Monthly Archives: November 2021

9 Features You Need on Your Next Business Card

Whether you’re self-employed, own your own business, or are a high-achieving professional with big dreams in your industry, you want to make a good impression on people. You want your colleagues, peers, and clients to think you’re competent, confident, and professional.

Your business card is a powerful tool with which to achieve this. After all, your business card is the first thing people will see when they meet you or hear about your company. It’s important that it looks sharp and professional, and separates you from the rest of the competition!

If you don’t have a business card yet, or it’s been a while since you last updated yours, now’s the time to start thinking about how to approach your new card design. In this guide, we’re going to share 9 features that you need on your next business card to help you stand out from the crowd and make the best first impression possible.

1. Vertical Orientation

Did you know that business cards don’t have to be horizontal? Vertical business cards are still easy-to-read and will fit into a standard business card holder or rolodex, but they look fancier and will set you apart from the crowd.

When handed a vertical business card, the reader will have to turn it on its side, automatically engaging their brain in a different way than a standard horizontal card – forcing them to pay more attention to what they’re reading. It’ll help create the impression that your business card is more important or worthy of remembering than others.

At 123Print, we stock a wide range of vertically-oriented business card templates to suit a wide range of professions and niches. For example, this bright and bold Colour Swatches design would be perfect for anyone working in the paint, textile, or fashion industry.

2. A Clear Call to Action

The whole point of a business card is to drive business to you or your company. As such, it helps if there’s a clear call to action designed into the card itself, as well as your contact details and social media handles.

A call to action is a clear request for the reader to make contact. For example:

1) Check out our new summer range today on our website!
2) Show this business card when you’re next in-store for 5% off your purchase.
3) Scan the QR code to learn more about our new product line
4) Call us today for a free quote

The goal here is to make it as appealing as possible for your business card’s recipient to contact you and do business with you – so make sure to give them an incentive to do so!

3. Magnetic Backing

A business card should be easy for its recipient to keep hold of, and refer back to when necessary. That’s where magnetic business cards really come into their own.
Any standard business card can be set out on a table at a networking event so they catch people’s attention, but the next step is to ensure that they aren’t going to get lost, or shoved in a drawer and forgotten about.

By making your business card magnetic, your client or professional contact will be able to stick it to their refrigerator or filing cabinet, for easy access in the future. It’s also just a bit of a novelty that people will find fun, and again will help you to stand out from the crowd.
A magnetic business card shows that you’ve given some thought to how you can keep your card fresh in people’s minds after they have it in their hands. It’s also great for spreading brand recognition, as your card will be right in front of them whenever they go to the fridge to grab the milk.

4. Double-Sided Printing

If you’re not going with the magnetic option, you should at least ensure that you make full use of the space by giving your business card a double-sided design.
A business card with two sides is more professional and gives you the freedom to express yourself even further. It also lets you include extra information that wouldn’t necessarily fit on the front of the card, such as your store opening times, a tempting special offer or a fun fact about your business that might leave a lasting impression on the reader.

Sure, it might cost a little more to pay for printing on both sides, but it’s definitely worth it from a business point of view. You want to be as memorable as possible so that the recipient will be more likely to do business with you in future.

5. Your Photo

A business card should reflect who you are, what you do and the kind of image you want to project to others.
This is why you should include your photo on your business card: so that the reader can put a face to the name, and identify you as an individual, rather than a faceless corporation. You could add a photo of yourself standing in front of your shop, on the manufacturing line at work, or relaxing at home – whatever it is, make sure you look sharp and confident!

Including your photo is also a great way to inject your personality into your business card. You don’t want to go too overboard – your card should be professional and business-like, after all – but a photo of yourself can certainly help you to stand out and make a good first impression.

6. Your Logo

Your logo is the ultimate branding that defines you as an individual or company. It’s important that it appears on your business card so that people know what your business is all about before they even pick up the phone or meet you in person.

If you don’t have a logo, now is the time to think about getting one! Having a logo consistently implemented across your products and mailings will go a long way to helping your business stand out and be remembered by your clients.

Your logo must be eye-catching and impactful, so spend some time creating it – use professional designers if you don’t have any design skills yourself! It should reflect your brand personality – are you fun, flamboyant and friendly, for example? Or are you serious, slick and professional?

