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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.
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.
Excellent tips!
Thanks Dee!
I definitely agree with you on including a photo on the business cards. Even if I only met someone in passing, their business card brought me right back to the moment and what we talked about.
Agreed! I can’t believe I almost left out the photo! So happy I didn’t.
I love seeing all the different card designs. Your card was so unique! I still have to dig through my stack and look at them all. It was great meeting you at Haven!
Awh Thanks Jessica! It was so great meeting you too. Now that I have the cards dug out I need to spend the time visiting everyones site and social. Thats what Sundays for!
Thanks for the shout-out, girl! And you did such a great job of making your cards both memorable and swag-a-licious! I added my Weekend Crafter pin to my favorite 31 bag with which I lug around EVERYTHING these days…so you’re hanging out with me in spirit quite a lot now! Ha ha. Great post with great ideas for someone about to whip up some biz cards!
Awh I love that we’re hanging out almost every day 😉
Love the button you added. It is a really nice touch that makes yours stand out.
Fun post! There were a lot of great blogger business cards at Haven — I was impressed!
i’ve been meaning to make my own and your tips and ideas are super helpful. i’m so glad i read your post. thanks for this! 🙂
I have been blogging for 3+ years and still have yet to get any business cards. I should probably get on this 🙂 I really loved yours and will take your advice on the printing quality place. Thanks for linking up last week to Friday Favorites, hope to see you this week too!
Hey Michelle!!! So fun meeting you at Haven and I am so grateful for the share of my business cards!! They were so much fun to make! Next year, I will have to figure out a way to incorporate the photo!! Definitely important!! And yours were quite the crafty masterpiece as well!! Here’s to Haven 2015 and topping our cards from this year!! 🙂
thinking I should have included a phot. next time.