Business Card Help

[FishbowlFranklin]

Hello all, first post here!

As my user name hints at, I own a small business selling aquariums, fish, etc. I've been in business a few months, but haven't gotten around to purchasing business cards yet. I've realized that I need to acquire some asap to increase my visibility in this area. I seem to have a steady flow of customers when it comes to specialty items, but for common purchases, I'm losing out to big boxes (i.e. PetSmart), although my prices are competitive.

For those of you who are small business owners, where do you go for your business cards? Cheap is always good, and a holiday theme would be an added bonus. I intend on including a business card with every purchase during the holiday season, so something festive (but non-denominational) would be nice.

Thanks in advance for the suggestions!

[gofrugal]

I used clubflyers.com, they have give me good deal.
One of the member here to me about them.

[butler68]

I used gotprint.net. I got the 100lbs cards and they look great. 500 cards for $28 shipped. One mistake - they use a 4 color printer and my gray turned out more red/brown. Good thing red is on of my colors.

[RLorenzen]

I used Lindsay Marsh at Marsh Graphic Designs and Hillman Ball- YE Username: masapparel...both did a good job.

[Iamnotsatisfied]

Vistaprint does free business cards... Might want to take a look.

[remipub]

Hey FishbowlFranklin,

Check out our website ... if you're looking for very high quality and great prices you'll be very pleased with what we have to offer.

remipub.com

For an extra $5 off just type the word "forum" in the coupon code during checkout (only valid on orders over 1000 cards).

Oh ... and for what it's worth, I'd consider doing a separate flyer for your holiday promotions. You can get a small 4"x4" or 4"x6" flyer very inexpensively, but that would allow you more room to promote a special.

Either way, good luck with your business!

[FishbowlFranklin]

Thanks for all of the responses folks! I wasn't expecting much in the way of answers, being a new forum member and all. I think I'm going to like it here!

I checked out all of the sites listed above, and decided to go with Brochures, Stationery, Invitations and Award Certificates - PaperDirect for my business cards (and some postcards) in the end. The price was right, and the customization options were great. I'll post a follow-up when I actually receive them to let y'all know how they turned out.

Just a note to those interested in Vistaprint: when I saw "free" I instantly checked it out, but unfortunately the free business cards have the ugly "VistaPrint" logo on one side. I appreciate the suggestion, but I don't really want to do any free advertising for them!

[chrispalko]

Feel free to save costs and make your own holder once you get them. You are going to need a holder eventually. You can check out my post here.

[Scott Bradley]

Hello all, first post here!

As my user name hints at, I own a small business selling aquariums, fish, etc. I've been in business a few months, but haven't gotten around to purchasing business cards yet. I've realized that I need to acquire some asap to increase my visibility in this area. I seem to have a steady flow of customers when it comes to specialty items, but for common purchases, I'm losing out to big boxes (i.e. PetSmart), although my prices are competitive.

For those of you who are small business owners, where do you go for your business cards? Cheap is always good, and a holiday theme would be an added bonus. I intend on including a business card with every purchase during the holiday season, so something festive (but non-denominational) would be nice.

Thanks in advance for the suggestions!

Vista Print could give you something good that is cheap to start off with.

[VEDER]

Most of those suggestions above are good, however they all have the exact same prints.

We have luxurious business cards, a bit more expensive but you get what you pay for. 16pt with Silk effects.

Click on the link below...

[FishbowlFranklin]

Feel free to save costs and make your own holder once you get them. You are going to need a holder eventually. You can check out my post here.

Chris, I did buy a holder from Brochures, Stationery, Invitations and Award Certificates - PaperDirect before I saw your post, but I'll definitely keep that in mind for the future, thanks!

[KarenDimmick]

Vista print does free ones, however you need to leave "vista print" printed on the back, which can look a bit like your business is either new or temporary. For a small fee they do some great ones provided you follow one of their templates.

Alternatively how about printing your own? Blank packs for your printer aren't that expensive, then just use Word (or Pages if you're on a Mac) to design them. That way you can print as many as you want and use them for special promotions. Just don't change the overall look too often or you won't get any consistency in your brand recognition. However, you can leave the essence of the card the same and print your "this month's promotion" on the back...

[czyzykprinting]

You must not of used cmyk, it should of turend out fine, unless u wernt using CMYK. If you need it prof designed let us know.

I used gotprint.net. I got the 100lbs cards and they look great. 500 cards for $28 shipped. One mistake - they use a 4 color printer and my gray turned out more red/brown. Good thing red is on of my colors.

[xK1DREAPERx]

Vista print offer cheap cards but kill you with the postage...

[JKansas]

This is probably anti-ye.com, but I bought mine locally. Yes, they were slightly more expensive, but I got proofs, no shipping charges, and supported a local business. It's not that i'm against the online guys, but I know people that have their cards redone two or three times online to get what they wanted, i did it once and was done correctly.

Also, this is not your question, but you did mention it:

It is impossible to compete with big box on price. As a small business, never compete on price. That said I am in the same boat. For every day items I am beat by the big box stores. Their retail price is less than my cost in a lot of cases. Of course I buy in lots of 5, they go straight to the manufacturer and produce thousands. Like you, we specialize and profit from specialty and custom equipment. We don't waste our time trying to go after that little business, we go after the custom jobs and it's kept us alive. Just thought you might need some encouragement from that end!