7. A QR Code

Including a QR code on your business card is an innovative way of making sure that your business card doesn’t go to waste after it’s been handed over.

A QR code is a great way to maximise your business card’s potential, as it eliminates the need for the recipient to type your website address into their browser. Instead, they can simply whip out their phone and follow the QR code using their camera to take them straight there. This will give them the chance to do more research on you and what you have to offer, which could increase interest in you or even lead to new business opportunities.

Simply save your QR code as an image file and you’ll be able to upload it directly to a template of your choice at 123Print. All of our business card templates can be fully customised with your own images.

8. A Full-Colour Design

Your business card should be as unique and memorable as you and your brand. If you want to make a lasting impression on someone, it needs to stand out from all of the boring, black-and-white cards out there.

A full-colour design is one way in which you can make sure that your business cards jump out and catch people’s attention. The extra costs involved in going for a higher-quality, multicoloured design will almost always be recouped through higher sales and greater profits.

A full-colour business card is the perfect place to show off your creative side, too. You might want to consider including some cool infographic or photography – anything that reflects your brand personality and makes an impression. And think carefully about your colour scheme – it should tie into your business’s overall aesthetic, and stand out in a good way (not like a sore thumb).

9. Recycled Cardstock

In today’s eco-conscious world, when most consumers are looking to shop with businesses that care about the planet, it’s vitally important that you make sure your business card is eco-friendly.

Recycled paper is a perfect option for your business cards, as it makes use of post-consumer waste which would otherwise have been thrown away. It’s just another way for you to portray yourself as being sensitive towards environmental issues and reinforce your brand image.

Using recycled materials for your business cards doesn’t mean that you have to compromise on quality. The 100% recycled cardstock that we use at 123Print is 300gsm, and looks and feels just as nice as any standard business card. And as a nice bonus, it’s slightly cheaper!

Where Can I Buy Business Cards?

If you’re looking for professionally printed, high-quality business cards, look no further than 123Print. We offer a huge selection of business card templates which you can completely customise to reflect your unique brand personality, as well as a range of other printing products for your business and personal needs.

Visit our website today to choose the perfect design, and personalise it quickly and easily with our free-to-use online editor. Add your own artwork, photos and logos with our upload tool, and customise the font and colour scheme to your preferences.

Your order will be dispatched within 2 working days, so you’ll soon be holding your new, stand-out business cards in your hands. When it comes to getting business cards printed, there’s no need to go anywhere else!

What Font is Best for Business Cards?

It can be a challenging task choosing a font for your new business cards. There are often many options, and it can be unclear what you need to base your choice on.
Should you go for a classic, elegant serif font – or will that come off as old-fashioned? If you choose a more modern or contemporary font style, will your company stand out as fresh and up-and-coming, or will it make you look unprofessional?

The best way to choose a font for your business cards is to choose one that you feel represents you, or your brand. If you have a logo which you are featuring on your cards, it would also be a good idea to make sure your font has similar design characteristics.
You will also need to consider what colour to have your font – this depends again on your brand, logo and what you want to communicate visually with potential customers.
In this article we will select some stylistic fonts and discuss how these would work best on a business card, as well as how to choose a font colour.

The Psychology of Font for Business Cards

In marketing, the font you choose for your business cards (and other marketing material and promotional products) is important. The style of the typeface that you use on your cards can alter how a potential client, customer, colleague or contact will perceive you and your company. In this way, font choice is quite similar to colour, which we’ll touch upon briefly later.

For example: a modern, sans serif typeface will come across as contemporary, fun, and casual. If your company makes children’s toys, this style of font would be perfect – you could also choose a graphic, chunky font that evokes excitement and creates an aura of child-like glee.

But if your company provides financial or legal advice, the above font choice would be a big mistake. It could cause potential clients to take you less seriously, and doubt your professionalism. Instead, you’ll want to go with a simple, sleek and professional font which will make prospect clients trust you.

What Are the Different Types of Fonts?

As a general rule, serif fonts (such as Times New Roman) are perceived as more old-fashioned, dependable, and serious than sans serif fonts (such as Arial). They’re the kinds of fonts you’d likely see in older books and newspapers.

