Fair Dink-um .. We sell “do it yourself” Business Cards on this very website. Yup, we think they suck. Well, in comparison to a custom made, press run, professional designed and set up business card anyway.
For some people – Small Business, Start-Ups, Home Business, the College student looking for a clever (yet severely dated) pick up device, they are just fine for a starter, “do i really need cards?” “Will my business succeed?””Should i spend the money elsewhere (like on pizza!) and upgrade later?” All great points, and honestly, some people really just need something with their name and (if they have one) a logo.

So how is it one card is $10 bucks for a couple hundred, and the other option is $70, $80, $100 or more? I think the easiest analogy would be pizza (since I just ate some 🙂 Are you ready?

At the supermarket there are a few dozen or more frozen pizzas .. a bunch of different brands, and a bunch of different combinations. You pick one .. Hey .. its pretty much all done, and you can add a bit of feta, or pick off the olives. Stick it in the oven, wait 20 minutes – SHAZAM – Pizza. And it is pretty much the same pizza a whole bunch of other people had too. Mass produced, easily available, generic, $5.99 or there abouts.

Now Pizzeria Pizza. You look at a menu of TONS of different FRESH toppings. YOU decide which ones you want, you decide how much, you decide what size, you pick the crust, the sauce, the type or blend of cheese. This Pizza is YOURS baby!!! it’s no pepperoni or plain cheese or the dreaded Hawaiian. This is your masterpiece. A server, who has carefully documented this creation in all its glory and complexity (really? feta on 1/4 and goats cheese on 3/4?) to what, if you eat “good” pizza, is an artist in a kitchen. The artist looks at what you want and structures the best way to put it together for the optimal gastronomic experience then carefully crafts it. It is cooked in a wood oven perfectly then removed, checked over by the artist to ensure it is “just what you ordered” then delivered to you at your table. Don’t like it? They will remake it. Like it? You’ll be back. $25.99 – $39.99 depending on size and toppings.

This my friends … is the difference between a $10 “do it yourself” business card and a custom crafted professionally made business card. Effort, experience, expertise, excellence and a bunch of other “E” words!

Printing is, as it has always been, Art.

Technology, ease of use, maybe a little bit of “I’m too busy” all thrown together with incredibly effective and nauseatingly frequent marketing campaigns has somewhat taken what a journeyman printer, a master pressman, a formally trained designer and some really good ink can make for you, and for your business. No, it is not “the same” and yes, people “can” tell.

Sure, maybe saying they “suck” is a little harsh. There are some AMAZING online card printers, but then there are also the 3rd party resellers who will never know anything about you other than the deposit into their bank account because you purchased through their website (if you pay close attention, a huge number of the templates available on most sites are the same.. care to guess why?).

This is your business, this is how you present yourself to the world. Business cards, letterhead, envelopes .. no matter what it is… Make sure you look as good as you can … Now i’m hungry again …