Business Cards for Bloggers

I often have a hard time answering the question, “What do you do?”

I do many things. And I love the things I do. I primarily stay home with my kids. However, I also blog, I design sewing patterns for my own label, I run a currated pattern shop, I design for Pattern Anthology… But to the average person, none of those answers make much sense. If I share any of those answers I usually hear either, “oh how fun” or “how did you start doing that?” And usually theirs an air of confusion. But, those are the things I do.

And so I had a difficult time with my recent business cards. How does one put all that on a card?

You can’t.

What to put on your blogger business card

When someone (a potential sponsor, another blogger, etc) first looks at your card, it should say something about you and your blog. It should be pleasing to look at and, hopefully, memorable. But beyond that, what do you write on it?

1. Your name. 
2. Your web address. Where can they get online to see you?
3. Contact info. Email is traditionally preferred by bloggers as a form of communication but you can also add a phone number and social media handles. 

Honorable Mention. Tag lines or short blog descriptions are nice if your design doesn’t indicate what your blog is about.

What you should NOT put on your business card

This is all debatable, of course. But this is my two cents.

• Glitter. Just don’t. I know you love glitter like it’s your third child but I seriously hate glitter and will throw away your card.
• QR Codes. Do you ever check those? Me either. And they take up space and look so 2009.
• ALL your social media accounts. Choose the best and let them find the rest on your blog.
• A lot of words. Keep it simple! Let the design speak for you.

I decided to put my photo (wearing the Casual Lady) on the front of the card. I’ve got so many sites and things going on I really want people to begin to recognize my face and name and connect those with my sites. That’s why I also put my AndreaPannell.com site as the primary web address. People can go there and find out about all the different aspects of my business rather than just one little portion.

I also included 4 other URLs. They ended up a bit small but I don’t really mind. I wanted to let people know I’m multifaceted but I really do want them to go to AndreaPannell.com first.

I also included my primary email address and my phone number (redacted here).

I left off social media. I’m not sure if that was wise. I probably should have at least included instagram. Though they’ll find all that info on my site easily.

Let’s talk about design

There are some incredibly creative bloggers who do some amazing things with their business cards. From letterpress to embossing, unique shapes/materials, adding DIY details, and more, the possiblitities are endless. Just make sure the design you choose speaks about you and your blog.

Some of my favorite business cards I’ve seen:

Mike and Alma do this well. It makes an impact, says everything you need to know to figure out what they do and how to contact them.

DIY block printing by Design Bright. If your blog is DIY/design this might be a good way for you to go.

The use of letterpress and negative space is what attracts you to this card. Sometimes we forget about the impact of negative space or even the lack of color. As in the “hello”.

Craft paper is a great paper for blogger business cards. I love the way the white ink on craft paper looks.

Using unusual shapes can be memorable and cute. Just keep in mind that people have to store these or carry them somehow.

Where to buy business cards

I’ve purchased business cards at 3 different online printers previously. My favorite is Moo. I’ve been consistently pleased with the quality. Here’s what I ordered:

• Classic (standard) weight
• Rounded corners
• Matte (as opposed to gloss)

These are a sufficiently thick, sturdy card. I love the matte though some people love gloss. Go with what you love!

A few other sites that I considered ordering from:

Vista Print– inexpensive

Minted– lovely design and quality

JukeBox– great materials and quality

 What do you like to see on a business card?