Most people advertise by pinning their business cards to a cork board or shoving them in a generic business card holder. However, you’re a visionary entrepreneur and such old-fashioned business card advertising methods just won’t do! Instead, you hunger for something unique that makes your business cards stand out from the rest, possibly something a little like this:

Card Cues

Business owner Mark Picard writes,

I like using [Card Cues] because they’re an inexpensive and quality (thick and glossy) solution. I’ve been hanging business cards on local bulletin boards for years and one of the problems is when a perspective customer comes along and takes the card… my advertising on the board is gone. With these things, I can stuff 35-40 cards in the holder and have them hanging on a bulletin board (in roughly the same footprint as 2-3 cards) where they’ll KEEP advertising for me even AFTER a bunch of potential customers have taken a card. If nothing else, I don’t have to keep revisiting the same bulletin boards a few times a week to pin more individual cards up. But besides the time savings – I really think I’ve garnered more work because of them.

The Business Card-Business Card Display

Software developer Ned Batchelder created a tutorial that shows you how to make a business card cube out of existing business cards. Unfortunately, you have to waste a few business cards to make the cube, but at least you don’t have to actually buy any additional items (you could always use some old business cards to make the box).

The Nintendo NES Controller Business Card Display

Unfortunately, Etsy seller lostmitten sold out of these creative business card displays in May of 2007, but who knows what a little begging and pleading might get you. Plus if you’re really ambitious, you could put your own spin on the design and make your own custom display out of perler beads or Legos.

The Vintage 80’s Action Figure Business Card Display

Designer and Flickr user chesterfly came up with the interesting idea of using Prince Adam’s alter ego (a.k.a. He-Man) as a business card holder. You could dig through your old junk or take a trip to the local thrift store in the hopes of finding your favorite childhood action figure (where’s that die cast Voltron when you need it) and putting it to work. Of course, this idea may not be feasible in certain situations but it’s a unique solution nonetheless.

The Japanese Papercraft Business Card Display

Lenore Edman’s Japanese Papercraft box tutorial has all the information you’ll need to create your own custom business card display box. Although this particular design is a bit more labor intensive, it is completely customizable to match your company’s logo and branding.

The Eco-Friendly Reused Business Card Display

Artist and PhD Design student Rebecca Stern designed her business card holder out of corrugated cardboard, which should appeal to customers with a love for eco-friendliness and reuse. There are no instructions for building the holder, but according to Rebecca,

It’s basically just one piece that wraps around and has a slit in it, then a bottom and another little shelf for the top section; nothing too fancy. The pieces have tabs which made it easier to glue them together.

Again, this design is completely customizable and there is also a “Leave Yours” slot where potential customers and fellow business owners can leave their business card for networking and collaboration.

The Paint Chip Business Card Display

Fellow blogger tango! has created a template and tutorial for making your own business card holder out of the free paint chips that you find at home improvement stores. Just about any thick paper can be used so the design can be easily modified to suit your needs.

The Retro Cassette Tape Business Card Display

This particular design by stylist, DJ, and radio producer Liz is actually a business card holder, yet the potential for modifying the design into a business card display is why it was picked. Other possible items that can be fashioned into a business card display are old floppy disks, 8-tracks, or vinyl records (can be molded into different shapes with a hot iron)

The Nucleus Business Card Display

Flickr user lenkodesign has a prototype for a simple and contemporary business card display that is made from 9 gauge silver rod. According to the designer,

This product is designed to be produced in batches by people with limited skills. The design is an exonomical product to produce and is aimed for the corporate market. Value is added through design. The product is made simply by using a set of three jigs for bending. Materials are 300mm of 9 guage silver rod and 5mm rubber balls

The Custom Paper Toy Business Card Display

Designer and cartoonist Matt Hawkins created the C3 business card holder for his department at work. The body of the robot opens up and acts as additional business card storage. Although this particular item is a one of a kind creation, you could try getting in contact with Matt to see if he would be willing to implement a custom design for your own business card display.

The Retro Couch Business Card Display

Etsy seller Posh Pretties has been making and selling polymer clay items for over a year, and she is more than willing to try her hand at custom orders.

The Cork Business Card Display

Last but not least, Etsy seller narchi created this simple business card display out of cork. As with several of the designs above, this is an eco-friendly alternative that is easily customizable.

In Conclusion…

By now you’re either inspired to put your own spin on a unique business card display, or you’re overwhelmed by all your options and will instead opt for a regular display. Regardless, using your business card to advertise your business is something that is easy and inexpensive to do so be sure to take advantage of any opportunity to make your business cards and business card display stand out from the rest!

So what do you think, do you have any ideas or tips for a unique business card display? If so, feel free to leave a comment!

Sincerely,
The Closet Entrepreneur

» This entry was filed under Advice and tagged with: advertising, bootstrapping, businesscards, recycling