DanE.]

I use vista print. every couple month they have free premium business card only pay for shipping 250 card professionally made for 3.95 with the image you want or uploaded. you can't buy the card stock for that.

[The Birdman]

busness cards are the best form of advertising for the price. Around my area most store's have a bullitin board just use a bright card. I've drop off cards and have calls before i get home.

[red maples]

if you go to vista print I think it is. if you select one of there styles it is almost free. you can design your own on the web site too they are also cheap as well.

[Loun]

Vista print used to give 250 free business cards and might still do it, the catch is they print their info on the back. Call me crazy but.. a business card tells the story of your business. A business card is the last impression you get to give a customer about who you are and what you do. Its something that when they pull it out of their wallet or come across it in their purse that it will remind them why they should do business with you... In my opinion nothing says "im amateur" or "I dont have the confidence in myself and my business" than a free business card with someone elses promo on there. Is saving $25-30 worth possibly tainting that last impression of you and your business?

If you are looking to make business cards its because you are selling product or services. Invest in yourself, dont go the free route, it WILL make a difference.

-Lou

[DanE.]

Vista print used to give 250 free business cards and might still do it, the catch is they print their info on the back.
-Lou

Lou, If you wait for their premium business cards to become free, they do not print anything on the back of them. I just placed an order with them this morning, 2 t-shirts, 10 refrigerator calendar magnets, 2 car door magnets, 250 business cards, including shipping it was 23.74.

The problem with them is you have to wait for the right deal. You also have to pay very close attention to what they are doing. on Friday I put all of this together and left it in the shopping cart. I got an email from them and said I forgot to place the order, I went back in and everything was priced from free to the full retail price. I had to deleted it all from the cart and re-add it through the original e-mail they sent me with the free prices in it.

I'm not saying this is for everyone. But the business card are a lot more professional than what anyone can print on their inkjet printers. You just need to wait for the deals.

Dane.

[mapleman3]

I use Vista Print but not the free, It's nice if I need to change something I can do it myself... not as cheap as a local printer but they hold up much better than the homemade ones from your own printer in my opinion.

I also have tshirts and hats embroidered from a local place.. 5 bucks for the logo each item I have done... that is after the initial setup cost of maybe fifty bucks... now whatever I bring them is five bucks plus I can order through them. thats what I do for my hats.. lots of folks wearing them around here :)