Six Easy Steps to Create a Blog #BusinessCard that Totally Rocks | i should be mopping the floor
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Six Easy Steps to Create a Blog #BusinessCard that Totally Rocks


Want to create a business card design that won't soon be forgotten? Here are six easy steps to ensure that your blog's business card will stand out from the pack. 

I just got in from the Blissdom conference yesterday...and I'm still spinning from the AMAZINGNESS of it all. One HUGE underlying aspect of any conference is the constant exchange of business cards. 

I want to point out what Scott Stratten told us in his opening keynote address..."you aren't there to collect, you're there to connect". There's definitely a fine etiquette balance to the business card exchange...and blog conference newbies like myself often teetered on the wrong side of that line. But, that's okay. It's a learning process. 

Not everyone wants your card. Did you really make a connection or do you just feel the need to get your card in their hand? 98% of those cards up there were indeed connections. A couple were just handed to me {and I did that once, too, and am quite embarrassed about it now}. 
These were my cards that I brought. I'm soooo wishing I could go back and have a bit of a do-over with the way I laid out the design on them. Yeah...they're fun and all. And the shape of them helped them stand out. And I got a lot of "oh...cuuuuute!" But, man, that ridiculously oversized QR code on the back is taking up serious real-estate that I should have used for more important things {more on that below}. Like, really. Sometimes I'm a bit form over function. It's been my achilles' heal for over ten years.  People who have worked with me are nodding at this in complete agreement. When will I learn?

To give credit where credit is due: my original idea for the square card came from my bloggy friend, Mandy, over at Sugar Bee Crafts. She has some AWESOME card tips, too!

That's a bunch of fabulous bloggers' cards right there. 
I made some amazing connections and lifelong friendships as well.

The three cards above nailed it. And I mean NAILED IT. It took both sides of the cards, but they brought it on home. They have {what I consider to be} the six things every well-designed business card really needs:

1. PHOTO
This seems so obvious, but I totally missed the boat on this one. I can glance at these cards and remember these ladies {poor Kim Janocko up there was cursed with the seat next to me at the "Rock Your Camera" session...she probably thinks I'm a complete moron...I didn't have a clue about the Nikon I've owned for almost four years now. Thanks for your grace and patience with me, Kim.} Having a photo on your card at these mega conferences is so helpful. The cards without photos {mine included here} make me really have to think about where I met the card owners at. Some I really don't remember as well since I can't place a name with who it belongs to. I am actually going through the cards and finding people's sites and then saying "ohhhh, yeah...that's who that is". But that's a lot of work {I'm certainly guilty of it, too}. Take the work out of it for your card recipient...put your photo on it so it's an instant "A-HA" moment when they're reviewing cards at the end of a conference. And try to be consistent and use the same photo everywhere {on your blog, on your card, on your Twitter, FB, etc.}.

2. BLOG NAME{S}. 
Again, another seemingly obvious one. But it's actually so easy to get caught up in the fun time of designing a card that you may forget your blog name. If you have more than one blog, list them. That's the main way to find you...your blog!

3. NAME OF AUTHOR. 
I have several cards that have a blog name, but not the name of the person who the card belonged to. It's not that big of a deal, but this is a personal connection that we're making. Matt Lauer doesn't just hand out "Today Show" cards {does someone that significant really need/have cards?}...no, he has "Today Show" cards that also say his name and info in the corner. It's a self-promotion thing, but so important. It's a connection we're making between people, not just companies.

4. BLURB ABOUT THE BLOG or AUTHOR:
What's your blog about? My tag line is "a creative lifestyle blog worth neglecting your chores for". It's a summation that I can throw on a business card or give in my "elevator schpeel" {the one where you have 10 seconds to tell the person next to you in the elevator what it is that you do...not always easy in our line of work...can I get an amen?}. Some blog names {mine included} don't make it blatantly obvious what the blog is about. "Fabulously Felula" is a presh name for a blog...but if it's a blog about homeschooling or fashion or whatevs, you're going to have to spell it out. And there's not a darn thing wrong with that. 

