Uncategorized

How To Start A Business Card Design Business

Selling business cards, or business card design, is a business you can easily learn and set-up if you have basic graphic skills & the desire to learn and to do!
In this post I will cover different places for you to offer a business card design service, as well as ways to learn how to design business cards (or improve your skills), while also finding physical ways to manufacture & ship business cards to your clients- without ever leaving the house!

How to design business cards?

When designing a business card, you need to factor in 4 things:
The size you need the item to be, the information on the business card, the design of it (font, colors, illustrations), and the quality for printing.

To calculate the right file size you’ll need for your design, in 300 DPI quality- Take the number of inches you want and multiply by 300. That will give you the pixel size you need to create that inch size- in 300 DPI printing quality.

To make things simple- if the business card is a 3.5×2 inches, you’ll need to design it on a 1050X600 pixels page.

There are a lot of ways to create that file, using Photoshop, ClipStudioPaint, and other editing softwares… But the easiest way would be through Canva! Go to Canva and open 2 designs: 1. the design templates for business cards 2. a design with the dimensions you need in pixels.

Use the first template window for ideas and overall layout design for your business cards.

Vuala. You just designed a business card.

Where to offer business card design services?

You can sell business card design services on platforms like Etsy or Fiverr, as well as through your own website, or through any other service-platform online.

Selling business cards on Fiverr: While Fiverr doesn’t cost money to offer services, you’ll have a limited amount of gigs (services) you could offer. Create 1-3 gigs detailing your business card service, and offer standard sizes- as well as custom sizes.

Use the photos you have to display for the gig wisely- creating collages of your works, or showing fonts, colors, and illustrations people can choose from.

Selling business cards on Etsy: Etsy charges a set up fee of $0.20 per each listing- but you can set up as many listings as you want. Offer different types of business card designs- rustic, minimalistic, corporate, artistic, etc. And provide people with an approachable text explaining to them what you’ll need from them to get started!

Utilize the 10 images per listing that Etsy gives you to share your portfolio- or design style.

Open a Facebook page/Instagram account or a pinterest account (or all) to share what you do for your clients, and the links to your services. This is not a 1-thing only type of business. You could: Offer customized business card design on Fiverr + Offer templates of business cards through Etsy + create a website for selling business cards

While also setting up social media accounts- to make it a true business!

Upgrade your service with physical business cards

There are companies around the world that will gladly print out business cards, with your designs, and ship them directly to your customers!
This way- you could offer more to your clients, in, well, few clicks of a button.

Google companies like Gooten, and see that they can integrate with your Etsy shop, Shopify or WordPress website- to help you sell business cards.
Unlike other printing on demand services that work on a pre-made design, in this case you CANNOT set up these products to be shipped automatically- as they need to be different from buyer to buyer.

After you’ve researched a vendor with good manufacturing and shipping costs, create the service in your own platform- while adding a certain amount of dollars as your profit and for your design services.

Once a client orders, make their design and send it to them for approval. Once they approve- manually make the order of the business cards to them through your production partner- and there you have it- physical business cards sent to your clients, with your designs, without you leaving the house!

Check out these business card designers:

Julianna Trevino is selling beautiful business cards- physical copies- on Etsy!
In her shop TrendyPrint, you’ll find a variety of business card designs she has designed for her clients, with great reviews and a great price!
If you look closely- you’ll see that she also offers other print products (such as thank you cards), and has a unique style of her own, using foil elements, and a general elegant style!

On top of that, you’ll see that inside her listings- she has visual images on the process of ordering through her- the best way to show clients what you’re giving them- and what they need to do to get it!

Another person who made design their business- is Fiverr’s top rated seller EagerGraphics.
With close to 800 reviews, this seller offers a basic service of business card design for $25, with options to get bigger design packages for designed stationery items of various kinds.

Whenever you’re dealing with Fiverr, or any other platform, and you want to give low prices- remember- not all design works take hours to make. Once you have your templates and you are quick to design- your time of making each item can even be minutes! Making it affordable for your client, and time-worthy for you.

Few last tips for designing business cards, and starting a business card design business:

** Knowing how to design business cards, and even setting up a payment method for this service- is not going to make you rich. You need to remember- this is your business- treat it as such.
Give your business a name, a logo, social channels, and work hard on showing people you got the skills that they are looking for!

** Combine this service with other services that people who need business cards- might also need!
That means- take the time to learn a bit about logo design, Facebook cover design, or designs for other social channels- offering your clients more than just a business card!

** Create mockups for your business cards, showing business cards on a table, in someone’s hand, etc.
These mockups should be FLAWLESS, as if you make a graphic mistake in them- you’re basically showing people that your graphic service- is not good.

** Make a lot of business cards, for friends for free, or for made-up people with made-up businesses.
You need a large portfolio to get people to buy from you as a beginner, and having a large variety of examples could help your clients tell you what they want you to design for them!

It might not seem like an easy or Quick solution, but it is rather simple. Go to Canva and start designing Make a list of the places you want to offer your services in- and research them see the prices people offer, and the types of files. Create a master to-do list of setting up this business card design business- and follow each step to the best of your ability.

Oh, and good luck, go design awesome things

Similar Posts