Making business cards on the computer doesn’t require special training or ability. Any small business owner can easily produce their own business cards by following some simple steps.
1. Decide what you want to include on your business cards. Your business details, name, address, etc. should all be listed. Don’t forget to include your email address and website. If you communicate through social networking, consider adding your Twitter or Facebook ID.
2. Create a logo for your business cards, using a graphics program such as Photoshop or PaintShop Pro. If you find you are not all that artistic, don’t worry. Your word processing or desktop publishing programs will contain lots of clip art, and you can find other clip art on the web. A link for free business clip art is given in the Resource section. You can easily plug the clip art into your business card design using a template.
3. Calculate how many business cards you will need. If you are going to only pass them out to people you meet, somewhere between 250 to 500 should be sufficient. If you are going to do a mass mailing campaign, and want to include a card with every brochure, adjust your numbers accordingly.
4. Choose the card stock for your business cards. Avery is a popular provider of printable products, but there other manufacturers out there. Do some checking for the best quality at the best price for the quantity you need.
5. Locate and determine which business card template you want to use to make the cards. Microsoft Word and Microsoft Publisher may have templates already installed, and additional templates are available for free on their website. However, the best option is to choose a template from the company that manufactured your business card stock. Their templates are easily downloaded from their websites and are free. A link to Microsoft Office templates is given in the Resource section.
6. Use your word processing, desktop publishing, or graphics program to create your card. If you have chosen and downloaded a template, the process of adapting it to your needs is simple. Consult your help file for instructions specific to your software. In most cases, you can click or right click on each section of the card and change the information or graphic. Fonts can also be changed to reflect your business style. Instructions for creating a business card using a Microsoft Word template are given in my article, How to Create Professional Business Cards in Microsoft Word (link given in Resource section). If you are artistically inclined, you can create the card freehand in a graphics program & finally print the business cards out on your printer.