Business Cards, Ads & Stationary

by **Raccoon** » 23 Jan 2006 20:13

Sorry. Background to what? I do believe this is the first time I've taken any such offense on these forums, unless you're counting when Pinky told me that I'm not a "real" locksmith. I just found pip's scenerio a bit out of line; inappropriately questioning my capabilities.

FYI. "Get In Quick" not only refers to my ability to bypass a lock in a short period of time, but it refers to my proximity and ability to arrive on the scene in 5 minutes-- as the next nearest lockout service is 1Â¼ hours away, and usually takes 2 hours to get here.

Returning to pip's uninvited suggestion... Yes, of course I practice my abilities to make sure I'm fully capable of performing the service I am advertising. I even spent the day at an auto-wreckers with a stop watch and my car opening tools. It gave me the opportunity to try the set of "jiggler keys" I recently purchased, which I'm not very fond of just yet, as well as learn several different styles of door and how difficult they are to wedge vs using a slimjim.

How about you, or anyone else here. Lets ask "What makes you think you're such hot stuff?" I honestly don't believe the business name I have chosen leaves me open to such questioning.

--

BTW. The topic here is business cards and stationary.

by **vector40** » 24 Jan 2006 1:48

Never mind.

by **Raccoon** » 24 Jan 2006 5:21

Thanks to Aqua and DB for sending me various business card layouts they've been playing with. I'm starting to get a feel for the minimalism in these designs.

One thing I'm pretty sure about, I should put the business name at the top of the card. Anywhere else, and it looks more like a statement or slogan than the actual company name.

Though, I consider the information on my initial design to already be simplistic, I'm afraid I'm going to want a card with much more information. Something that conveys each of the services I'm capable of providing-- not limited to lockouts. Something I can present to a construction site to score a contract to install locks, etc. I think I'm going to have multiple cards for diferent types of clients. Emergency and Non-Emergency.

by **digital_blue** » 24 Jan 2006 8:00

I don't think it's necessary to have multiple cards in order to convey more info. You can actually pack a lot of info onto a card without giving up the whitespace. If the amount of info you'd like to provide on a business card is THAT extensive (and I don't feel it should be), you could always go to a bi-fold card. This way, you have tripled your effective usable space without having to manage multiple versions of your card. Though printing cost increase sharply on these cards, it would allow you do to some really nice stuff with the front cover portion, since you could include most of your content on the inside.

Even if you stay away from the bi-fold idea (and really, I personally think you should), there is room to get a lot more info on the card without giving up the understated feel. PM or email me if you would like any pointers on this.

Cheers!

db

by **wraith** » 25 Jan 2006 23:54

My business cards are white with dark red lettering - and cost me $18 for 1000...

My cards say my name, my business name, my phone #, and my little phrase;

Locked out?
Outta gas?
Flat tire?
Battery dead?

1 Quick Pick
Lock Out & Roadside Assist

I give my customers 2 cards when i do a lock out - one to put in thier purse/wallet, and one to put in the drivers side corner of thier vehicle...

Trey

by **Raccoon** » 26 Jan 2006 4:17

I like that-- card for in the windshield. Do you see customers actually put one there? I'd give out 2 cards just so they could give one to a friend.

Right now I have a nice stockpile of fancy cardstocks. I'll be paying 50Â¢ per sheet of 12 cards using a super high quality full color wax-jet printer. (not ink. wax.

) At that rate, I should be paying $18 for 432 cards, or getting 1000 for $42. The trade-off is that I can print small volumes and change my design as needed, while having full control of the layout.

I don't know, but whenever I explain locksmithing to people, each person has a different concept of what locksmiths do. Thats why I feel compelled to itemize a specific list of services I can perform. That way there's no mistaking what I do, and it lets the reader know that someone actually does these things. "Hey, you know, I really should change my locks come to think of it."

by **Varjeal** » 26 Jan 2006 11:31

For my business card, I have the pertinent info on the front (name of business on top) with a picture of my vehicle off to the side (people generally immediately recognize it "Oh yeah...your the locksmith with the bright yellow buggie") I use the back for a simple listing of services.

I had a bunch of inexpensive but good quality pens printed up, so every customer gets 1 pen and two business cards. My wife prints my business cards on good card stock, so everything matches and looks good.

I prefer to pay a bit more/card for the same reasons explained earlier, I can print small batches and make changes whenever I feel like to "tweak" the design.

by **The Pindropper** » 26 Jan 2006 19:21

Enjoyed all the advice and banter guys! can I chip in with a small suggestion?

I am in the process of designing my own cards etc and also thought of the folding option.

However I thought of having my information in the most prominent place with the least amount of necessary info' and asking other emergency provider eg. plumber, electrician, roofer to share costs.

