Just recently I went to order some business cards. I had no idea as to what I wanted I just knew that I had to have some. I was absolutely staggered as to the array of samples that I saw. I was still thinking of a plain card with my details on it. When I started looking it was a case of the more I see the harder it got, there were photographic cards, cards printed full colour on both sides, CD cards, embossed cards, laser cards with holograms and a multitude of different ideas.

Fortunately I stumbled on a company that really held my hand, they asked me some questions and said that they would organise the artwork for a small fee. When I explained that I wanted something sort of spiritual to reflect my line of business, the graphics guy said "I know what we can do," and he went outside with a digital camera and took a photo of the clouds. He showed me the photo and said that will be a great background and it will always remind you of us. As it happens it was a fantastic photo and I decided to let him design something around it. It was then that I learnt the value of using both sides of the card. The designer said that it would be good to put my message on one side and my details on the other. I had never seen this before so I just let him do as he wanted. I was a little worried as to how much this was going to cost, so I said that I would call back later, giving myself a chance to get some quotes.

I spent the afternoon ringing around to get an idea of the costs. I could not believe the variance in price, I was quoted for 1000 cards between $99AUD plus gst to $165AUD +gst and if I wanted full colour on both sides it would be an additional $50AUD+gst. Everyone said that artwork and design would be extra.

Armed with this information I went back to my original company and asked them what the cost would be, he said that for one side it would be $69 and an extra $30 to print full colour on the back.

The amazing thing was that he was so sure I would come back he had virtually done the design. I was very impressed and placed my order. The point of this is to let you know that there is an awful lot of things going on in business with technology, and if you do not listen to people in the know, you will get left behind. When I saw my cards I was thrilled, it made me feel ten feet tall, they looked so professional, they had laminated both sides and rounded the corners to make it look like a credit card. The moral of the story is to have a good look round and see the advancements in card design and then get a quote from at least three people, as the price difference is outstanding.

Good Hunting and good luck in making your statement.

Croz is a motivational speaker and mentor. His specialist subject is writing De-Stress programmes. His website is http://www.croz.com.au The company that looked after him with his cards was http://www.oztz.com.au

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