I just ordered new business cards. Been working on them for a while.

One of the things I want to do is give people magnets, or post it notes with my card on them, for them to put on their fridge, etc.

But, would I want to have some realtor's face on my fridge?

No.

So I designed a card with a beautiful landscape photo that I took locally, with the company logo and my contact info on the bottom. It's an experiment, but I think they'd be much more likely to hang a pretty photo on their fridge than my picture.

We'll see how they work. OvernightPrints is so cheap it allows you to experiment.

Business cards won't be your main issue. You will sell not your business cards. The price depends of the quality and quantity. I have ordered 1000 and will be more than enough.

I don't want my business cards to SELL, I want them to be pretty enough that they stand out from anyone else's and that they are attractive enough for someone to want to stick on their fridge.

The quality of Overnightprints.com cards has been excellent so far, though I dislike the rounded corners ones (I didn't like them and sent them back, poor die cut). The standard cards with the UV coating are great, rich vibrant colors.

No they're not linen texture, with an elegant monochromatic color scheme; they're full color with a lovely riverfront landscape. It's definitely different and will stand out from the flood of blah blah boring cookie cutter cards everyone else has.

Even though business cards won't sell you, they do make an impression, often times a first impression. A business card is likely the first hard copy item you give to someone. If it is not professioonal, it is a reflection on you. It's important to have business cards that are both professional and stand out so that people remember you.

I also send calendars to my clients, they have my name, phone number and email at the bottom, cost me about $1.50 or so for good quality, and people hang them up and look at them all year long. Best annual investment I make, always get a few deals early in the year from my mailing in December.

Don't go for the laminated stuff. Real Estate business cards are your face to the world. Spend as much money on design and print as you can. Get the best paper, try to stand out. Get the stamped or embroidered kind.

I am serious, why do you think companies like Sotheby's spend so much money and resources on business cards?

We have used Vistaprint for a 3 years now. (even before Real Estate) I get the glossy upgrade for free.

In the last order I recieved in about a week I got:
1 Hat
100 Postcards
50 large postcards
10 Large calendar magnets
25 small business cards magnets
1 notepad
25 Beautiful Brochures
1 Tshirt
1 Pen

All for 18.00 shipping. all items were free. NEVER had a problem.

They also have car door magnets full color! 14.99 (but I had an email for free!) So I got one free and they offered the second half price after I ordered. They are a little thinner than the ones I got from our local printer, but they stay on at 75 mile an hour!

On the back of our business cards we have "Search over 7,000 North Alabama homes for sale at http://www.JonesTeamSells.com." They access the public MLS system, which many do not know about still, but they read what we have to offer as well.

We had the regular postcard designed like our business card, but on the back we put several options for how a buyer would like the home they just viewed. We select the the appropriate selection and leave that instead of business cards. ( we just got these) With a little extra info like this, if that home expires, maybe that will help us to stand out even more. We have postcards for when we speak to someone, we mail them. If we miss them (FSBO knocking). And we just ordered some to mail to renters that has some local homes in the same price range as rent they are paying. We will maill these out later this week.

I actually got a glitch in the Vistaprint when they first started selling the T-shirts. They sent me over 230 of them! FREE!! I ordered one with front and back print and somehow got a HUGE order for free. I called and they said they had no record of it. So I started to give those out free on our webpage to get leads.

I have heard of some saying they had a bad experience with them, but I have not. We will give out the hats to as we get them for free. It is great since we have community events all the time where we will have booths!

We have a blog linked to our website (Free from blogger.com).

Log on to our site and give me feedback if you think something should change. Thanks

So what do you say when you're with a prospect in Wal-Mart?
" I don't have a business card because it's so last century. I'm so tech that you may check h t t p : slash slash double view double view double view dot checkmysuperrealestateblog dot com slash superrealestatebloggerhere dot atch tee aim " ??

Not sure that the business card will die soon. Blog and site are just a plus to add on it...

I want to know what a "hole card" is. Does it look like a slice of Swiss cheese?

Perky: I'm not sure if it is what you are describing or not but I have seen some business card size CDs. The lable looks like a card but there is a whole lot more info on them when you play them in your computer drive (and, yes, they have hole in them just like other CDs)

Wow, I had never heard of that...sounds pretty cool. I'm expecting some day we're all gonna be walking around with these things like memory cards that cameras have, and we can download our info into each other's hand held do hickeys, like ipods or something.

but my post was being snarky...I was making fun of the one poster's spelling error. he spelled "hole" card instead of "whole".

Guess I wasn't proofing the other posts.

I never went that route for business cards myself though I did have a virtual tour of one of my better listings on one of that size. I've forgotten now how many were included in the price of the virtual tour.

I love that idea!!

Vista Print is the bomb!