Although they are not as common as they were years ago, business cards are still very important for your business in the 21st century. Business cards are sometimes the first piece of marketing that a potential customer will see of your business, especially if you work for a small business that they may not have heard of before.
They are essential for networking events, and although with the pandemic these have temporarily decreased, we can be sure that events will come back. So are you ready to show the best side of your business when that happens?
Business cards used to all look very similar and not say much about the brand they represented. Many didn’t even have the corporate colours and didn’t give a sense of what the brand was about. This has now changed as more people have knowledge about graphic design has become more popular. But the good news is that you don’t even need to have graphic design skills to create your own business cards. There are a lot of software options available that can do this for you.
Why are business cards important?
There are many reasons why business cards are important pieces of marketing, and great value for money when compared to other forms of marketing.
To start with, your business card is the first image and causes the first impression that many of your potential customers will have of you and your business.
Good quality business cards that are resistant are likely to be saved by the person who received it for weeks and even months, making them an effective marketing tool.
Meeting someone in person and exchanging business cards has a personal touch that makes the interaction much more effective for your marketing goals than other techniques such as email or online marketing. It has the potential of building lasting business relationships.
Very importantly, business cards also show you’re serious about your business. If you don’t have a business card when someone asks for one, you’ll look unprepared.
And finally, you can get bonus points if you design a clever, creative and original business card that people will want to show to other contacts and colleagues, which is a great way to get referrals.
How to design a business card (without graphic design skills)
You definitely don’t need a degree in graphic design to make your own business cards. Fortunately, there are now plenty of online tools that you can use to design them.
But before we look at these tools, you need to have a clear idea of what you want your card to look like. If you don’t know where to start, consider the elements that you will need to include in your business card. Remember that it needs to be very concise. You can add a short tagline, but not more than that.
You can list a website URL, or even save space and make the most of new technology by adding a QR code to take consumers directly to your website, or a specific landing page. If you are a freelancer, you can display your name, job title, email, phone number, and maybe even a headshot.
Your business card will probably have dimensions similar to 3.5 inches by 2 inches, and you can use one or both sides of your card. Once you’ve decided where you are going to put all the elements of your business card, choose a font and colours that match your company’s branding, and of course, have your logo ready to add it as well.
Software for designing business cards
Because business cards can be relatively simple to design, there are many ways you can do it yourself online. There is even free software for designing business cards, and plenty of apps for designing business cards that will make your life easier.
Professionals will likely want to use programs like the Adobe Suite to make their designs, but there are also plenty of options that you can use if you are not a design expert.
Here are some options if you want to create your own business cards, but are not an expert graphic designer:
- Adobe Sparks has a range of templates that you can use for free, even without any design skills.
- Canva will allow you to design your business cards. You can try their Canva Pro account for free for 30 days to use thousands of business card templates.
- Shopify also has this tool that allows you to fill in your business information and add your business logo to download your personalised business cards.
- Jukebox allows you to create your business card design from scratch or choose from their templates.
- Business Card Star has a large collection of business card layouts to choose from, all categorised by style so that you can find what you are looking for.
- Design Mantic offers modern templates for you to choose from. You only need to add your personal information, upload your logo, and change the font or text colour.
Designing business cards in word
If you don’t want to use any of the websites above, but you have access to the Microsoft Suite, designing business cards in word is always there as an option. To design business cards in word, you just need to click on “new” to create a new document:
Then, look for “Business cards” in the search bar and you will see dozens of different business cards templates:
If you still prefer to have your business card designed by a professional or need help designing business cards, get in touch with our team.
Printing business cards
Printing business cards doesn’t have to be expensive. You can now get professional business cards without breaking the bank.
Make sure you invest in high-quality printing. Your business card is like a mini version of your business, so you want to have high-quality cards made with a quality card stock printed with a very high-resolution.
Whether you have your own design ready for printing or you’d like us to design beautiful and impactful cards for your business, get in touch with us and we will organise it for you.
