Eric Nagel

Eric Nagel

CTO, PHP Programmer, Affiliate Marketer & IT Consultant

Business Cards that Get Noticed

I have been, or can be if you click on a link and make a purchase, compensated via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value for writing this post. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

If you’ve met me at Affiliate Summit in either Vegas or NY City this year, you’ve probably gotten one of my nice business cards. In Vegas I made custom playing cards by Bicycle and for ASE in NY, I made up credit cards (I was going to do metro cards, but they didn’t provide much space for creativity). The credit cards were printed by AllTimePrint.com, complete with rounded corners, embossed numbers, magnetic strip with encoded data, and a signature panel.

ASE09 Card - Front ASE09 Card - Back

I was rather bummed when I saw a credit card design in Shoemoney’s business card contest, especially since I had ordered mine before that post… and then the credit card design was chosen as the winner! Well I saw Jeremy at Affiliate Summit & gave him one of my cards, and asked for one of his. While he didn’t have any on him, he said they were simply printed on paper. I expected so much more from him!

I had some data encoded on the magnetic strip, and in the fine print on the back of the card, stated that if someone finds out what it is, they’ll win a prize (well, I said “maybe” because I don’t want to give away 100 prizes). So far, nobody’s stepped up to claim that prize. Apparently the cards do NOT work in credit card terminals, but I verified the cards do have data on them, as I bought a USB reader off eBay to test a few of them. However, you don’t need a card reader: there’s a hint on the back of the card. 😉

ASW09 Card - FrontIf you’re going to make up fancy cards, only get about 100 of them, and keep some traditional cards on you for fish-bowl drops and to exchange with people you don’t need to impress.

I feel like I have to out-do myself for Vegas in January. I’m not going to copy Peter Shankman‘s poker chip idea (especially after the TSA gave him a hard time about bringing on so many poker chips in his carry-on baggage!). I could always go back to playing cards.

Comments
  • David D Ochoa
    Posted August 25, 2009 11:52 am 0Likes

    I know the secret data! It’s “I WIN.”

  • Eric Nagel
    Posted August 25, 2009 12:36 pm 0Likes

    Sorry David – not correct.

  • Amit
    Posted August 25, 2009 12:51 pm 0Likes

    The card looks impressive.

  • andrew wee
    Posted October 30, 2009 5:16 am 0Likes

    The answer is “what the secret message in the magnetic strip on this card is”

  • Eric Nagel
    Posted October 30, 2009 9:35 am 0Likes

    Sorry, Andrew – that’s not it. I was told by a friend he tried the card in a few readers & failed. I just tested 8 different cards, and they all worked in my card reader.

    There’s a clue on the back of the card – hard to see in the image, but clearly visible if you have one of the cards yourself.

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