Marketing 101: Creating Photography Business Cards
Understanding how to market yourself professionally is the key to a long and successful creative career. You’ve heard us mention the importance of branding before. We’ve covered how to maintain consistency in your work, creating an online portfolio and even crafting a social media strategy. Yet, there are other crucial elements you need to utilize in order to elevate your personal marketing efforts.
Creating business cards is one way that you can build your network and share your personal brand with key players in the industry. Simple and effective, these little pieces of paper can make or break your next creative opportunity.
Imagine meeting someone who could change your career and having no way of giving them your information?
And no, telling them your Instagram handle or quickly jotting your information down on a napkin doesn’t count.
So, to help you avoid missing out on your next big break – let’s talk about how you can create photography business cards and why you need them for your personal brand.
Do You Still Need to Use Business Cards?
In case you were thinking otherwise, the answer is yes – you definitely need to use business cards for your photography work.
But, why is that? When we live in a digital world, where everything is online – why would I need to invest in a piece of paper with my information on it?
Because, business cards exemplify professionalism. They give you the ability to provide a specific and physical reminder of who you are and the brand you have crafted. In fact, they show that you take your work and business seriously.
They may say print is dead, but that’s far from true. In fact, having a printed card puts you ahead of the competition. Since industries are made up of individuals of all ages – many people you meet will still be acquainted with the process of exchanging of business cards.
Imagine that you meet a top notch director at the production company you’ve been dying to work with, but you have no way to give them your information.
No senior level director is going to “take down your Instagram handle” or probably even remember your name after your conversation. Unless, you give them a way to jog their memory – a business card.
In networking, this allows someone to take your information for referencing later. The last thing you want is to rely too heavily on Internet networking that you miss out on the in-person opportunities that present themselves.
Therefore, making a business card for your photography just makes sense. So, to help you get started, we’re going to give you some tips on how to make your business cards catchy, effective and memorable.
What Makes a Good Business Card For Photography?
Your photography business card can truly be whatever you want. This is a chance for you to showcase your creativity, provide samples of your work and give specific ways for someone to contact you.
The most important aspects to a good business card are:
- Appealing Design:
- This could mean that you use a captivating template or design your own card. You can utilize different fonts, color schemes and creative elements to create a card that is appealing to the eye.
- Integrate a Photo
- Considering that you are a photographer, your business cards should include a photo. This can be any type of photograph you want, but it’s best to keep it simple without too many distracting elements. You can never go wrong with a beautiful still life or landscape image. Note, for portrait photographers – stray away from placing a photo of one of your subjects on your card. Instead, you can use a photograph where you subject’s face is not visible or recognizable.
- Contact Information
- The final element to your business card is to include all relevant and up to date contact information. This includes your:
- Name
- Work Email
- Social Handles
- Optional // Telephone or Address of Your Photography Studio (if you have one)
- The final element to your business card is to include all relevant and up to date contact information. This includes your:
Services To Help Print Your Photography Business Cards
So, now that you know why you need photography business cards and how to design them, let’s discuss where you have them printed. Here are two quality services you can use for your printing needs:
MOO Print
Moo is one of the top printing services for photography business cards. They offer perks such as “Printfinity” which allows you to print a different design on every card for free, one pack with lots of images. This is perfect for photographers who want each of their business cards to look unique and different.
They offer original, cotton, super and luxe business cards. Prices start at 50 cards for $19.99. You can even add special upgrades such as gold foiling to your cards.
You can either choose one of their templates, design your own on their website or upload your design. They make it simple and effective to order your high quality business cards. For more information on their printing services, check out their full selection of options here.
Vista Print
The second printing service for your photography business cards is Vista Print. To create your business cards with their services you can:
- Use one of their designs
- Craft your own
- Consult with a designer to help you through the process
Vista Print also offers business cards in multiple sizes, card stocks, finishes and colors. They aim to help people create business cards that are unique for their work. The pricing starts at 100 business cards for $7.99
To read more about their services and how to create your own cards, check out their website here.
So, as you can see, creating photography business cards is important for your personal brand. They allow you to give the people you meet and network with a physical reminder of who you are and what you do. And, creating a business card is simple and easy with the top printing services. Be sure to create your own business cards today, to never miss out on another life changing, creative opportunity.