And still some would prefer that you just email it to them when you get yourself in front of your computer.
Nevertheless, a business card still has charm on its own. Even with new electronic gadgets coming out everyday, you still cannot question the position of business cards in the world of business. Without a business card, you are most likely to have a difficult time introducing your business to anybody, and to get them to remember your contact information.
Yet, many business cards come out terrible and cheap representations of some businesses. More often than not, these print cards have become representations more of creativity rather than what it should be – a demonstration of class and good taste.
In order to have classy print cards at your disposal, here are business card mistakes that you’d do well to avoid:
* Number one rule that you should not forget: avoid printing your own cards. Stop being noble trying to save money for your business. If you can’t do it, just get a business card printing company (a professional one at that) to produce your custom cards for you. It can’t hurt very much to hire a commercial printer especially if you’re not confident that you can do a better job.
* Big typefaces are just a no-no. Particularly on the address and contact information, please, do not use large fonts and all capital letters. If you don’t want to come off as over sleazy and cheesy, you’d do well to avoid these fonts.
* Your face should stay where they are – on your head. Just because it’s becoming fashionable to put your face in your business cards, it doesn’t mean that you should also have it printed in yours. Only ordinary real estate agents should have the license to do this.
* Metal business cards can get you detained. Sure, metal business cards are unique ideas to print your cards. But you might want to reconsider when the airport authorities order you to leave them in the counter before you board an airplane.
* Big lousy pictures on color business cards are just that – lousy. What is important is your name, address and contact information. Nothing else. If you want to impress with big images and pictures, go get yourself a brochure or a catalog perhaps to advertise your business.
* When you do round edges, don’t forget to work on your margin. You need to leave enough margin space to make it look good.
Final note: margins do matter. So invest on a good margin. Don’t let your text get anywhere near your margin and you’ll do just fine.
*Using this machine to cut business cards is a two step process. The machine first cuts a letter sized sheet into two strips that are 3.5" x 11". You then feed those strips back through the machine to produce ten perfect 3.5" x 2" business cards.
*However, the Intimus BCS410 is not only designed for slitting business cards. It also includes a scoring and perforating station that is designed to allow you to create high quality tickets, tent style business cards, occasion cards and more.
Strengths / Features:
*The Martin Yale Intimus BCS410 can create up to 375 business cards per minute. This allows users to create a run of 500 cards in less than two minutes and a run of 1000 cards in less than four minutes. This high level of productivity is ideal for organizations that are looking for the ability to produce short run ones on demand.
*In addition to the business card slitting abilities of the BCS410 you can also use this machine as a desktop perforator or scoring machine. This feature is ideal for printers and copy shops who are looking for a fast and easy way to create event tickets, tent style business cards, coupon books and occasion cards.
*The blades used on the BCS410 are self sharpening. They are designed for years of maintenance free operation. However, if they do become dull or damaged for some reason, replacement blades are available for reasonable prices.
*The BCS-410 is designed to cut business cards that are printed ten up on a letter sized sheet. However, with a little bit of work, it can be used to cut full bleed business cards that are printed six up on a sheet. The machine still cuts your letter sized sheet into ten business cards but overprinting the cards for a full bleed will result in four cards being wasted.
*The small footprint of the BCS410 makes it ideal for organizations where space is at a premium. It is designed to sit on a counter and can even be neatly stored away when it is not in use.
Weaknesses / Limitations:
*The slitter on the BCS410 is designed for slitting cards that are printed ten up on a page. It can be adjusted slightly to ensure straight cuts and to adjust for slight variances in printing. However, the BCS410 cannot be adjusted to cut custom sized cards or to cut business cards that are printed either 8 up or 12 up on a page.
*The scoring and perforating features of the BCS-410 use specialized wheels to perform their functions. The unit comes with one scoring wheel and one perforating wheel and additional wheels can be purchased and added to the machine. However, it is important to note that using a scoring wheel on digitally printed output may result in cracking. If you need to score items that are digitally printed you should test a sample and see if it is a problem. If it is a problem you may end up needing to buy a completely separate compression scoring device to finish your documents.
*The productivity offered by the BCS-410 is not as high as is offered by the BCS-412 which can cut up to 12 cards at a time. Additionally, it is important to note that using this machine for creating full bleed business cards will require sorting through the finished cards to remove the 40% of cards that are ruined during the cutting process.
*It is also important to remember that the BCS-410 is designed primarily for letter sized papers and paper stocks. It cannot cut business cards printed on larger sheet sizes and has a maximum throat width of eleven inches for perforating or scoring documents.
Recommendation:
*The Martin Yale Intimus BCS410 is an incredibly versatile machine that is ideal for small printers, in plant print shops and copy shops.
*This machine offers the ability to produce your own on demand business cards, to cut short run full bleed cards and to both perforate and score documents.
*Together, these capabilities can be used to create a huge variety of items for your customers.
*However, the BCS410 is still a desktop unit and is not designed for large paper sizes or for extremely high volume operations.
Both Janice Jenkins & Jeff Mcritchie are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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