A great business card can easily overcome a poor offer or an expensive product, and bring in a considerable amount of orders. In fact, a well designed card can work effectively just by the design itself. The only thing that a great business card overcomes is incorrect target market. No matter how interesting and effective your card is, if you give it to the wrong prospect its no good at all. It’s like letting a size 14 fit into a size 10 dress. They would never fit.
Nowadays, there are a lot of innovations you can do to your business card to make it incredibly great and effective. Among them is the choice of paper stock. Different types of paper stocks are now available which you can use in your business cards. Each one of these types has its own characteristics and capabilities in improving your card’s look and functionality. The most typical type of paper stock is the coated and the non- coated stocks.
? The coated paper stocks – in today’s modern age in printing, coated paper stocks are commonly used by business card users because of the enhance appearance they offer. Coated paper usually have a gloss, matt finish on both sides referred to as the C1s or the coated one side and the C2s or the coated two sides. Every time you will print with the use of coated stocks, the ink tends to stay on top of the coating finish as opposed to soaking into the paper. This gives the ink more gloss and much darker blacks. The result it an evenly coated and vibrant business card.
? The un-coated paper stocks – unlike the coated paper stocks, the un-coated paper are usually under utilized since it is considered as a very ordinary paper. This type of stock has a matte type finish and available in different textures, colors, and usually have higher recycled materials and contents.
Your choice of paper stock usually depends on your need. But before you choose, you need to make an evaluation of the work you need to be done. Do you like to print in color? If your card templates are to be printed in full color, you need a high quality and coated paper. Likewise, if you want to give your card a long lasting look, UV coating is needed. Therefore, you need to use a coated paper. But if you want to print your cards in a single or spot design, use non coated paper stocks. Remember though that the un-coated paper will absorb much of the ink that will surely leave a flat or dull look on your business cards.
In conclusion
Making the right paper selection can make or break your card. Always ask your printer which stock is best to use in the kind of business card you want to produce. There are different ways you can use these coated and non coated paper. Just make sure that you choose the right one that will perfectly suit with your card theme and layout. Moreover, you have to make sure that aside the paper stock you choose will perfectly suit with your budget.
Remember that the choice of paper stock will great affect the success of your business card, so choose wisely.
Archive for September 29, 2011
Business Card Printing: The Choice of Paper Stock
Good Business Cards Printing Techniques
In any aspect of business, marketing plays a critical role. A kick-butt marketing campaign effectively creates brand awareness and communicates specific principles of the company. No matter how good and creative your products or services are, without an effective marketing strategy your business won’t be any good.
But contrary to popular belief, creating a good marketing campaign doesn’t cost a lot. You simply need to find out the cost effective means of promoting your business. A good marketing strategy to consider is business cards. In an instant, a good business card will give you effective visual identity and promote your products and services to people. Even the most successful business owners today still make use of business cards despite the growth of Internet marketing. As an amateur and startup business, you might want to follow the strategy of these big-time businesses to effectively get good market exposure.
Before you launch your own business card campaign though, there is one important factor you need to consider: printing technique.
Today’s modern technology has basically provided businesses with a lot of options when it comes to printing. From the quality to the look and cost of printing, there are a wide variety of choices. Among them are the following:
• Offset printing. This is the most common process used by businesses that have large quantities of business cards to print. But unless you have a lot of cards to print, offset printing is not a good choice because of the costly set up fee.
• Digital printing. Many printers use this method when it comes to business cards. Some uses inkjet printing while others use laser printing. For short print runs, digital printing is a cost effective choice to print cheap business cards because of its low set up cost.
• Letterpress. If you want a sophisticated and professional look for your business cards, then this is the right printing method for you. Letterpress printing creates indentations on each letter or image printed on paper giving your card a unique and high-end feel. But because letterpress printing is a bit costly, it is not advisable to use in smaller print runs. The end result though is a custom, elegant appeal.
• Engraving. Business stationery and wedding invitations are often engraved for a more captivating look. But this can also be used in business cards. Engraving uses plates that are engraved with metal gravers. When the plate is inked, the ink fills the engraved lines. The result image is a raised, inked heavily image.
• Thermography. This type of printing is used when you want to achieve the same look as an engraved business card but at a much lover cost.
• Printing your own card. When you really want to save money on your business cards, then consider self printed cards. There are pre-scored business cards sheets sold today that you can use to print your card on an inkjet or laserjet printer. This method is especially applicable if you only desire to print your card in black and white. One quick tip: if you truly want to save money, instead of buying pre-scored sheets, you can buy a good quality card stock. Use good templates to layout your card and cut them yourself to create a professional looking business card that doesn’t have the perforation marks of the pre-scored sheets.
If you’re unemployed, get a business card
For some reason a lot of people fail to act on an obvious fact: A business card (or personal calling card) is just as important as a resume. Why do I say this? Because if you are doing real business or hoping to connect with people in a meaningful way, you need to connect with them in the real world. A business card helps you do that.
Here are three big reasons for you to get a card if you don’t have one:
You want people to call you or at least e-mail you. How are they going to do that if you don’t have a card handy? A business card tells your prospect or potential employer who you are and what you do. If they need what you have, and your card is handy in their wallet, who do you think they’re going to call? They’re going to call you before they start Googling. People appreciate the personal touch believe it or not. Having your card ready to go gives you a boost of confidence. It makes you feel like a professional, even if you’re not working.
Three basic design principles:
Put your contact information on the card, not all of it, just where you want to be contacted. If you do not want new contacts to call your cell phone, leave that information out. Less is actually more. I put only my website, city, and business telephone on my card. If they want to e-mail me, they can do it through the contact form on my website, and I tell that to everyone I meet. The last thing I want is more cell phone calls or to be put on more spam lists. State exactly what you do on your card. If you design websites, say so. Do not leave anything to chance. Be direct. You can give yourself a fun title, but make sure the prospect knows exactly what you do. Never assume that they’ll figure it out. Your card is a piece of you. Do not do it yourself. For under $30, you can get a thousand professionally offset-printed cards on nice paper with your own logo. You can design these right on the internet in minutes. A few days later, you will have your cards.
When you get your cards, get out there and talk to a lot of people, and hand a card to everyone you talk to. You’ll get better results than you might imagine!