Steps to Making Personalized Business Cards

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I recently went to my first blogging conference, Haven in Atlanta, and I need to make business cards. As a graphic designer I have made a ton of business cards over the years but the more I started to research the more I realized that bloggers business cards tend to be different from the average “professional” 9 to 5 cards.

First off they almost always include a picture. A picture on a business card why?! I kept fighting myself on whether or not I should include a picture. I never had in the past. Well I am glad I did. Over the course of 3 days I think I met over 300 bloggers and 50-100 vendor representatives. As I am looking through the business cards now I am forgetting the faces behind the cards and the image is there to remind me.

Second your card must represent your branding. Especially as a blogger. Don’t create a business card off of a websites “design your own business card tool.” Make sure your cards reflect the look and feel of your website and your personality/voice. After leaving a conference you should want someone to stumble upon your card again and there should be something that draws them into 1. contacting you or 2. going to your website.

Tip: I got these printed on Zazzle great turn around time but not the best print quality. If I was to print again I would have used Moo.com. (I was envious of Simply Kelly Design’s print quality).

Three Make it stand out. What sets you apart from a couple hundred people? This is something that I thought about a lot. How can I create excitement around getting my card. How can I make people seek me out? I created a pin for the first 100 people who received a weekend craft card. (Read about how I made them here). I also created hype through online groups showing them my pins and letting them know that there were only a limited amount available. I had a few people even come up at the airport before the conference asking for them! It was also an amazing feeling to spot the pins through out the weekend on lanyards and bags.

This was Emily's bag from Two Purple Couches! — This was Emily’s bag from Two Purple Couches!

There were a few others who did a great job doing this Lauren Lanker from the Thinking Closet gave away temporary tattoos that she had made and Candace from Rusted Roots made hers out of salvaged wood (picture below). Both of these bloggers went above and beyond the call of the card. I would even consider it part of the conference swag!

I collected well over 200 business card and I thought I would share some of my favorites. Also I had read prior to the conference to bring a hole punch and a keyring to keep the cards all together. This trick lasted for about an hour. I think this year a lot of people were printing on a heavier stock that was nearly impossible to punch through. So ziplock it was!

These were some of my favorite because of the personality that shined through from the cards and also how polished they were. A personal favorite were Black and White Obsessions she DIY’d them! (Read about that here).

As I mentioned above I was so excited to get this business card from Candace from Rusted Roots. The detail was amazing complete with story of where the wood was salvaged from and the whole thing was affixed with a nail! (read about it here).

And last but certainly not least Eleven Gables had a square business card that had a cotton metallic canvas backing! These were so classy and upscale I felt like I had just picked it home from a swanky home decor store! LOVE!

Hope this was helpful and inspiring if you are working on your own personal branding.