Handwriting-style fonts, such as Comic Sans MS, are the opposite: they’re perceived as very informal, fun, and fresh. They work well for small or casual businesses, such as dog groomers and children’s soft play centres.

Cursive, calligraphy or script-style fonts, like Amadeo and Studio Script, give off a romantic and feminine vibe. They’d be perfect if you’re a wedding planner or florist, for example.
Let’s now go through some examples of popular fonts and when they might be used.

Business Card Font Examples

Here are four of our favourite fonts for business cards, and the impression they might create about you or your business.

1. Avant Garde

Avant Garde is a brilliant font choice for anyone who wants something unique, but still professional. The letter spacing makes it extremely easy to read which is important on a business card.
Without being too bold, the roundness of this font makes text look approachable and it would work particularly well to draw attention to the key information on your business card.

If you have a modern, progressive brand with a fun and contemporary logo, this would be a great font choice for you.
If you feel this is for you, you may enjoy the ‘Fashion’ business card template for its modern, bright design.

2. Century Schoolbook

Century Schoolbook is the perfect example of a professional, easy to read serif font. This typeface is bold but without the chunky letters usually associated with standout font.
Although the style is similar to more commonly used fonts, it is a fantastic business card font choice for those looking to make their cards unique than, say, Times New Roman.
This font would work well for any professional brand, especially if you have a sleek, elegant logo. Choose a font like this for a company that needs to be taken seriously, such as an accounting firm or a solicitor.

If your brand fits this category, you may want to look at the simple yet elegant ‘Solid Black’ business card template.

3. Courier New

Courier New oozes simplicity. This typeface, which bears resemblance to typewriter font, is minimalistic in the best way. It is extremely clear and will stand out against any background.

This is a brilliant font to use for business cards as it merges playful and elegant perfectly. If your brand uses a to the point, minimal logo, Courier New would be one to consider.
For a brand with this aesthetic, the ‘Swoosh’ business card template could be a good fit.

4. Bauhaus

If you are looking for a fun and funky business card font that is still readable, Bauhaus would be an excellent choice.
It’s distinctive, striking and yet it still comes across as professional. It’s boldness means it would read clearly, even against a coloured background.

Bauhaus would make a brilliant business card font for anyone whose brand is quirky, eccentric, and fun, and would complement a bright logo.
No logo? Bauhaus would compliment the ‘Unique Antique’ business card template.

Which Font Should I Choose?

If you’re having trouble choosing, there is nothing wrong with going for a traditional and well-known typeface for your business cards. For example, Ariel or Times New Roman. They’re both classic, professional fonts that would work for almost any brand and logo.
You don’t have to go the “unique” angle if you’re worried about what your chosen font will say about your business. You can always make your business cards stand out in other ways, such as through use of colour, orientation or clever image placement.

You could also consider looking at other brands, and consider how they use font to communicate with potential customers. If you find an example that you enjoy, you can try out a similar font on your business card.

What Font Colour Should I Choose for My Business Card?

Don’t forget about colour! On a business card, it is important that all the information can be read clearly. If your clients and customers have to put in extra effort to read your information, they may not bother, and will pick up a competitor’s card instead.
It’s best to go for a font that contrasts well with your background. If your background is white or cream, a classic and professional choice would be a dark colour such as black, graphite, or navy.

If your business card has a dark background, however (such as ‘Strike a Deal’), white (or another very light colour) would be the obvious choice.


If you do choose to go with another colour, make sure it contrasts strongly enough with the background to show up clearly on your card. As well as this, it would be best to select a colour that will accent your logo if you have one.

What Does Font Colour Tell Customers About My Business?

The psychology of colour is very interesting, and brands use colour all the time to tell their audience about their product or company. For example:

1) Black symbolises formality and sophistication
2) Purple oozes luxury and royalty
3) Red gives off an aura of energy and excitement
4) Green comes across as fresh and natural
5) Blue is a calm colour that signifies trust and honesty
6) Yellow represents fun, happiness and creativity
7) Pink symbolises love and emotion
8) Brown denotes toughness and simplicity

Business Card Colours

Where Can I Buy Business Cards?

At 123Print you can completely customise your own business cards to suit the experience you want potential customers to have. As well having a choice of 32 fonts and thousands of custom colours, you can also upload your own artwork and logo to make the card completely your own.

