Steve PMHOne of the best ways to have a notable music career is to make sure your music is heard by as many people as possible. This is the only way to amass a large following of fans and rise up the charts.
There are many ways to achieve this. You can use regular social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook, or rely on specialty services like Soundcloud and Bandcamp.
There are also musicians who mix up physical music distribution to music shops with online music distribution to try and create networks and grow themselves. All these are solid ways of getting your name out there.
Aside from these, you can also use business cards to try and build connections within the music industry. Business cards are great because they provide a unique way of introducing yourself to new contacts.
The best part is that today, you do not have to go through the hustle of finding a designer, getting them to draft out a design for your card, making changes to that, then sending them to the print shop to be printed before getting the final copies a few weeks later. That used to be extremely hectic, expensive, and time-consuming.
Things have changed these days. With companies like Zazzle, Vistaprint, and Moo, getting your business cards printed has never been easier. Here is an in-depth look at these companies and what they have to offer.
Zazzle
Zazzle is an American-based online marketplace that acts as a platform for designers and other users to craft their own products such as clothing, posters, and cards with independent manufacturers. The users can also buy designed products from the various companies involved. In this way, it is also an e-retailer platform.
Zazzle connects designers with customers, allowing them to customize ready-made products according to the customers’ specifications.
It offers a lot of personalization options of practical aspects, digital printing and embroidery decoration on their retail items.
The company has an interesting background, where the idea behind it was born in a garage. Bobby Beaver, Jeffrey Beaver and Robert Beaver teamed up to start the company in 2005. Since then, it has expanded massively, even receiving funds from investors like John Doerr and Ram Shriram from Google.
The company is located in Redwood City, California.
Key features of Zazzle
Detailed designing and printing of products.
Zazzle, being a marketplace connecting customers and designers, offers a wide array of product customization opportunities.
When it comes to business card design, Zazzle has creative designers who have a lot of experience in this niche. They will come up with stunning business card designs that will make your music career shine.
Additionally, apart from just designing the business card, Zazzle goes the extra mile and links you up with third party companies who can have the cards printed and delivered to you.
How does it work?
To use Zazzle, you first have to either opt-in as a gig provider or a customer.
You can opt to provide a service either as a designer, maker or as an associate.
- If you are a designer, you’ll get to sell your craft in the marketplace under the Zazzle Designer Program.
- If you are a maker and you create physical products and manufacture them, Zazzle enables you to promote and sell them via the Zazzle Maker Program.
- Another money-making option is the associate program. This allows you to earn by sharing links through the Zazzle Associate Program as you campaign for and promote Zazzle.
To use Zazzle, you first need to register by creating an account.
With a free account, log in and set up a Zazzle store.
If you are a musician looking to create your business cards with Zazzle, all you have to do is navigate to the business card product category and find an option that impresses you. You will then have to place an order and pay for it. Zazzle will then take over from there and get the business cards designed and printed for you.
Prices and plans
There are no specific set prices for the products on Zazzle. All designers set their own prices and you have to select the one that suits you as a buyer. The prices also vary widely depending on the specific category you need.
Additionally, Zazzle has different prices depending on whether you are a designer, maker or associate. No listing fees or monthly fees are charged by the platform.
If you are a maker, a total of 30% of the net sale is collected for a single product that you’ll sell to a customer. This, however, does not apply to designers and associates.
Pros
- As a designer, Zazzle helps you earn a royalty on your personal craft.
- Zazzle gives you the opportunity to get custom-made business cards from professional designers for cheap
- When you purchase a design from Zazzle, you can use it for any purpose you would like and you are not limited to Zazzle or the specific card design
- Prompt feedback for their customers through their support team.
Cons
- Zazzle outsources an ordered product to be printed by other companies which can lead to quality control issues
- Sometimes, although this happens very rarely, orders might be delivered late
Vistaprint
Vistaprint is a Dutch universal e-commerce marketing software providing digital printing and physical products fulfilling the requirements of individuals and small businesses.
What made this software stand out at its establishment decades ago was its ability to offer the users interactive desktop publishing, a service that was almost unheard of back then.
Vistaprint was launched in 1999 with Robert Keane as the founder. It is based in Venlo, Netherlands and is owned by Cimpress N.V. It boasts of having more than 5,100 employees worldwide. In the US, it has its offices in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Vistaprint is a great company that allows you to use a set of intuitive design tools that will allow you to build marketing tools, modify templates and post existing designs.