Also having Takeaway, Taxis, Doctors, Local Police numbers etc etc would encourage your potentiel clients to have your number with them at all times!!

Simply names and numbers in a list and all these other guys could offset your printing and distribution costs!! just a thought

by **digital_blue** » 27 Jan 2006 4:32

That's a really good idea Pindropper. I like it.

db

by **The Pindropper** » 27 Jan 2006 9:00

With my locksmithing skill level not being up to speed,

,at last I have been to offer something :lol:

by **devnill** » 16 Feb 2006 4:05

I like the original design minus a few things.

get rid of the gradient, solids look more professional, and may be cheaper to print.

if you are going any colors besides black and white, make sure they follow a scheme. using Analogous colors (next to each other on the color wheel), or monochromatic (black, white, and another color) would look really ince IMHO.

Vectorize the key. Nobody wants to look at a worn key for a locksmith. keeping it clean would look alot nicer, and would have more of a impact on the cards mood.

by **Varjeal** » 16 Feb 2006 11:49

I would also agree with the many statements concerning the key in your graphic...either dump it or make it look like a factory-cut brand new one.

Keep your fonts clear and sharp. I envy your use of the "LOCK" part of the phone #, and would take full advantage of it by putting emphasis on it.
Darken up the #'s underneath for easier visualization.

Remember this:

If customers are going to keep your card, the females are going to have it bouncing around in their handbag, or rubbing against other cards in their purse. The ink will eventually start to wear, and if your # isn't visible on the card when they DO pull it out...well...you can guess the rest.

Otherwise, use of simple colors (and few of them) is generally the best way (and most economical) as well.

Consider matching your card colors to your transportation and your uniform...keeping consistent colors will help customers identify you.

Also, consider placing your name somewhere on the card...something such as:

Raccoon, Lock-out Specialist or something similar...people want a name when they make the phone call.

Just some thoughts...

by **Raccoon** » 22 Jul 2006 15:27

Thanks Varjeal. I finally got off my arse and decided what I want in a business card. I made a new one from scratch, and used parts of the old design as an "advert" for the back of the card. The cards will serve dual purpose-- personal identification to my business as a professional, and as advertisements to leave for gas stations and hotel attendants. I'll scan some pictures once they arrive.

I've also finished my invoice designs a couple months ago, and forgot to follow up here. They have come a far way from my original idea of a quarter-page invoice ticket, to a full page proper invoice. There are 2 invoices actually, one for general lock work, and another for lock-out calls. I'll post them here, but insist that nobody steals them outright. Feel free to model off of them.

http://lockwiki.com/misc/sample-invoices.pdf

by **Isakill** » 23 Jul 2006 18:14

Tried clicking on the links for your cards and no dice...

I downloaded a template from HP and i'm quite satisfied

http://www.hp.com/cgi-bin/sbso/productivity/office/template_buscard.cgi?nail=11

This is the link to the one I am using for personal cards until I get some equipment together to startup.

I'd like to see what you came up with

by **Raccoon** » 24 Jul 2006 0:31

The original link to my business cards leads to my old website which no longer exists. As for a template, I just used Adobe Photoshop and looking at other people's business cards, I layed out ruler guides as a reference for the locations of different elements.

Basic dimensions and anatomy of a business card.

The card should be 3.5" wide and 2.0" tall. Most "business card printer paper" come with perforated cuts for 8 or 10 business cards per sheet. Using a plain sheet of cardstock, you can print 12 business cards per sheet, and use a paper cutter to cut the cards. For this, the layout should be 3 cards wide and 4 cards tall, printed sideways as landscape so that 3.5" x 3 = 10.5" and 2" x 4 = 8" giving you exactly 1/4" edge around the cardstock page of 11" x 8.5". Modern printers are capable of a 1/4" margin. You should make sure that Photoshop doesn't try to scale the size down, it must print at 100%.

When laying out your cards, give at least 3mm and as much as 5mm between your text and graphics and the edges of the card. Your layout doesn't necessarily require text or graphics to border the edges of the card, you could simply have text centered at the middle of the card, but most business cards do align text to at least one or all of the card's sides.

Layout can be literally anything you want. However, it is common that you have your name on the card, then your title is usually below your name, your physical address is optional, phone number either below or aligned to the bottom right, then email address below phone number address.

Here. I'll just print an example of my business cards to PDF like I did with my invoices. Then I'll include the Adobe Photoshop PSD files I created as templates for layout design, and for printing.

http://lockwiki.com/misc/sample-bizcard.png
http://lockwiki.com/misc/bizcard-templates.zip

Business Cards, Ads & Stationary

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