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Expert Answers to Biz Questions Listen in! Pick up some expert advice to a reader's question that we selected from CyberSchmooz. The Biz Question 5 Unique Materials To Use For Your Business Cards Answer from our Guest Expert Rick Murphy More often than not, business cards are printed on some form of card stock and not state your details and point of contact, they serve as a memory aid and should make a first impression that is long lasting. If you have the budget, try thinking outside the square and use unusual materials for your business card design. You will be creating a WOW factor that will impact on your recipient and make you hard to forget. 1. Xray Film Xray film is becoming a thing of the past with most radiologists choosing to email their results and findings to other practitioners rather than handing over the film. A Debt Recovery Agent has used xray film to create some very original looking business cards. The cards have an xray of a hand with a broken finger on it, along with his details. His message when he leaves the card is clear and simple, 'If you don't pay I'll break your bones. Here's the xray of my last client's hand'. Probably not a card you'd want to be given. 2. Foil Wrapper Choko la is a chain of boutique cafes throughout India. They produce divine chocolates, desserts, pastries and designer cakes. They also have an online store of handmade artisan chocolates so it only seems fitting that their business card is printed on the inside of a chocolate wrapper. Unwrap this delectably silky smooth chocolate ball to reveal Chokola's contact details. It doesn't get much better than this. 3. Wooden Board Fifth Floor Art Gallery have chosen to play on words with their business cards. They are made from thin wooden board with a diecut logo design and etched out text. Cards don't need to be printed with ink, anything is possible providing you have the budget to go with your unique ideas. 4. Metal Whilst researching this topic, I came across a lot of businesses that are using metal as business cards with embossed contact information. One Canadian bicycle company have a card that has many uses. Not only does it fit in your wallet and provide the particulars of the shop but it lets you adjust the bolts and spokes on your bike as well as doubling up as a bottle opener. 5. Balloon Something as simple as a white balloon can be used to create an inventive business card. A chest physician printed his contact details onto a balloon and they were only legible once the balloon was inflated, therefore demonstrating how important it is to have healthy lungs. More and more owners are using business cards to express the image and personality of their companies. It's clear to see that cards are not restricted to just paper and with a little imagination just about any material can be embossed, etched or engraved. About our Guest Expert: Rick Murphy Rick Murphy is a writer associated with debtconsolidationcare[dot]com. He holds his expertise in the debt industry and has made significant contributions to the field through his various articles. To get more debt related help visit: http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/debt-settlement.html Have a biz question of your own? Go post it in CyberSchmooz Meet the Experts Enter your search terms Submit search form       Search Idea Cafe Web Small Business Tax Center • Idea Cafe Home • Sign Up • Biz Grant Center • CyberSchmooz •Coffee Talk with Experts • People in Biz Profiles • Starting Your Biz • Biz Planning • Running Your Biz • FREE Trade Publications • Marketing • Financing Your Biz • Human Resources • Legal & Biz Forms • Managing Your Biz • eCommerce • You and Your Biz • Gen X • Work@Home • The Fridge • De-Stress • Send an Award • Send an eGreeting • Yoga @ Your Desk • Web Guide • Idea Cafe in the News • About Idea Cafe • Advertise on Idea Cafe • Contact Us • Privacy Policy • Site Map • Small Biz News Copyright 1995-2024, Idea Cafe Inc. Downloads are for personal use only, not for resale to others, and may not be reprinted in any form without written permission from Idea Cafe Inc. DISCLAIMER: We hope whatever you find on this site is helpful, but be cautioned that it may not apply to your own situation, or be totally current at any given time. Idea Cafe Inc. and all of its current and past experts, sponsors, advertisers, agents, contractors and advisors disclaim all warranties with regard to anything found anywhere on this family of websites, quoted from, or sent from Idea Cafe. and its related sites, publications and companies. We also take no responsibility for comments published by others on these pages. TRADEMARKS: The following are Registered Trademarks or Servicemarks of DevStart, Inc.: Idea Cafe®, Online Coffee Break®, The Small Business Gathering Place®, Take out Info®, Biz Bar & Grill®, Complaint-O-Meter®, A Fun Approach to Serious Business™, CyberSchmooz™, and BizCafe™.