Poll: Do you have your own business cards? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you have your own business cards?".
View the poll results »
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Denmark
Local time: 12:22
Danish to English
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| Yeah, and private ones, too | Jun 17, 2015 |
Like Chris, I 'made my own' using the same site... but only for my private 'business cards'. For my business business cards, I had a proper graphic designer do the work... and the result is better and completely unique. Trouble is, I hardly ever have a chance or reason to give out my business cards... Not sure they were worth the money now...
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neilmac
Spain
Local time: 12:22
Spanish to English
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Not really. I used to have some, but I don't really need them any more. However, it's always handy to have something with your contact details on it, so I might get some made again sometime.
I was going to get some done about a year ago but only because I had to park outside a small printer's shop while waiting for someone. And if I do eventually get round to it, it won't be because I'm trying to drum up custom, as these days I'm up to my ears in work most of the time.
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Yetta J Bogarde wrote:
who has not?
I wouldn't know who to give them to, as I hardly ever meet any customer, prospect or colleague. I suppose I have the entry "making business cards" in my to-do list, but its priority rank is so low that I never seem to get there.
Of course if I were meeting customers face-to-face, the priority rank would shoot up.
To make sure that I didn't need any, I vistaprinted a pile some years ago, and as expected, most of them ended up as creative construction design and folding art from my descendants and myself. Plus I had to think hard to bring them with me just in case they could be relevant.
And then I moved to another country, so it was eventually used as lighting aids for barbecues.
Speaking of which, the scene in the film "American psycho" is a real delight (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cISYzA36-ZY ).
Philippe
Edit for the ). incorporated to the link.
[Edited at 2015-06-17 14:42 GMT]
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 06:22
English to Spanish
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| Yes, since graduating from university | Jun 17, 2015 |
After I got my BA in Translation Studies and before I migrated to New York, I made some preparations, including printing a simple business card. I have no specimens left, but I recall using a serif typeface printed on wooden-like surface. My first attempt at being unique.
Every ATA conference was an opportunity to go experimental with new business cards and CVs. Back in 1992, with barely a few months of translation experience, I used a piechart to show how many thousand words of eac... See more After I got my BA in Translation Studies and before I migrated to New York, I made some preparations, including printing a simple business card. I have no specimens left, but I recall using a serif typeface printed on wooden-like surface. My first attempt at being unique.
Every ATA conference was an opportunity to go experimental with new business cards and CVs. Back in 1992, with barely a few months of translation experience, I used a piechart to show how many thousand words of each specialization I've done so far. I created the thing on WordPerfect, with different and silly shades of grey, and printed each sheet on ivory colored business letter paper in my dot matrix printer (remember those noisy monsters?).
One of my prospects at the conference was visibly impressed. That was the beginning of my love affair with typography, design and print, even though I didn't know it at the time.
I did try Vistaprint on a couple of occasions, but I desisted: they're good to get out of a jam but they don't look professional, even when you order the premium paper and everything. ▲ Collapse
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I haven't used mine for ages and as I'm moving soon from Brussels to Lisbon (my home town) I'm thinking about making new ones...
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| I just ran out | Jun 17, 2015 |
We had a conference here on exporting products and services where I met one of the world's largest manufacturers and distributors of bowling supplies My business cards have a silly design and my title is "Translator, Designer, World Changer" (re: Mystery Men).
I am, however, currently out of cards, but I did find several new clients and now I am comfortably busy.
| | | | Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 12:22
Member (2009)
English to German
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In two languages: English and German.
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I believe every translator should have business cards and a website. I always keep them handy and it's the primary card that I hand out.
I also have a business card for my book ("Finding My Invincible Summer") and for my landscape business (though I haven't had much time for the latter in a while).
| | | | | My website is my business card | Jun 17, 2015 |
I never meet my clients in person. I have some cards for music side projects though ...
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Jeff Whittaker
United States
Local time: 06:22
Member (2002)
Spanish to English
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| Yes, fifteen years ago... | Jun 17, 2015 |
..you HAD to buy them because they were one of the requirements to be a freelance translator because so many people were suing agencies claiming that the agency was their sole source of income and therefore owed them unemployment insurance. Having a business card was one of the ways for the agency to prove that you were indeed an independent contractor and not an employee. (Other ways were having a dedicated phone line just for business, etc.). People were working for an agency for a couple of y... See more ..you HAD to buy them because they were one of the requirements to be a freelance translator because so many people were suing agencies claiming that the agency was their sole source of income and therefore owed them unemployment insurance. Having a business card was one of the ways for the agency to prove that you were indeed an independent contractor and not an employee. (Other ways were having a dedicated phone line just for business, etc.). People were working for an agency for a couple of years and then got themselves reclassified as an employee of the company and wanted all the back taxes and benefits.
Now that more and more people work freelance and people are not as confused about it, this doesn't seem to be an issue anymore.
So many things get forgotten.
[Edited at 2015-06-17 22:41 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Andy Watkinson
Spain
Local time: 12:22
Member
Catalan to English
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Muriel Vasconcellos wrote:
I believe every translator should have business cards and a website. I always keep them handy and it's the primary card that I hand out.
I also have a business card for my book ("Finding My Invincible Summer") and for my landscape business (though I haven't had much time for the latter in a while).
I've never felt the need to have either a website and most definitely not business cards: I live halfway up a mountain side; would give the goats something to munch on, I suppose ......
And yes, Muriel, we all know the name of your book and might I point about that Proz has a rule (unsurprisingly) about plugging one's products/services, etc?
| | | | | What to put on them? | Jun 19, 2015 |
I have two different types of "business" cards in my wallet, one for a crochet and knitting group I attend, one for a creative jewelry making group.
Both of them end up with people interested in one of those crafts.
The jewelry card consists of a logo, a short description of the group and its facebookpage.
The crochet and knitting group card consist of a logo, its facebookpage, its e-mail address and the timetable and location of where the group meets every week.
... See more I have two different types of "business" cards in my wallet, one for a crochet and knitting group I attend, one for a creative jewelry making group.
Both of them end up with people interested in one of those crafts.
The jewelry card consists of a logo, a short description of the group and its facebookpage.
The crochet and knitting group card consist of a logo, its facebookpage, its e-mail address and the timetable and location of where the group meets every week.
I am thinking about making business cards for my translation "business" as well (starting in July), but I am not sure yet what I would put on them.
Some things I could include:
- logo which includes commercial name(I will do that)
- real name (if you are working on your own) (will do that)
- e-mail address (will do that)
- website (will do that once I have one)
- phone number: I don't know if I will... I would like to communicate through e-mail and am known to almost always answer my e-mails within one hour whenever I am awake. I'm far more difficult to reach by phone than by e-mail...
- address: I don't know if I would do that... Do I want everyone who happens to have my business card (or who might even find it on the floor somewhere) to know where I live?
I would have to mention it on invoices, but then only real clients have your address...
- language pairs: I don't know if I would include that, my languages are already in my logo as flags... then again: people do have to know the flags...
- specializations (I am still finding out what my specializations are, I already know the fields that are my off limits, but still have too much "specializations" left)
Then again: it's a business card, not a CV/brochure...
And I would probably mostly give them to other translators I meet, local translation agencies, my closest friends and family (in case they would meet someone who needs a translator one day, since I know that my closest friends and family are really the "oh, but I know someone who can help you with that"types)... ▲ Collapse
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