If you own a business or freelance and contract services to others, networking with people who might take advantage of your business or services is one good way of gaining new clients or customers. Maybe you meet someone at a coffee shop and strike up a conversation, and you find they are interested in your product or service, so they ask you, “Okay, how do I learn more about this?”
Well, you could scramble around for a pen and a piece of paper to write down your name and phone number, maybe jot down your email address or website, and basically look unprepared and unprofessional… or you could reach into your pocket and grab a professional looking business card that has all this information already included and hand it to your prospective client.
Which do you think will get a better response and make you and your business look better?
So maybe you’re thinking that you don’t have the money to expend to purchase a large quantity of business cards. That’s okay, because you can make your own professional looking business cards for just a few pennies per card, and you can print them yourself or order them online.
Let’s look at a few online and do-it-yourself business card options for the small business owner or freelancer.
Microsoft Office Word Business Card Templates
MS Word, if you have it on your computer, comes with a business card template for a variety of business card stock you can purchase at just about any office supply store. If those don’t suit your needs, you can visit the Microsoft Office Website for a listing of user created approved templates for business cards and download most of them for free. (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/CT101043091033.aspx)
Vista Print FREE Business Cards
Vista Print has offered their free 250 business card deal for a long time, where all you pay is a small amount for shipping and handling. At the time of this article, Vista Print had 42 different free business card templates from which to choose, and other advanced business card templates for less than $5. Their online templates allow you choose your style, enter your information in a web form, and then view your finished business card online, all in a matter of minutes, and then you can place your order. (http://www.vistaprint.com)
Avery Online Business Card Template Print Center
Avery has long been known for its business card stock, labels, stickers, envelopes and more. Avery products can be purchased at most all office supply stores for using on your home computer, but they also now offer and online business card template and design center. Visit Avery’s website and you can enter your information into the business card design template and when you finish your project, it will save it to a PDF file for you to either print from your own computer with the corresponding Avery business card stock, of take the file on disk to your local print shop and have them printed there. (http://www.avery.com/us/products/landing/cards/)
Office Depot Online Business Card Templates
Office Depot has an online business card template generator where you can choose from a variety of business card styles, enter your information, even upload a logo for your specialized business card, and then preview the card. If you’d like, you can even email the preview to yourself or someone else to review or approve, and then when you’re ready, you simply submit your order online. If you want them shipped to you, you can choose that option, or you can also click a button to have the business cards printed at your local Office Depot store, and you can pick them up there when the business cards are ready. (http://www.officedepot.com/browse.do?Nr=200000 N;=201524)
These are just some of the options for business cards or business card templates available online for the small business owner all the way up to large businesses or freelance contractors. Using online business card templates gives you an advantage over ordering from a standard print shop, in that you can see the business card preview online prior to purchasing the cards or having them shipped to you.
If none of these options work for you or your business, you can always do an internet search for “Online Business Card Templates” and if you’re looking for free options, you can search for “Free Online Business Card Templates”. There are a wide variety of business cards and business card templates available, so you should have no problem finding one that suits your needs.