I was like a kid on Christmas morning today: my new business cards arrived! (Who am I kidding here? I still act and feel excited on Christmas day.) Since we had moved our office recently, I thought it might be a good idea to have the correct address on there just in case, right? Every time I get new cards or see new ads of mine, I feel like Steve Martin in "The Jerk":
I was an early adopter for laminated business cards back in 1998, which was my second year in the business. Even though I occasionally spot others around town, they are still relatively rare for some reason. With the reasonable cost and the ease of ordering, I wonder why more folks don't have these, frankly.
Although I have always been quick to make fun of agents who have unrecognizably old photos in their marketing and on their cards, I allowed my previous picture to remain on my card far too long. Also, I was wearing a suit and tie, which is not something that you will catch me wearing outside of a funeral these days. I am still relatively young, but not in my late 20's, so I would imagine that some people wondered if that was my younger brother rather than me.
Thanks to ActiveRain, I was also able to include my outside blog URL (www.austinscoolestblog.com) on the newest cards, and I am using the same photo from my profile. For the back story on the photo itself, you can see my recent announcement post:
MY BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: My wife and I are expecting our fourth child!!
I typically get comments like this when I give out my card:
Other times, they simply drool a bit.
But seriously, I have found that people will hang on to my card a lot longer than average. I have had many clients say, "It was too nice to throw it away."
On the reverse side of the card, I have opted for many years now to have the list of lender-required items for when they start the application process for their mortgage. I think the reverse printing was $10 in this case.
Here's how my new cards look, in case you are curious (and even if you're not particularly interested - hey, it's my blog):
By now, you may be asking where you can get some terrific laminated cards like these. Visit Advantage Printing at www.sbcards.com (for "superior business cards"). The page for laminated cards is http://sbcards.com/laminated.htm. They are very easy to work with, and prompt, too! You can just email a JPEG of your photo and give them an idea of the design that you want (there are lots of samples on their site to give you ideas).
They are a bit more expensive than regular cards, but they are a nice conversation piece, and well worth the small difference in price. I highly recommend them.
Have a great weekend!