Saturday, November 9, 2013

How to make sample business cards with clear envelopes

One of my favourite things that I do was actually an idea I saw online and took to the next level.  The concept for the cards below came from the first sample packets I saw created on the Jamberry consultant page.  I thought they were great, but a little too bulky for my everyday life.  See, in my opinion, just telling someone about your product isn't always enough, I like to have the option of giving her a sample.
If you break it down, a sample costs you 10¢, but its earning potential is limitless.  When you give a woman a sample instead of just a business card, you're giving her the opportunity to see how great your product really is.
Also, though I've seen them used with success, I don't really like sample business cards that don't have some kind of container.   My purse has a tendency to rip items apart, even if I'm being really careful.  Using clear envelopes are my way of being able to reach in for a business card before my target says no!
So now that you know my reasons, here are my tips and tricks for making the perfect tiny sample kits.

You will need 4 groups of items before you start:
  1. Business Cards.  If you're out, click that link up top and order more!
  2. Sample Cards.  Ditto, but go to your workstation.
  3. Clear Plastic envelopes.  You're going to want to go to your local craft store and find plastic envelopes that measure 2" x 3".  My personal favourite are the self-sealing envelopes, but you can use non-sealing treat bags, or zipper bags - whatever works best for you!  I'll have some suggestions for these products at the bottom.
  4. Business Card-sized Instructions.  I spent a long time making these work.  Just click this link and download the document for yourself.
 From this point, you're set to go.  I make myself four piles - one of each of the items I just listed.  For my sample cards, I cut each sample into a Ziploc bag and shake it up so that my distribution is random.  (I do this for party kits too.)  I also spend the worst 10 minutes of this project cutting apart my instruction sheet.  Still totally worth it.  Okay, here's how to put it all together:
  • Line your business card and instruction sheet up so that the instructions are pointing to the back of your business card.  It should look like the instructions are the back of your business card.  Slip them into your envelope like they're one unit.
  • Put a sample in the front of the envelope (the side with your name) and make sure you can see the pattern.
  • Seal the envelope.
 1, 2, 3 it's done!  I usually spend about an hour making 100 of these.

Can't find clear envelopes?  Here are some suggestions:
I found them at Jo-Ann Etc near the scrapbooking supplies.  They came 120 to a package.
Cardblanks.com has these for sale in both Canada and the U.S.  The B6 size is what you're looking for.
As always, Amazon has them, but not having used them, I can't say whether the 2 in x 3 in or the 2 3/4 in x 3 3/4 in will work best
Where do you find your clear envelopes?

3 comments:

  1. Any change you can share the file in some other way? I'm not sure why it's an executable file (no document should need to be executable) - that's fishy as hell.

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  2. I just changed it so that it will link in Dropbox. When I first created this post, I didn't have Dropbox and was using another sharing program. Now, it should just download to your computer as a .doc file. Let me know if there are any more issues.

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  3. Thanks so much, I really appreciate it!

    ReplyDelete