5. QR CODE
This isn't a requirement, but it sure is helpful. During breaks between sessions, I often went through and scanned QR codes on business cards to see those people's blogs. Sometimes I did it within moments of meeting someone and getting their card. And I certainly wasn't the only conference attendee doing it. A lot of cards are looked at so briefly and then put in a pile...if someone can instantly be taken to your site, give them the opportunity. And don't be like me and make yours enormous and obnoxious. It will still scan on a much smaller scale. What was I thinking? 
You can make your own free QR code at qrstuff.com

6. ALL SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLES AND SITE LINKS {and email, too}. 
I failed miserably at this one. Miserably. I put my site and email on my card and thought..."they'll find me", {again, after some work of going to my site and locating my social media links, they will find me...but will they even take the time to do all of that before saying "to heck with it"?}. This morning, I've been going through cards and following people's twitter handles, etc. Which ones am I doing first? The ones who put it all on their card and made it super easy. I will certainly do the others...but it may be a while before I make the time to go to sites and find social media buttons to follow. And I was warned about this one, too...and I still did my own thing {seriously, sometimes I am just a stubborn mule}. Don't be like me. Don't make people work to follow you. A lot of those who had all of their handles on their cards made it easy to just instantly follow at the conference...I've been tweeting with some of them for several days now. I'm wondering how many friends I haven't interacted with yet since I didn't have my info on my card? Bleh.

The above were the super unique cards that really stood out to me. How fun are these? They each added elements to their cards to make them super memorable and way cool. 

From the bottom of my heart, I hope I didn't step on any toes with this post. I wanted it to be informative and helpful to those of you thinking about making cards for your site {especially if you're attending a conference in the near future}. As you can blatantly see, I followed about half of my own suggestions {if that}. This is just my lil' disclaimer to say I'm not trying to slam people who didn't do these things...I'm just trying to put out there what I looked for in a card. After three days of the conference, I realized the cards that really made a successful impact on me. 

Happy card making!



Neglect your chores like me and don't miss a thing:



20 comments:

  1. Kristi, Thank you for the great information! We will use you post as a guideline for our cards. I'm sure many more will as well. Valuable information!

    Peace,
    Linda at The French Hens Nest

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  2. Awww thank you! So happy you liked my cards! My mom did NOT like them! :)

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  3. Wow Kristi, I never would have thought of all those things! What a great post sharing and pinning!

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  4. These are great tips!! Thanks for the helpful post! Pinned!

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  5. Awesome tips Kristi! I just bought new cards but I now I want to redo them :)

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  6. Thank you soooo much! What a compliment! Dawn at themommaknows.com designed them for me so I have to give her credit :)

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  7. Great tips! The QR code thing may be way too tech for me - but I love it!

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  8. great post good info thanks for the info. I haven't made one yet. any advise on where to make a good one. there are a lot place out there any reviews?

    Desiree @ YourCraftyFriend

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  9. I just had to say thank you for making my day! I designed Kristen's card based off from an idea she had and I love hearing that it was a smash. I had fun picking fonts and working with the chalkboard style. :) You definitely have some great tips! Especially on the name, I have a lot of people come to me for cards and when I ask them for the info they want included many don't think to put their name until I mention it! YOU are the face of your blog, so make sure your name is on there!

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  10. i got some cards done 1 few months ago and I was on a budget so only printed one side. BIG BAD idea!!
    I want them re-do so much!!! I also want to add all my social media links on too, Jamie's cards are my fav.

    would love it if you could share this on my link party Serenity Saturday that goes live tomorrow morning

    Natasha @ Serenity You

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  11. This is a GREAT post Kristi!! I feel like I nailed a lot of what you mentioned with all of my social media stuff but definitely want to add a pic and use the back of the card. I love that sweet Jamie has her blog header on the back! This is awesome info! {and PS: I love seeing my card in your big pile - so glad we connected, friend!!}. :)

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  12. Thanks for this great post! There are so many things to include! Great information. Happy easter

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  13. love this topic! thanks for sharing it and actually showing what works and what doesn't. visual things are totally helpful.
    www.patchworkposse.com

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  14. Pinned it!
    Monica
    http://happyandblessedhome.com

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  15. Really pretty business cards, lots of unique ideas - and it's a great list of things you should definitely remember when finally making those cards =)

    Pinned it to my bloggy mcbloggerson board (yep, I'm a freak ;-)

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  16. I never in a MILLION years would have thought to create a QR code and include it on my business card. What a fabulous idea! I'm just about to get new business cards since I re-did my blog design. I'm definitely going to have to keep this in mind!

    I'm featuring your post on my blog today for a round-up of blogging tips & tricks. I'd love for you to check it out: http://www.framedfrosting.com/2013/04/round-up-of-blogging-tips-tricks.html



    Danielle at Framed Frosting

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  17. Stopped over from Framed Frostings roundup post (haha she commented directly above me) and just wanted to say that this post is AHmazing! I'm attending my first conference in the near future and haven't started my blog business cards yet.

    Oh and since I'm all about sharing here's a fab site on CUSTOM QR Codes as in- let's make them pretty! Here it is: http://www.qrt.co/

    Anyway, thanks for the tips, they're invaluable!

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