Hi, if you want free updates from my blog, you can enter your email address here.

Promote Yourself (even Students!) with Personal Business Cards



Do you have a stack of business cards in your desk? These probably promote the boss’s business (or the partners’ law firm). Where are the cards that promote you?

Don’t laugh. This isn’t a far-fetched notion. In fact, I’ve written about student business cards before. In that post, you’ll find a lot of basic ideas on what to include in your cards and where to print them. Now, I’d like to cover a little more.

History behind them

There’s a great post over at The Simple Dollar that gives some awesome info on personal business cards. What I wanted to highlight was an awesome comment that mentions “visiting cards.”

As Wikipedia explains, visiting cards originated in 15th Century China as a way for upper-class people to request visits at each other’s homes. These cards would traditionally contain only the name of the sender. Servants would handle these cards and pass the requests on to the recipient.

Business cards eventually evolved out of this, and people began to include their contact details on the cards. Servants became less prominent in their usage, and the cards were used among other (lower) classes. Supposedly there is still some domestic of visiting cards today, but they take a more business-card-like format.

All this is to say that having personal cards isn’t crazy. In fact, it’s been the norm among the elite classes for centuries. Don’t you want to be high class?

Sources for printing

Free Shipping on Orders over $50 at VistaPrint.com!

Since my original post on student business cards, I’ve become aware of two great sources for business cards.

First, I highly recommend the Office Depot print ship. I ordered these cards, and I’m very happy with them. They’re incredibly basic, but I also only paid $0.99 for them (they had a coupon at the time). They’re on nice thick paper, and they’re even embossed. As soon as my new digital camera arrives, I’ll post a pic of my cards.

Second, a couple readers recommend Mind2Print. I haven’t personally used their services, but the company seems sound.

Finally, there’s always VistaPrint, which I originally recommended. I haven’t used them either, but they do have some darn low prices. They also offer free cards, but they do have a VistaPrint logo on the back. Also, rumor has it that the free cards aren’t full size. Buyer Freebie-getter beware.

Your thoughts?

If you have any thoughts, comments, or questions about personal (or student) business cards, I’d love to hear from you. Hit up the comments section below, or drop me a line. I’m here for you.

Get more legal tips

Sign-up below to receive my bi-monthly email newsletter with free legal tips. All fields are required.





See also...

Comments

2 Responses to “Promote Yourself (even Students!) with Personal Business Cards”

  1. Chris Johnston
    March 10th, 2007

    My wife ordered cards from Vista Print. I think she ordered the free ones (I would ask her but I’m not home right now) and they were full size. They did seem rather light weight though.

  2. Andrew Flusche
    March 10th, 2007

    Chris,

    Thanks for your feedback on this. Perhaps the rumor I heard was wrong. I appreciate you letting us know about your wife’s experience.

    Take care,
    Andrew

Comments are automatically closed on older posts.

  • Legal tips by email

    Sign-up below to get email tips and exclusive discounts on videos, webinars, and future items.

    All fields are required.





  • Receive updates

    By email
    By rss (full feed)
  • About Andrew Flusche

    Lawyer, bicyclist, husband.
    More about me...
    Tumble Log
    View Andrew Flusche's profile on LinkedIn
    Andrew Flusche's Facebook Profile
  • Popular Posts