As many of you know, I am the founder and organizer of the Show Me the Blog Social Media and Blogging Conference which is partaking in its second annual gathering this year. I decided to order business cards for myself and for my Communications Director, Kim, because we needed to separate this enterprise from our other blogs and businesses.
Zazzle is my go-to place for ordering cards, so I went into the task of creating the cards online with our logo and entering the correct information. I placed my order and went about my business. That was, until it hit me that I didn’t add an important vital piece of information on the business card.
I forgot to add an email address!
Of course it was too late for me to add it. Once you approve the card and issue payment, there is no way to correct the problem. So last week, our cards arrived sans email address.
I am the one who, as a consultant, chastises my clients for having incorrect information on their business cards. Who really takes scratched out, pen edited business cards (and the people that hand them out) seriously? And here I was, being guilty of doing the same thing. Tsk tsk tsk.
So what is the moral of this story?
Make sure your business cards have all of the correct information on it BEFORE you order your them.
As for our cards, Kim and I are going to use them until they run out; then of course, the next order will be RIGHT! Thank goodness I only ordered 200!
Do you have any business card stories you’d like to share? Utilize the comment section below and let’s chat!
Don’t you just HATE when that happens. You think that you have dotted all of your i’s and crossed your t’s, yet you still forget one little thing. I love the way you are handling it, though; as not crying over spilled milk. I’ll remember this when I get my business cards created. Great Post!
Kamylle, I have to chalk it up to doing too many things at one time. I should’ve taken my time to focus on making the cards. Instead I rushed trying to complete the task, and this is what happens when you do that. I have indeed learned my lesson. 🙂 Thanks for commenting.
When I do business cards, brochures etc, I write them out, go over them and make sure they are right, and walk away for a day or two, go back and proof read and it never fails there is always a mistake and you will see it immediately. This way you can take the time to correct your mistakes before sending your material to the printer. This works for me!!
Sinaca, those are very great tips and believe me, next time I will be utilizing them before I make another costly mistake like I did this time. You live and you learn. Thanks for commenting 🙂
I’ve done something similar – made a mistake in my email address, so it was just as bad as omitting it completely! 🙁
What’s worse is that I once reordered my business cards without removing an old site and replacing it with my NEW one! 🙁
Really, I need to proofread my own material as carefully as I do for clients!
Always ask someone else to look it over. They may have a completely different perception of your cards’ design and/or notice a mistake. I use gotprint.com Super cheap & very high quality. On their website you can order a completely free sample set & they’ll mail you a whole packet of their different products so you can see the different qualities, finishes, etc.
My card is a “slim card” so it is 1.75″x3.5″ not the typical 2×3.5. It may not sound like much, bet it definitely helps stick out from a pile of cards.
I agree 110% w/ Dillon, Have someone else look them over. I have a major typo on my cards. I ordered 1000 of them. The typo wasn’t noticed until I handed out the 210th card. Luckily it is on the back of the card and most people do not notice or say anything at all about it. I just wish I asked someone else to proofread.
Danyelle, I don’t have a business card story, but I wanted to comment on how clever I thought your graphic was. It’s instantly recognizable because it juxtaposes two cultural icons, the word “fail” on the Ford oval. Then there are the readers who say Ford is short for Found On Road Dead. The graphic will especially resonate with them. Susan
Great blog post and excellent comments. Like others who commented here, I like to put my draft aside and come back to it. Also, having a second set of eyes is extremely helpful. That’s a great time to utilize the communications director. 🙂
wow, reading you guys horror stories makes me happy that I have yet to have one. Yes, that was me bragging. lol
I have yet to experience anything like this. I don’t have much to add on my cards, so that maybe why. I guess once I’m more advanced I’ll make sure I take a day or two before putting in that order. But that’s terrible Danyelle.
To make lemonade from lemons, perhaps print out tiny labels with email addresses. Stick them on the bottm of card or on the back? I loe my Dymo label printer hat types things at different fonts and creates uniform sizes/cuts, etc. I guess you could do the same with teeny tiny printer labels
The current governor of Illinois who was the former Lt. Governor of Illinois used all of his old cards but blacked out the Lt. part. I appreciate a person on a budget but I just thought that was way too cheap.
I’ve made mistakes such as yours where I left off my email address and even phone number. Which is odd because I was once in the business of making business cards and letter heads.
Oooh ouch! I just saw this post :(. I’ve had bcards I didn’t like or an excess of ones that didn’t have all the information I wanted on them (i.e. my Facebook fan page that I just added Dec 2010). I print my own at home and have found a stock that I love so making corrections is easier that way.