Wednesday, February 20, 2013

The Educators Guide to Designing Your Business Cards

By Dr. Will

Educators, like every professional, need business cards. Even in this digital age the business card is the still the standard individual professional marketing tool. Whether you are at a conference or meeting parents or happen to cross the path of someone you want to stay in contact with, you need a business card to present yourself as a professional. The following are three quick tips for designing your business cards. 

Contact Information

Do include your first and last name, phone number, email address, blog, and about.me page (If you don't have one, get one). In addition, don't forget to include your current title such as Fourth Grade Teacher or District Technology Director. And being that this is the digital age, feel free to embed a QR Code on your business cards. They are a great way to lead people to your online content. 

Design

Business cards come in all shapes and sizes. You can get the traditional business cards, the mini cards, the horizontal ones and the vertical ones. You can also choose from all types of paper and looks. From matte to gloss to 100% cotton to recycled paper to the traditional card stock, you can make your business cards as unique as you are.

When it comes to the design itself, keep it simple and clean. Don't over do it with graphics or color schemes. You don't want your business cards to be too busy for the eye to quickly recognize what is on your card. Don't overload your business cards with contact information. You may be on every social networking site in existence, but only put one or two on your business cards. Remember the idea is to keep your cards clean.

My favorite cards are the ones with a photograph of the person. Not only do they prominently feature the individual, creating a solid branding statement; business cards with a photograph are clean and helps the person you handed the card to to remember the two of you meeting.

Amanda Pelsor is an amazing designer. Not only did she design a banner for this blog; she designed my business cards.


Messaging

This element of the card is your branding statement. Think “digital learning tour guide” or "connected web 2.0 leader”. What this does is present your value proposition. In other words, it is a way to sell people on what you bring to the table. As antithetical a branding statement may sound to the mission of an educator, it is needed and very useful in leaving a imprint in people's mind about the kind of educator you are. 

Let me know if the tips were helpful to you in any way. Feel free to share your own ideas and/or post a pic of your business card for others to see. 

Check out more of Amanda's design skills: 



You can connect with Amanda on Twitter: @misspelsor.

15 comments:

  1. Or, you could just display or offer to share your personal QR code that would take your guest to your site.

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  2. Great thought Cherisse- I still think design is everything, though.

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  3. Cherise, my business cards have my contact info and a QR code that takes people to my about.me page.

    Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.

    Will

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  4. Leah,

    Appreciate your comment on G+. Thanks for reading the post and for leaving a comment. Glad the post resonated with some folks. Didn't know what to expect.

    Thanks,

    Will

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  5. Hello Mr. Deyamport, my name is Brandy Douglas. I am a student in EDM310 at The University of South Alabama. I never thought about teachers using a business card. That is a wonderful idea. I will defiantly use a business card when I become a teacher. Thanks for the idea and tips.

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  6. Nice work Will. As you know i'm a big fan of Moo.com business cards. I think the quality of their business cards is superb. My only tip for the people is, please, oh please do not print out your own business cards. As Will mentioned, business cards represent who you are, your brand. Printing them at home usually result in a flimsy card. One of the first things I like to do is check the sturdiness of the card.

    Your Ambassador,
    Mike Ambassador Bruny

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  7. Brandy,

    Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment on my blog. Glad you found the post to be useful to you as a future educator.

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  8. Mike,

    Thanks for checking out my post and leaving a comment. Moo is a nice company. I love the thickness and quality of the paper as well as the unique business card designs that are available.

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  9. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. Do you have a favorite business card design?

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    Replies
    1. Yes. My favorite business card design is my own card design.,Lol xxx.
      I think everyone has their own card design most favorite.

      Delete
  10. Business cards are a professional marketing tool. This is so true. Even in the digital age we live in, people still look for and appreciate business cards. And in deciding how your business card will look, design and appearance are as important as your contact details and other information. It must be a balance of both. Thank you for posting this, Will! Emedia Creative

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