If you are not feeling so creative, you could have a look through our massive range of business card templates. All templates can still be customised so you can add your own personal touches to the design, and edit the font and colour to your liking.

You can order business cards with 123Print stress-free in the knowledge that we have a 100% customer satisfaction guarantee. Our 48-hour dispatch time and low price point means you can receive your order of high quality business cards quickly and cheaply.

Where is the Best Place to Leave Business Cards?

You’ve just had some swanky new business cards printed, and you’re wondering how best to distribute them. Rather than scattering your business cards around just anywhere (wasting your precious time and money, and potentially littering to boot) you should approach this with a logical angle.

There are many different places you can leave business cards, and some locations work better than others for different businesses. In this article we’re going to discuss your business card distribution goals, and give you a comprehensive list of the various places you can leave them, for the biggest chance of success.

What Are Your Business Card Goals?

Good quality business cards are an expense. To get the best value from wherever you leave them, it’s good practice to do some out of the box thinking and consider who your customers are.
A popular technique with marketers is to create a ‘customer blueprint’—that means creating a profile of a fictional customer who’d want to buy your product or service. That might include who it is (person or company), where they frequent and what problem your product solves for them.

For instance, say that your business provides home plumbing services. Where would you leave a business card?
A person in the market for your services would visit plumbing supply and DIY stores. Many of these shops, DIY stores especially, provide a section where local tradespeople may leave their business cards—what better place to leave your business card than a shop where your potential customer may search for a part to fix their leaky boiler or a new sink to upgrade their bathroom.

The above suggestion applies to other businesses, such as electrical installers or decorators. Even if it doesn’t fit your specific business, try the same customer mindset technique and plenty of creative ideas will pop into your head.
One last word of advice: wherever you choose to leave or distribute your business cards, make sure that you have permission. Unwanted cards will get thrown away, and they might also invite an angry phone call or bad words on social media.

Creative Ideas for Where to Leave Your Business Card

Without further ado, let’s get into our all-inclusive guide to where you can distribute your business cards.

Business to Business

If you provide a Business to Business Service (B2B), there are plenty of opportunities for places to distribute or leave your business card.

Trade Shows:

Sometimes customers at trade shows don’t wish to talk at the booth, and they’ll just do a hit-and-run, picking up promotional material on their way through. Stapling a business card to the material is a good way to catch these potential customers.

Promotional Gift Raffle:

This isn’t so much about passing on your business card, but getting one from your potential customer. As an exhibitor, offer the chance to win a high-value gift to customers willing to leave their business card in a bowl or bucket.

Business Centres:

Most big brand hotels provide some level of business service for their guests. Ask the hotel if you could leave some business cards and promotional materials, or leave a few around if you’re staying as a guest.

Flexible Office Space Providers:

Office space in major cities is very expensive. Many start-ups and small businesses, who can’t afford the high rental, use flexible offices for hot desking. These are great places to leave business cards and promotional materials, especially if offering B2B services.

Networking Organisations:

Join business networking associations. Attend meetings and exchange business cards and materials by hand or leave them around for people to peruse.

Affiliates:

Through networking, you are likely to find other businesses offering complimentary services. Give them your business cards and offer sign-up bonuses for new customer introductions and do the same for them—quid pro quo.

Chamber of Commerce:

Most UK cities have a Chamber of Commerce dedicated to promoting business within the local community. They are a great place to leave your business cards and promotional materials.

Estate Agents:

If your business provides services to home or commercial building owners, consider giving your cards and information to an estate agent. They often keep lists of local tradespeople to give to house buyers, renters or commercial customers.
Don’t forget about using your existing Clients. Often existing clients are the best advertisement for your business. Leave a few cards with them and perhaps offer incentives for introducing new prospects.

In the Community

If you want to pick up customers out and about in your local community, here are some ideas for places you can leave your business cards for the highest chance of reeling them in.

Bulletin Boards:

Many shops and organisations have community bulletin boards aimed at the general public. They are great places to leave business cards.

educatebusiness

Church:

If your business provides a community service, a church would be a great place to promote it.

Community Centre:

As with churches, community centres provide services for the general public.

Citizens Advice:

This is an especially good place for advertising legal advice.

