SquareDanceSteve
01-27-2006, 09:50 AM
Business Card Aesthetics
I have a computer repair and tutoring business that I operate out of my home, it does a very good job of covering my living expenses with limited effort and time investment. Therefore it is ideal for subsidizing game development.
So far I have been getting all of my business through word of mouth. I would like to expand the customer base so that I could make enough to transition into a store & office without starting in the red. I am interested in some feedback on business card strategy. I have been looking at paper, plastic, metal and magnet cards.
Paper is of course the cheapest and the most widely distributed, essentially throw away advertising in the sense that I would saturate contacts with the cards. Metal is about the same price as full color cards but is only lithographic so not exactly impressive but it is durable and of some I intrinsic value to keep in your wallet. Plastic can be printed in full color for about $2 a card (in low quantity, i.e. 250), so they would be reserved for say people who obviously have money and ask for the card, the card’s would need to return an hour of work for every 20 card’s I distributed. Full color magnetic cards are about 50 cents each in low quantity, and I would distribute these in the hopes that they make it to refrigerators, and will keep returning business.
Feedback would be greatly appreciated, especially if people can elaborate on card strategy and distribution methods, and of course card preference. (Pretend you are not capable of maintaining your computer, removing spyware, reformatting and reinstalling windows or installing new hardware)
I have a computer repair and tutoring business that I operate out of my home, it does a very good job of covering my living expenses with limited effort and time investment. Therefore it is ideal for subsidizing game development.
So far I have been getting all of my business through word of mouth. I would like to expand the customer base so that I could make enough to transition into a store & office without starting in the red. I am interested in some feedback on business card strategy. I have been looking at paper, plastic, metal and magnet cards.
Paper is of course the cheapest and the most widely distributed, essentially throw away advertising in the sense that I would saturate contacts with the cards. Metal is about the same price as full color cards but is only lithographic so not exactly impressive but it is durable and of some I intrinsic value to keep in your wallet. Plastic can be printed in full color for about $2 a card (in low quantity, i.e. 250), so they would be reserved for say people who obviously have money and ask for the card, the card’s would need to return an hour of work for every 20 card’s I distributed. Full color magnetic cards are about 50 cents each in low quantity, and I would distribute these in the hopes that they make it to refrigerators, and will keep returning business.
Feedback would be greatly appreciated, especially if people can elaborate on card strategy and distribution methods, and of course card preference. (Pretend you are not capable of maintaining your computer, removing spyware, reformatting and reinstalling windows or installing new hardware)