I simply could not resist posting this because it illustrates a principle better than words ever could. There have been several threads about biz cards here and I have often pointed out that cards are such a small expense that it isn't worth the risk of going cheap. But now it's time to lighten the mood and just have some fun.

This is an actual card I just found, I blocked out names and numbers to protect the guilty. You would think by looking at this that it was in a wallet and had been there for months, maybe even run through the wash. Not so. It was in a stack, so the only abuse was some occasional moving around of the entire stack while avoiding going through the stack for proper filing (am I the only one who does this?).

I was going to pitch it, but thought I would post it here so we could all have a laugh and demonstrate that any business whose card looks this bad can forget about success. Aside from ugly design, it's barely legible. Perhaps the mods can create a new category called "Ways to kill your business" or "Don't let this happen to you." LOL.

junkcard.jpg

Aside from all sarcasm and funny stories about unprofessional business practices being invited, maybe some other members here have bad cards to share. Be sure to block out identfying info, we wouldn't want to actually promote bad business.

They were all that bad?

yikes. looks like an inkjet card to me.

If I understand your question, Joe, no, only this one was bad. The rest in the stack were fine. This one was obviously cheap printing because the printing was rubbed off as if I had done something to abuse it. If anything, the stack should have protected it since it gets rubbed more from shuffling through a biz card file.

Oh ok, it just looks like it got wet or something. That's pretty bad.

And he handed it to you like this?

Corey, if it had looked like this when I got it, I would have filed it sooner in the place where it is now filed (it could come back in its next life as a good biz card since I recycle). It is just plain bad quality. It didn't look like an ink jet job, but I guess I can't rule that out.

Did it have UV coating? Before I was in the printing business I used a local printer who was not cheap. I would occasionally get a few bad cards out of an order of 200.

Funny quality.

What about the quality of the service provided by the card owner? Do you remember what was it?

If it had UV coating, it would not look this way. UV coating is probably not needed anyway, at least if the printing quality is good. There are ways other than UV for quality biz cards, but for a bumper sticker, UV is a great idea.

As for the service of the card owner, I would expect either good quality or business failure. A card like this though doesn't instill any confidence. The owner loses a chance to prove himself once the card is thrown away (by now, that card should be in recycle heaven and it's memory is only kept alive in this thread).