Business Cards

I've been designing business cards day in and day out for several years now. I design business cards for an enormous variety of industries and I listen to feedback from our customers. I now have a very solid idea of what works for business cards and what doesn't. More and more customers want to design their own business cards so I thought it would be a good idea to pass this information along to help you all out.
Business Cards are usually the first marketing material a businessperson needs. Business cards are often a big part of your first impression. In fact, if someone picks one up from a countertop business card display or gets handed a business card second-hand, your business card may BE your customer's first impression of you. Business cards are so universal and so critical to your marketing efforts, that it could truly make a difference in your income to make sure you have a business card design that will produce results. These articles will discuss the finer points of what makes a business card effective.
TEXT: what text to include and what text to leave out, business card text layout, readability, color, fonts, etc.
PHOTOS: using a photos of yourself, your products or services on photo business cards
SPECS ON SENDING PHOTOS: how to scan and format photos for business card, design tips, etc
BACKGROUND PHOTOS: photo business card backgrounds, background colors and patterns, what works, what doesn't
PRINTING ON BACK: suggestions for what to put on the back of your business cards, black and white or full color on the back of business cards
PAPER STOCK: various options available, choosing the right one for you
MARKETING CAMPAIGN: matching business cards to your other marketing materials, producing a marketing campaign, website vs. printing graphics, technical notes, business card and printing design notes, etc.

FOR CREATING YOUR OWN BUSINESS CARD DESIGNS
DESIGN TUTORIAL: instructions and specs for creating your own pro print-ready files
CREATE YOUR OWN PRINT-READY FILES: photoshop template for designing and formatting your own print-ready business card files
PHOTOSHOP TUTORIAL: instructions and specs for creating a print-ready business card file in photoshop

FOR REAL ESTATE AGENTS:
REALTOR MARKETING PLAN
HOW TO UPLOAD PHOTOS FOR REAL ESTATE BUSINESS CARDS
ORDER BUSINESS CARDS:
YOUR DESIGN: Business Cards Printed From Your Print Ready Files 100 STARTING AT $24.99
STOCK BACKGROUND PHOTOS: choose from our stock of business card images, enter your text and go! Starting at $29 for 100!
YOUR PHOTO: Send Your Photos For Inclusion In Custom Business Card Layout. Starting at $35 for 100!
CUSTOM DESIGNS: Get A Unique Business Card Created By A Pro Designer. STARTING AT $74.99 for 100, including design, proofing and printing!
REAL ESTATE BUSINESS CARDS: send your photo, select from our stock of real estate background images and pro realtor logos.