The decision to outsource a service rather than handle it in-house is really an act of trust. From data management to inbound marketing, sometimes the necessity of securing effective and quality services far outweighs the risks that can come from third party involvement. There's no doubt you need reliable providers, but it’s also a balancing act of priorities and expertise.

These collaborations are usually born out of something you lack; be it time or know-how. There’s nothing wrong with that. We all need to know and accommodate for our limits, but when it comes to outsourcing business card printing, the idea is initially met with more than a few raised eyebrows.

At Plastic Printers, we decided to find out why. There are two primary reasons outsourcing and business cards don't naturally come to mind:

1. Businesses haven’t considered the promotional impact of a professionally designed card.
2. They have a lot of unanswered questions.

This article will address three of those questions and talk about the importance of impact-by-design.

Find the Expert; Don’t Fear the Question

We have started to delve into this topic with our FAQ Series, but the fact of the matter is there are a lot of business card companies out there. Some are reputable, some are not, and some offer DIY services through online business card design.

How do you know you’re investing in the best outsourcing money can buy? It begins with asking the right questions.

Outsourcing business card printing is like any other investment you make; it pays to find the expert. You just need to know what to look for. Here’s a short 3 question interview you can use to narrow down the right printing services:

Question #1: What are the cards printed on?

If the answer is flimsy 8 gram or pre-perforated paper that you supply; move on. No one wants to hand out business cards that smudge or run. You’re not doing your business any good by promoting it or yourself on-the-cheap.

Sure, some outsourced business card printing offers a matte, gloss, or satin-coated finish, but how many companies do you know that offer hand-printed plastic promotional products that include business cards? Not just any plastic either, there’s:

• Frosted
• Clear
• Custom die cut
• Pop-out
• Pop-up
• Prop
• And more

We even designed birthday invitations for Sylvester Stallone!

Our company has been printing on plastic for over 15 years. We not only pioneered the process, we perfected it. We are experts in the outsourced printing industry.

Question #2: Who’s on the design team?

You are, of course! As the client who’s paying for outsourced printing, we believe you should have input in the final design. The level of involvement is up to you.

• Some clients already have an idea of what they want. If that’s you, simply upload your mock-up into our online artwork review tool and we’ll give you professional feedback within 48 hours.

• Then there are the clients who like to discuss a concept before setting it in plastic. If this is you, contact us or chat live right now and start your collaborative design session.

• For the hands-off or time-sensitive projects, we recommend contacting our staff through the company website: www.plasticprinters.com. We just need about 30 minutes of your time to talk about your business in more detail. We’ll handle the design process from there.

The great news is, no matter which approach you choose, every client gets free digital proofs and the final say on the approval! Beware of any company that doesn’t give you design and approval options during the process.

Question #3: What’s the bottom line?

Cost has to enter into the conversation sometime, right? If it doesn’t; walk away.

While we can’t give the exact figures for every print job--they are all custom-created and vary in design and scope--we can give you a few cost-effective pointers:

• Black and white is usually cheaper than color

• An eye-catching use of negative space or a barcode can be as effective as a pop of color or a different finish.

• At half a cent per impression; outsourcing business card printing is a very savvy use of your marketing budget.

• Professionally designed cards have a recall rate of 83%, a retention rate of 60%, and a pass along rate of 21%.

All of this translates to a healthy return on your investment when you collaborate with the experts in printing on plastic.

Make sure that you get each question answered when you talk to a printing company. It is never a good idea to go blindly into a business transaction. Your satisfaction needs to be priority number one.

Go ahead, contact our staff for an impromptu interview. Even if your questions aren’t listed here; we’re up to the challenge any time. All you have to do is ask.