Business Cards!

I know that I'm a little too excited about this, but please bear with me. MY NEW BUSINESS CARDS HAVE ARRIVED!

At my last job, I had a box of business cards that I hardly ever touched. A few times a year I would hand out a card or two at an event, but for the most part the box just sat on a shelf collecting dust. It seemed that business cards had become obsolete. These days, we just smush our phones together and they do the rest, right? When I left that job, I had to dump all my unused business cards in the recycling bin. What a waste.

Things are different as a freelancer. You are responsible for every facet of your business; you have to sell yourself. When I'm at an event explaining to someone what I do, they almost always ask me for my card. Sometimes this happens out of the blue. Recently, I was editing at a coffee shop and another customer noticed my red pencil and asked if I was an editor. I said yes, and she told me she had a manuscript she was looking to have edited. She asked me for my card. "Actually, I don't have one," I said, "but I can give you my email." I felt so lame. Enough was enough.

I was worried that ordering business cards was going to be an expensive, time-consuming process. Thankfully, I was way off. A friend recommended Moo.com, and I quickly found a design I liked. They offered "green" paper (made with 100% recycled post-consumer waste processed in a wind-powered facility) and were having a 25%-off sale at the time. I ordered a small amount, knowing I could reorder if I needed more. The cards arrived just a few days later. It was like magic. I can't wait to give one of these to someone!