Promote Yourself (even Students!) with Personal Business Cards
Do you have a stack of business cards in your desk? These probably promote the boss’s business (or the partners’ law firm). Where are the cards that promote you?
Don’t laugh. This isn’t a far-fetched notion. In fact, I’ve written about student business cards before. In that post, you’ll find a lot of basic ideas on what to include in your cards and where to print them. Now, I’d like to cover a little more.
History behind them
There’s a great post over at The Simple Dollar that gives some awesome info on personal business cards. What I wanted to highlight was an awesome comment that mentions “visiting cards.”
As Wikipedia explains, visiting cards originated in 15th Century China as a way for upper-class people to request visits at each other’s homes. These cards would traditionally contain only the name of the sender. Servants would handle these cards and pass the requests on to the recipient.
Business cards eventually evolved out of this, and people began to include their contact details on the cards. Servants became less prominent in their usage, and the cards were used among other (lower) classes. Supposedly there is still some domestic of visiting cards today, but they take a more business-card-like format.
All this is to say that having personal cards isn’t crazy. In fact, it’s been the norm among the elite classes for centuries. Don’t you want to be high class?
Sources for printing
Since my original post on student business cards, I’ve become aware of two great sources for business cards.
First, I highly recommend the Office Depot print ship. I ordered these cards, and I’m very happy with them. They’re incredibly basic, but I also only paid $0.99 for them (they had a coupon at the time). They’re on nice thick paper, and they’re even embossed. As soon as my new digital camera arrives, I’ll post a pic of my cards.
Second, a couple readers recommend Mind2Print. I haven’t personally used their services, but the company seems sound.
Finally, there’s always VistaPrint, which I originally recommended. I haven’t used them either, but they do have some darn low prices. They also offer free cards, but they do have a VistaPrint logo on the back. Also, rumor has it that the free cards aren’t full size. Buyer Freebie-getter beware.
Your thoughts?
If you have any thoughts, comments, or questions about personal (or student) business cards, I’d love to hear from you. Hit up the comments section below, or drop me a line. I’m here for you.
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Comments
2 Responses to “Promote Yourself (even Students!) with Personal Business Cards”
March 10th, 2007
My wife ordered cards from Vista Print. I think she ordered the free ones (I would ask her but I’m not home right now) and they were full size. They did seem rather light weight though.
March 10th, 2007
Chris,
Thanks for your feedback on this. Perhaps the rumor I heard was wrong. I appreciate you letting us know about your wife’s experience.
Take care,
Andrew