Free Business Cards

[N. A. Corbier]

Need business cards? Vistaprint is giving them away. The only catch? There are two.

1. You must use this link: http://ww3.weatherbug.com/email_drops/vistaprint/Aug06_EST607/VistaPrintFree_081506.html

2. They have a small ad on the back for Vistaprint.

You get several designs to choose from. And yes, you can hit it up as many times as you feel like till they kill the promotion. Its been going on for a year and a half now.

I've ordered two sets (one for each division), and have used Vistaprint before. Bigdog, you wanted cards?

[GCMC Security]

This the same one where all you have to do is pay s & h? I remember seeing that somewhere and never took advantage, maybe I will now hmmm


edit: ok after I typed that I hit the link and saw the free shipping :D

[HotelSecurity]

Shipping is not free outside of the US.

For about the same cost I make my own with my printer & the template in "tools". You can get the cardboard cheap at Bureau en Gros ("Staples" outside of Quebec!).

[N. A. Corbier]

Shipping is not free outside of the US.

For about the same cost I make my own with my printer & the template in "tools". You can get the cardboard cheap at Bureau en Gros ("Staples" outside of Quebec!).

They're not doing the free shipping to Canada? That sucks. These are superior to ink jet, about the same quality that a laserjet makes.

[hrdickinson]

Weather Bug is a browser hijacker, or it used to be.

[N. A. Corbier]

Weather Bug is a browser hijacker, or it used to be.

Amusingly enough, weatherbug is a browser hijacker, but you don't have to install it or do anything except click their ad. This is one of the ads served by Weatherbug. Granted, I don't see hijacks or popup ads because I use Firefox with Adblock and Adblock AutoUpdater.

[Matthew]

Morning - ALL.

[SD Security]

I have used them before. They were good cards the only thing I didn't like was they were smaller then normal business cards. When I e-mailed their customer service department they said they make them that way to cut cost and pass the savings on to customers. Other then that they were good cards.

[Jackhole]

Looks like the offer is over. :(

[N. A. Corbier]

Looks like the offer is over. :(

Confirmed. That sucks. I hope whoever got whatever they got off em... got whatever they got off them. I got my first set today (1 of 7, yes, I'm bad)... Other than the small size as pointed out before, they're not bad.

[security steve]

The offer is back on with free shipping.

[N. A. Corbier]

Sweet. Get your free business cards now. :)

[HotelSecurity]

Canadians need not apply

[N. A. Corbier]

Canadians need not apply

Which is strange, because they are an international company based in Bermuda.

[HotelSecurity]

Which is strange, because they are an international company based in Bermuda.
But they charge us for shipping.

[Andy Taylor]

They want to charge me for shipping too. I'm in the US.

[N. A. Corbier]

They want to charge me for shipping too. I'm in the US.

I believe the "free shipping" is not actually happening.

Also, good luck if oyu have to call Vistaprint on behalf of a client. I wanted to pull my hair out talking to their customer service. They could not comprehend that the file I am working on is for a client, not me.

[Curtis Baillie]

I went to the site and ordered the free business card with some customization and took advantage to the free 2007 calander offer. I paid shipping on both. Good deal though.

[N. A. Corbier]

I went to the site and ordered the free business card with some customization and took advantage to the free 2007 calander offer. I paid shipping on both. Good deal though.

Yeah, Vistaprint will just about free anything, and make you only pay shipping. If you're not after huge volume on products... Its a good way to get cheap stuff.

I have several of their materials printed for clients. Be aware that if you make your own custom designs, what you see on your monitor is NOT what you will get from Vistaprint unless you are familiar with designing in CYMK Process Coated format.

What is on my monitor (with CYMK Process Coated color tones) makes everything look washed out and grey.

[SecTrainer]

Providing you have a reasonably high-quality printer, you can also walk into any Staples or Office Max and pick up both any number of cheap software products and the "microperf" card stock for designing and printing not only your own cards, but also your own letterheads. Some have a library of thousands of pre-designed logos that you can directly modify or import into something like Photoshop.

I wouldn't have said this maybe even 3 years ago, but today the whole setup, including the photo-quality printer, will cost you less than a couple of trips to the printer, especially if you incur initial design costs. This is especially true for business cards...I'd probably still have letterheads printed (using the design I created in this software) because envelopes are an issue with self-printing sometimes.

If you want something like embossed cards, you can still use this setup to design them yourself and print up a supply of, shall we say, "everyday-use" non-embossed cards - which will still look very, very nice. But then take your design to the printer and have them provide you with the "high-end" embossed cards, and you only give these out to clients, professional contacts, etc. when you need to project the "high-quality" image, so to speak. You'll be able to order the expensive embossed cards less often and will be much less reluctant to give away your "everyday" cards freely than you might be with embossed ones. I carry a card holder with two compartments - one for each type of card.

[Mr. Security]

My wife designed mine using this readily available software and we bought business card stock at staples. I'm good to go. :)

Initially, I made the mistake of ordering high-end business cards from a local printer, only to have my phone and pager numbers change. Now I have a 90% full box of costly good-for-nothing cards.

Don't waste your money on expensive cards. The client wants quality work, not fancy business cards.

[HotelSecurity]

My wife designed mine using this readily available software and we bought business card stock at staples. I'm good to go. :)

Initially, I made the mistake of ordering high-end business cards from a local printer, only to have my phone and pager numbers change. Now I have a 90% full box of costly good-for-nothing cards.

Don't waste your money on expensive cards. The client wants quality work, not fancy business cards.

Sometimes you can print your new numbers on return address stickers & stick them over the old numbers.

For my regular Officers we use cards with the hotel logo & address etc with no name. We print the names on clear return address labels & stick them on the cards. They don't look too bad.

[Curtis Baillie]

Looks like the offer is back on - except you pay a small amount for shipping.

[N. A. Corbier]

That's their normal thing. "We" offer print media printing services now, but we don't even try to compete with the Vistaprint "Free Business Cards" offer. Basically, for 14 bucks, you get 250 cards. The 14 bucks is shipping, handling, upload of custom business card "image."

[Curtis Baillie]

Next time I need cards I'll give you a try.

[N. A. Corbier]

Thank you. :)

[Professional Rent-a-Cop]

My wife designed mine using this readily available software and we bought business card stock at staples. I'm good to go. :)

Initially, I made the mistake of ordering high-end business cards from a local printer, only to have my phone and pager numbers change. Now I have a 90% full box of costly good-for-nothing cards.

Don't waste your money on expensive cards. The client wants quality work, not fancy business cards.

I never actually list my contact numbers; I always customize my VistaPrint cards with a blank line next to the word "contact". Then, I can hand-write my current number when I hand out my cards. Takes a little more effort, but is worth it to me so I don't waste money ordering pre-printed cards in case my number changes, or I don't want to give out my cell line.

[Secure Permagrin]

i disagree with both of you, first impressions make a huge deal, your professionaly done business cards say more than you think, they say your established, and know that your number isnt changing cause like your company your not going anywhere, and the hand written number on the card doesnt seem to professional, its good but sometime clients notice the smaller things. :D

[N. A. Corbier]

Something to note. I rarely give business cards to clients. I give business cards to potential clients, who are still determining who they are wanting to buy services from.

A regular, established, client will know who I am, I'll have given them plenty of information. Your business card, in a sales environment, is who you are professionally.

For patrol/identification purposes in security and law enforcement, a handwritten contact number or case number is the norm.

But, for brokering deals and things, your card has to stand out from everyone else's, as well as everything else about the sales pitch. Potential clients look at the package deal.