If you’ve been following the last few posts focusing on the top 10 things every photography student should have, you should be well on your way to having an online presence!

A great online portfolio can give you a great jumpstart to your career, and it also makes you more “official”.

Today, I’d like to focus on your offline appearance; business cards, and letterhead.

Like most people, networking is part of what helps us get our foot in the door, when we may not have had the opportunity otherwise. Sometimes, it is WHO you know.

To present yourself as a serious photopreneur, you should ALWAYS carry business cards with you. You never know who you may meet. It may be in the most random place, so it’s always important to have them with you.

Saying that you just ordered new ones, or even worse, you don’t have any at all, can make for a bad first impression. Remember, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. So be ready at all times.

If you’re familiar with Photoshop; which as a photographer you should be, then you may be able to design your business cards yourself. I did! Photoshop or InDesign is what I would recommend to design your cards and letterhead.

InDesign even has templates of the standard sizes for business cards and letterhead, so you don’t have to worry about specifications.

However, if you’re looking for a unique size, you should call different printing houses for two reasons; one, to see if they even print in the size you’re looking for, and two, to shop around for the best price.

Letterhead is important to have when sending out your portfolio to companies you’re interested in working for, or with. It’s also a great tool that you can incorporate within your e-mails when contacting new businesses via the Internet.

After using letterhead when prospecting new business for myself, I started to get a better percentage of responses, than when I just sent a regular e-mail. It changes the way a person views you, and that can go a long way!

If you’re not comfortable with designing your business cards and letterhead, then I would suggest hiring a graphic design student who not only has talent but will also probably charge you half of what a design company may charge you. Or if it’s in your budget, you can hire a professional and still may find a great deal!

Either way, remember to be consistent with you’re overall “look”. For instance, if your website has a blue and yellow color scheme, then your business cards and letterhead should incorporate the same colors.

By the way, outsourcing work that you either can’t do or don’t want to do can be very smart. Not only will you be able to focus more on your photography, but you can get great work done at an amazing price as well. So don’t think that you have to do it all on your own. It’s okay to get help sometimes:)

As far as printing your new cards and letterhead, there are hundreds if not thousands of companies that offer this service. Some can get pricey, but you don’t necessarily have to go with the lowest bidder. Try to find a happy medium between the quality of the paper and the price.

It will be worth it in the long run. Business cards are part of your appearance, and people will make assumptions about you and your business just from the quality of the business card. So put some time and thought into your cards and letterhead, you won’t regret it.

Next time, we’ll discuss getting your hard copy portfolio together! In the meantime, you can see below, the design of my business cards and letterhead! Cheers!

PS.

Here are tons of photography business card ideas for immediate inspiration.

Now let’s get into how important it is to print your work and have a hard copy portfolio >