Sports facilities/Gyms:

These are great if your business is health-related—yoga, meditation, sports massage or some such service. Most facilities would be happy for you to leave your cards and promotional materials.

Local Libraries:

Check out their community section bulletin board. There are some clandestine tricks that you could try in libraries—leave your cards in books relevant to your business, or better still, create a bookmark shaped business card. For instance, for your business services company, leave your branded bookmarks in business books.

Tourist Information:

If your business is travel-related, there is no better place to leave your card and information. When visiting a place for the first time, most visitors seek the local tourist information centre.

Coffee Shops:

People spend a lot of time in coffee shops drinking coffee, reading and using free Wi-Fi. Take advantage of this by placing your card strategically around the shop. Again, get the shop’s permission to do this.

Shopping Mall:

Shopping malls often have their own community area with information on local services. Leave your cards and information around these areas.

Also, if you have the marketing budget, pay for someone to distribute your cards and information around your local area, perhaps attached to promotional flyers. Offering a discount service is a good way to encourage someone to take your card. Consult with your local authority first, to ensure it’s legal where you are to distribute material in this way.
Waiting Rooms, Receptions and Other Locations

Waiting rooms, reception areas and checkouts are other fruitful places for business cards. For instance, business cards for a beauty-related business might go well in a dentist’s waiting room.

Dentist Waiting Rooms:

As mentioned above, your dentist’s waiting room is a good place to distribute information. Most patients wait for at least ten minutes, browsing the magazines.

Doctors Waiting Rooms:

It may be harder to get permission for this area, but great if your business provides health or wellbeing-related services.

Hotel Receptions:

Hotels will be happy to help if your service benefits their customers (taxi service, restaurant, etc.)

Restaurants:

Ask permission to leave your cards at the checkout.

Taxis:

Ask taxi drivers to distribute your cards—provide a cardholder to put in the back of the taxi. This might not work with gig economy drivers, such as Uber, whose terms and conditions prohibit promoting other businesses to customers.

Coach and Bus Stations:

This is another area especially good for promoting travel-related business.

If you’re looking for stylish, professionally printed business cards to promote your small business or services, look no further than 123Print. We have thousands of high quality, fully customisable business cards designs, and we’ll have your order shipped out to you within 48 working hours! What are you waiting for?

Office Etiquette Tips: Should You Send Christmas Cards to Employees?

This question comes up every year around the holidays – should you send Christmas cards to your employees?
On the one hand, no-one wants to be that boss who sends a card out like clockwork but never actually gets to know their employees. And you also don’t want to be insensitive, and accidentally send a Christmas card to an employee who doesn’t celebrate Christmas (e.g. Jewish or Muslim employees).

But on the other hand, Christmas cards from bosses and managers to employees – done right – can be a wonderful way of showing your staff that you care, and boost employee morale. You have to let your employees know that you appreciate them for who they are, and recognise the individual contributions they make to your company.

In this guide, we’ll discuss the proper office etiquette around sending Christmas cards to employees, and celebrating Christmas at work in general.

We’ll also discuss what you should write in an employee’s Christmas card, and give you some examples of beautiful personalised cards that you can order online.

Is It a Good Idea to Give Employees Christmas Cards?

While it’s certainly appropriate (and usually very much appreciated) to send Christmas cards to your employees, there are some considerations to keep in mind.
The first consideration is that not everyone celebrates Christmas. Employees who practice other religions, or no religion at all, may not appreciate receiving a Christmas card from you – or anyone, for that matter.

On the other hand, employees who celebrate Christmas will likely really appreciate a religious Christmas card to put on their desk at work, or on their mantle at home.

Cards for Employees that Don’t Celebrate Christmas

A nice compromise is to send out non-denominational cards that everyone can appreciate, whether they celebrate Christmas or not. Non-denominational cards include those that celebrate the “holiday season” or “winter season”, rather than Christmas.
These cards may contain generic winter-inspired designs on the front, rather than Christmas imagery. Be sure to avoid anything specifically Christmas or religion-themed, such as:

1) Angels
2) Father Christmas
3) Decorated Christmas trees (undecorated fir trees, as part of a natural landscape scene, are fine!)
4) Nativity scenes
5) The Christmas star

For example, choose a design such as Holly Branch, which features a simple photographic design of a robin sitting on a sprig of holly. This represents winter in general, rather than Christmas – and of course the interior can be customised to remove any mention of Christmas.

