Most company-issued business cards are bleak, soulless things that wouldn’t stand out in a crowd if they had legs and a 5-foot ladder. If the new era of journalism is all about branding and self-promotion, then you’ll need a business card that won’t get lost in the pack. Considering the inexpensive cost of getting business cards printed, there are very few reasons you shouldn’t create something a little more snazzy.
You have two options when creating a business card: either create one that incorporates your company logo or insignia (hi-res versions of which you can grab from a staff web producer) or create one that just has your name, occupation and personal info. This way you can have both your company business card and something more personal/informal you can also hand out to potential connections.
If you don’t have the design chops to create your own business card, you can either use an interesting template or ask a designer friend to help you out (though you should pay them something fair…no designer wants to work for free). If you need inspiration, you can check out one of the many posts on the web that showcase unique or interesting business cards, including this one, this one, and this one. You can also check out my business card here.
Once you have your design, you can use an online retailer like VistaPrint (which I personally recommend) or support local businesses and visit your local print shop. Just to give you some ideas, here are business cards from 10,000 Words readers:
Some say that paper business cards are dead, but this is far from true. Most professionals are expected to have a business card on hand to distribute, even if it only lists your online/social media presence. If you insist on ditching the cards and saving a tree, check out the app Bump for iPhone and Android which allows you to share your contact info with another person by simply bumping your phones together.
Also on 10,000 Words:
• 15 Journalists’ outstanding personal portfolios
• Pump up your portfolio via mobile or video
• 20 Photojournalists’ fantastic portfolios
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Though with VistaPrint, I’d be careful and watch your credit card statements closely. They have a habit of adding on additional charges to your CC from their partners. There’s other printers out there who are cheap and print cards of much better quality (I used uprinting for the networking cards I made up for NAB).
June 8, 2010, 12:52 pm
I have used Moo Cards (www.moocards.com) and have never looked back. It works well with Flickr – so you can use one of the awesome shots you took and use it as the design.
June 14, 2010, 12:39 am
How to be a rock star at your next conference :: 10,000 Words :: where journalism and technology meet Pingback Says:
[...] prepared. Your business card doesn’t even have to be a boring white rectangle. Check out this previous post for inventive and unique business [...]
July 27, 2010, 6:02 am
Congrats on your new post, at the Washington Post, Mark. I just read about it at Lost Remote, which brought me here, where this entry caught my eye because I recently launched a related venture, BusinessCardTV.com, which brings me back to your new job… “national innovations editor.”
August 6, 2010, 12:23 am