Key feature of Vistaprint
Product customization and marketing.
Vistaprint guarantees your satisfaction by allowing you to customize its products and making them appealing to you. If you are a musician and you order a business card, Vistaprint will automatically present you with themes conforming to your existing branding for you to have a starting point from which you can start working.
The customization themes presented for your business cards are improvised at per with your existing branding. This gives your music career a new and appealing look but remains in line with your brand.
This, in turn, boosts and promotes you, allowing you to establish networks and connections by remaining consistent.
How does it work?
To benefit from the services of Vistaprint, you first have to visit their website and sign up to create an account.
Once you have your account, look at the available templates and try to find one that suits you. It is absolutely free to do this. You will then have to select a design that you like, then tweak it a bit if you want by adding a few extra quotations or pictures.
With that done, you can now save your design. There are four options to select the quality of paper; recycled, glossy, basic cardstock and premium matte. You will be needed to choose from one of the four options before proceeding to the next step and placing your order.
Vistaprint will then take over and have your order printed and sent to you.
Once you have placed an order and it is successfully delivered to you, you can sign up for their mailing list. This will allow Vistaprint to notify you via email on all products that may be on offer or are free.
Pricing and plans of Vistaprint
Pricing depends on printing material, size, quantity and shipping options.
Typically, the standard business card design price starts at $7.99.
Pros
- You can order a free sampler of all their products for familiarization purposes.
- Occasionally offers discounts, promos, and deals.
- Easy to use and has pocket-friendly prices.
- Offer ready to use templates which are convenient for editing and customization.
- Possible to cancel an order.
- For business card products, you are granted free delivery and shipping.
Cons
- The fact that the templates are free means your design can be adopted by a competitor.
Moo
Moo is an online printing and designing company that aims to digitize old school business cards.
Moo stands out because its printed business cards are fixed with communication chips, which transforms them into launch pads for your music demo, social media platforms or whatever you wish to display to the online community.
Besides business cards, Moo also offers other similar printable products for individuals and both small and large businesses.
Moo was founded by Richard Moross in September 2006. The headquarters are located in London, England. It serves a global audience having about six office locations across the UK and the US.
Key features of Moo
Multiple paper stock options and multiple graphics
Moo offers a variety of card stock choices making them flexible and suitable for any project that you may wish to undertake. For instance, there is a card stock option specifically dedicated to musicians that has been optimized for personal branding purposes.
Moo has a team of designers that make it their personal duty to develop mind-blowing designs and graphics tailored to meet your specific requirements. For musicians, this means that these designers will thoroughly do their homework on you and find out as much as they can about who you are, where your career is, and what your aspirations are, before translating that information into customized business cards that magnificently represent who you are as an artist.
How does Moo work?
If you want to use Moo, you will first have to visit their website and sign up to create an account.
You will be able to create an account via email or you can opt to utilize your Facebook credentials. Once you have created an account, have a look at the business card design services they provide and select the one you prefer.
Pick a template and draft out the design you want. You will be able to design and customize the blank template as you wish. When you finish working on the design or alternatively having a pro do it for you, you can now upload the complete layout, save and place an order.
Pricing and plans
Account creation and any activity that you carry out on the site before you place an order is absolutely free.
The least price on Moo is $19.99 for 50 cards.
Prices also vary depending on the paper used to print the cards, where there are original business cards billing at $19.99 for 50 cards and cotton business cards billing at $26.99.
Prices also depend on other tools you may like, for example, the special finish bills at $41.99 for 50 cards.
The size of the paper is also a determining factor and charges range from $19.99 to $59.99. There are other tools like letterpress business cards going at $59.99 for 50 cards and NFC business cards billing at $29.99 for 20 cards.
Pros
- Vast selection of business cards to choose from
- Has a Printfinity option, which allows you to upload up to 50 varying designs to be printed.
- Credible and legitimate service provision, complete with a follow up to make sure you are satisfied.
Cons
- Moo is a little bit costly compared to other design and printing companies.
Verdict
Zazzle, Vistaprint, and Moo are great options if you are looking to print your music business cards.
As a musician, you need to seriously consider utilizing the power of business cards as a way of building and expanding your connections and growing your career. Zazzle, Vistaprint, Moo will definitely make perfect partners that will help you do exactly that.
