Looking for some advice on supplying business cards.

[Karl Williams]

Sub it out to a local printer mate. Make sure you ask the printer how he wants the file setting up though,

[George Elsmore]

Farm it out somewhere local and make a profit then he should come back for more and more…tell everyone you do business cards and farm them out its not a bad sideline

[Liam Pattison]

So, if i sub it out, do you think the local printers would still give me a good enough price to make it worth my while, but still a reasonable end price for the customer?

I know this is naive of me, but i’ve never done this before.

Once i’ve done the first set, i’ll know how it works next time, and like you say it could be a good sideline.

Thanks for your advice,

Liam

[Gary Birch]

Just find one that will give you what you are looking for. You may also find that he sends some work your way too.

Cheers

Gary

[Karl Williams]

quote Liam Pattison:

So, if i sub it out, do you think the local printers would still give me a good enough price to make it worth my while, but still a reasonable end price for the customer?

I know this is naive of me, but i’ve never done this before.

Once i’ve done the first set, i’ll know how it works next time, and like you say it could be a good sideline.

Thanks for your advice,

Liam

Just tell him what you are doing and that you need a trade price. If he charges £45 charge your customer £70 + artwork.

[Harry Cleary]

These guys print for the trade Liam

http://www.caralan.co.uk/

[Owen Lees]

We sub out all our litho stuff like that, our local printers did a deal with us on trade prices – they tell us what they would normally charge and we pass that on.

If the punter doesnt like the price then ho-hum!

Oo

[John Harding]

quote :

Or should i just try to sell him the logo on a cd and send him on his way

:yes1:

stick to what you know

just my twoppence worth 😀

[Liam Pattison]

Thanks all for your advice,
That website looks good Harry. From now on, every job i do i’m going to show them an example business card i’ve drawn up and say, ‘this is what you could have’. If my design is good enough, they will be tempted.

Thanks

Liam

[Harry Cleary]

It has turned into a lucrative sideline for me Liam, easy when you get to grips with supplying the artwork. Especially when you have done the logo design already. Show the whole pack….letterhead, compliment slip, business card and invoice book, a lot will go for it.

[Liam Pattison]

quote Liam Pattison:

i’m going to show them an example business card i’ve drawn up and say, ‘this is what you could have’. If my design is good enough, they will be tempted.

”If you build it, they will come” – Filed of dreams, starring Kevin Costner (and Waynes World 2)

[Phill Fenton]

Good question Liam and something I have wondered about.

As signmakers we often produce original artwork which later gets used for letterheads and business cards. I have given away artwork on numerous occasions but have questioned myself should I offer this service also?

I have never gone down this route as I have connections with other small businesses that do provide this service and who often refer their clients to me, I in return refer their enquiries to them. This "reciprocal" business would obviously be lost if I decided to provide an "in house" one stop shop covering all bases.

But then again – as Harry says it has turned into a lucrative sideline for him so why not?

[Arslan mostefa kara]

I agree with you on this many times I turned the clients away because I don’t do business cards. at the start I gave the job to a friend who has a printing business. first I had to design a card send it via e-mail and then go and collect it, to much work and lost of time for Little money.
but if you think this way when you go to a big supermarket you can buy food , drinks a TV , DVD; cloth, D.I. Y … etc

in my opinion if I invest on digital printing machine + heat press then I will probably capt more costumers , as we sing makers sell corporate image for businesses, so you provide every thing they need from designs logos, sings, working cloth , business cards, flayers, lettering a vehicle and more things
when the client think of advertising then they will think of you.
or maybe not? this is the way I think it will work.
good example 2 weeks a go a new company called and ask me for design a logo and for a business center
so I took the job as last month was not busy for me. so I designed the logo, the cards , letterheads, a sign, and vehicle. I put that on a PDF and sent them, the next day I get a call to go and meet them.
the result was
1000 business cards
1 sign 400 cm x 70 cm
1 sign 330 cm x 70 cm
1 sign 150 cm x 100 cm
and more work coming from them in the future

regards

Arslan

[Martin Pearson]

Phill you could still use the same printer but ask them for a small discount as you are sending a lot of business their way, then charge the customer their going rate so you make something for your time and don’t lose any business they might send your way. You would also be able to keep a tighter control over any artwork you wanted to that way as well.

You wouldn’t make as much profit as you would if you used a trade printer obviously but only you know just how much business they send your way.

[Chris Windebank]

Go for it Liam, I usually design the client a card from the logo created and use Aubergine print. These cards are laminated and about 28.00, very good quality. For an extra couple of quid (extra tenner) I buy double the amount and hold in stock as their first 250 seem to run out quick and you can re sell them to the client.

If you have a print/cut machine running knock out a dozen labels too, they love them

[Gary Birch]

The problem we have is when we are really busy we just don’t have the time to be fussed with business cards and just refer them to our printer anyway. I agree they are great little add ons if you have the time for them though.

Cheers

Gary

[Alan Drury]

Tacking sidelines onto the sign business has proved very profitable for me, garments and ever increasing amounts of printing stationery. I also use Caralan for letterheads and general stuff, sign up as a reseller and send a Corel Draw or PDF for extra discounts. Even though they are web based you can speak to them and they will guide you through the process. I do prefer Aubergine for cards though but that’s mainly because I’ve always used them for cards in the past.

Alan D

[Tim Painter]

http://www.multicolourprint.com
http://www.rcs.plc.uk/start.asp

Both do trade.

[Cheryl Smith]

One really, really important point when doing business cards, letter heads, invoices etc etc…do a print copy and get the customer to CHECK it THOROUGHLY and then sign off on it.
I made a 1000 business cards with web addy .com not .co.uk…customer checked, said it was okay, they were printed before he spotted the error…denied it was his fault and cancelled the order!! left me out of pocket….not only that…two hours later someone rang and asked if I did sign writing, business cards and letterheads, I (feeling still a bit sore) said no just the sign writing. He then said he wanted someone who did the lot and hung up….Ive been kicking myself ever since….
GET A HARD COPY SIGNED OFF. (hmm)

[Martin Pearson]

Cheryl, I do that with all my work, started doing it after a takeaway owner refused to pay because there were a couple of spelling mistakes on his menu board. Thing that annoyed me the most was that I had copied it directly from his printed menu which he assured me had been checked and was correct.

[Cheryl Smith]

I learnt the hard way..but rest assured it certainly wont happen again.
I have only just dabbled in the business card side of things…but ill be offering it as a service…

[Lorraine Clinch]

I had several enquiries in succession, for customers who I was doing signs/vehicles for. I have always said no in the past, but I had to order a load of cards for here and for the pub, and the process was so easy, that I did theirs too. Trouble is, that everyone in my area wants them for nothing, so I used Vistaprint. They turned out really well, I just warned the customers that their cards would be the same quality as mine, and they were quite happy.
Mind you, I am still waiting for 3 deliverys from Vistaprint, I reckon the Post Office has them somewhere!

[Matt Boyd]

sub it out mate, that’s what i do. i did some business cards/logos today and will be sending them off to the local printer who only sells to the trade and gives an outstanding service and price! i design the card and or logos and i send the final approved file to the printer, job done!