Non-religious cards give off a more secular vibe, but they can also be appreciated by those who celebrate Christmas. Given the importance of inclusivity in the workplace, a non-denominational card may well be the best choice.

If you’d rather send something more specific to each employee’s religion, feel free to send Hannukah cards or Eid cards (for example) rather than Christmas cards, at the appropriate time of year. This will show your employee that you’ve taken the trouble to get to know them as an individual.

Timing Tips for Christmas Cards in the Workplace

It’s also important to consider when you send out your Christmas cards to your employees. Giving out Christmas cards too early may seem a bit pushy or perfunctory, while ordering and posting cards too late runs the risk of feeling like an afterthought. The cards may even arrive after Christmas, which is no use at all!

While the official start of the Christmas season can vary from one part of the country to another, in most cases, it will start sometime in November. You’ll notice your local shops putting up Christmas decorations almost as soon as they take down the Halloween ones!
It’s seen as appropriate to start handing out Christmas cards at the beginning of December. Try to time it around when your employees start to talk about their Christmas plans, get excited for the holidays, and start handing out cards to one another.

Keep in mind that you may want to consider giving out your Christmas cards before the business holiday party – or during it. Many offices host their Christmas parties on a weekend in early to mid-December. Sending one after the party will definitely seem like an afterthought – avoid this mistake by being proactive about your greetings!

What Do You Write in a Christmas Card to Employees?

Now that you know when to send out your Christmas cards, it’s time to consider what they should say. Some companies use the predictable “Merry Christmas”, “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings” sayings on their cards. These are more than acceptable, especially if you’re sending them as a corporate message.
But we recommend going a little more personal. Because you’re sending the card to your employees, make it feel like it’s coming from you personally. The last thing you want is for your Christmas cards to be perfunctory and boring.

Personalising your Christmas cards by writing a custom note to each employee is a great way of showing them that you appreciate them as an individual. For example:

1) Thank them for a recent project they’ve completed at work that you were happy with
2) Mention their Christmas plans that they’ve brought up at work – e.g. “I hope Boxing Day dinner with the in-laws goes well!”
3) Reference their family members by name, and wish them well
4) Tell them how much you appreciate them and look forward to having them back in the office after New Year

An inside joke or two can also be very well received! Just make sure that you don’t bring up any potentially controversial topics, or anything that could be considered inappropriate. Even a joke can be the wrong kind of funny for some people!

Who Should Receive an Employee Christmas Card?

This should go without saying, but make sure that you’re sending cards to everyone on your team. It’s easy to forget a few names or lose track of who’s new this year, but it’s important that no-one feels left out. Avoid awkward conversations by making sure that everyone receives a card, from the vice president to the night janitor.

It may feel like a lot of work to send your Christmas cards to your employees, but it can really pay off! Not only do you get an opportunity to relate on a more personal level with those around you, but there’s also the chance of getting some free positive exposure across your social media networks.

In short, a Christmas card is a great way to remind those around you that they matter – and what better time than Christmas?!

Where Can I Buy Christmas Cards for Employees?

At 123Print, we have hundreds of Christmas card templates to choose from. You’re bound to find a design that suits your company and your employees down to the ground. Here’s a sampling of the selection we have to choose from:

1) Christmas Morning: this beautiful photographic card depicting a forest of snow-covered trees features the phrase Season’s Greetings. It’s a perfect non-religious Christmas card option for your employees.

2) Christmas Deliveries (With Your Logo): this card shows a delivery truck that will feature your business logo on the side. A perfect mix of Christmas cheer and corporate pride!


3) Christmas Wood: a stunning wintertime scene featuring woodland creatures against a backdrop of cosy cottages. A great way to show off a little personality while getting your holiday message across.

All of our designs are fully customisable, so you can choose your preferred greeting on the inside of the card – either select from one of our pre-written messages, or write your own.

Many of our designs also feature front personalisation, allowing you to upload a photo, your logo, or your business’s name to the design itself.

To find your ideal employee Christmas cards, head over to 123Print today! We have a low-price promise, and print our cards professionally on high-quality cardstock. With our 100% satisfaction guarantee, you can be sure you’ll love the end result – and your employees will, too!