I had an appointment with my accountant yesterday. He’s a middle-aged man with a classic style and a well paying job. Why do I mention this? I guess to paint a picture of the fact that this man understands quality. He asked if his daughter, who is in her third year of college as a communications major, could contact me regarding her interest in advertising.
When I provided the man my card, he took it and placed it in his wallet. He then asked if he could be honest with my about something. He told me that if I was doing business with him and I gave him a card like that, it would go in the trash. Not that it’s a bad card, he said, it’s just that I cannot read it.
He, though not yet an “old” man, was losing his sight and small letting is difficult for him to read. Thus, having a card like mine handed to him is just too frustrating to concentrate on. He said that he knows he has a problem with his eyesight, but he’s not quite ready to go an get glasses (actually, he’s not the first man I’ve heard this from) and that he’d rather avoid things which are uncomfortable for him than admit his age-related problem.
It never even once crossed my mind. I’m extremely grateful that there are people in the world who just explain things how they really are. I don’t need reality sugarcoated. I’m respond well to criticism and encourage honesty. Therefore, now, I need new cards.
Posts Tagged ‘business cards
Business Cards Revisited
The Business of Business… Cards
Ah, the age old question…. do I need business cards? Since my officials coming out to being a copywriter, the question has arisen numerous amounts of times. “Do you have a business card?” Of course, the reply has always been, “You know, I just ran out.” Though I suppose I could be truthful, I always find its more lucrative to have “just run out.” As though the line for my card was around the corner and I just didn’t anticipate such demand. Why didn’t I want business card in reality? Commitment. What you say on a business card, is who you become. That’s a lot of commitment for a piece of paper 3.5″ x 2″.
Recently, I was asked to design and order business cards for someone. Always being up for a new copywriting / design challenge, I began researching my options. Initially I started searching for “cheap business cards” to see the possible companies from which to order. This search lead my to the option of free business cards. FREE? I like that option. Free even made me want to commit. Turns out, “there is no free lunch.” What is meant by free is that you still pay for shipping and handling, which comes to about $2-3. Don’t get me wrong, that’s still pretty inexpensive, but not exactly free is it? Going through all the templates was fairly simple, there are about 30- 50 choices and no font / image / layout customization options. After looking through my options and not being particularly enthralled by any of them, I decided to dig around the site a bit. What I found was that I could add four bucks to the current shipping only price and have a much larger variety. And here’s where the trouble starts…
Which do you chose? What do you say? How do you say it? The choices are endless, particularly after I found out that the template provided on the site are completely customizable. What that means is if I like a font but not the picture, I could change the picture to whatever I deemed appropriate. To make a long story shorter, after about the fourth category all the cards looked the same and I was seeing the cards like coffee was viewed in “Moscow on the Hudson.” This, mind you was just the card for the client, I had yet to begin with my own card. Wow.
After finalizing a version of the clients card, I began my all to inevitable process of my card. Three hours and 6 versions later, I an out of time, leaving my personal project until tomorrow. And as always, the minute I stopped thinking about my task, I had a creative outflow. I hate when “they” are right, but they are. The flowing day I completely re-designed my business card, and placed the order.
So, after all this, I bet you’re yearning to find out hat this amazing low price high customization company is, huh? VistaPrint. I will say nothing else about them. Just go there and be wowed. All the “too good to be true” fears are completely and utterly false. This company is too good and too true. Much thanks to VistaPrint. I’ve even managed to gather a whole collection of new customers for you.
