I just got my new order of business cards, and they’re really shiny and lovely! I’m kind of a nerd with how much I love new cards and promotional materials. However, it reminded me of something that’s been on my mind: I’ve run into quite a few artists in person or at shows recently who have no way to contact them. You need a business card!

“But! But!” I hear you say. You can give me whatever excuse you like, but if you are an artist, you want to get your work out there, and you want to network (hint: you should)… then you need a way for people to contact you.

At my very first show, I made the mistake of having no business cards.  There were several other artists and people I would’ve loved to connect with, but I had no tangible thing to give them with my info on it. After the first few hours, I ended up tearing up rectangular pieces of paper and writing in my info to try to give out. Yes, people took them, but did any of those paper scraps survive through the con and then home with the people who really wanted them? I doubt it. They’re easy to lose, tear, and get water damage.

Imagine if an art director had wanted my information about a potential job? I would’ve been mortified. (Of course that didn’t happen, but you see my point…)

“But I don’t have an online portfolio/website.” That’s ok, you can point them to your blog.

“But I don’t have a blog.” You really should, but even in this case that’s ok, you can list your email… or Twitter or Facebook, etc.

“But they’re expensive!” They don’t have to be. My latest cards up there were a fantastic deal. I use OvernightPrints for all of my card needs, and I got 500 double sided, full color, front glossy, rounded edge business cards for $36 including shipping… and I got them a week after I ordered them. They always have some sort of sale or promo code going on so you never need to pay full price.

Other cheap options are Staples and VistaPrint. I haven’t used those services for cards personally, so your mileage may vary.

“But I don’t want to have 500 cards in this design, I’m building a website soon/rebranding soon/changing my email soon/whatever….” A lot of places require you to print at least 250, so a good option for smaller runs is the print-at-home snap apart cards. 

My very first business card (the purple one with the butterfly above) was that kind. The pack gets you 250 cards for under $10, and there are 10 cards to a sheet. This means you could print 10 cards each time, changing whatever you need as you go. 

The paper quality was quite nice. The design wasn’t good, but that’s my own fault. It got the job done when I was just getting started, though… and that’s what really counts.

Do you have business cards? Feel free to share pics of them in the comments!