How to Create Free Digital Business Cards
Conferences and networking events are ramping back up after the pandemic hiatus. Whether or not it’s actually safe for these events to occur is another matter. The wheel of capitalism grinds on! Personally, I haven’t updated my biz cards in ages, but I recently learned how to create free digital business cards and it’s time for a refresh.
Back in August and October, I spoke at some events organized by my public library. Even though I was contracted early, for whatever reason, the events seemed to sneak up on me. That meant that I forgot to get some business cards made.
It also meant that knowing how to create free digital business cards saved my bacon.
Why Digital Business Cards
There are many reasons to go digital. For one, if you’re like me and forget about business cards until it’s too late to order any, digital business cards are a great way to go.
But there are other great reasons for them. Digital business cards are environmentally friendly. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve attended a conference, come home with a pile of business cards, and just thrown them away. Sure, I get the information I need from them and send emails about how great it was to connect with so-and-so. But after that? I don’t need them.
That’s why digital business cards are great. You get the info straight to your phone, follow the necessary folks on social media, and then you’re done.
They’re quick, easy to update, and it keeps all your information in one place. In fact, you could put a link to your business card in your bio link on social media. That way, anyone who wants to know more about you could get that information.
Plus, a digital business card gives you more room to add information. You aren’t stuck with only four or five small lines for your email, website, and one or two social platforms.
Oh, and it’s way cheaper. You don’t have to pay for printing costs or design fees. In fact, if you already pay for a website, you can design digital business cards immediately.
How to Create Free Digital Business Cards
There are a lot of methods out there for creating digital business cards. There are tons of services, and everyone and their brother will tell you their method is the best.
My method is free and easy, and uses stuff you probably already have. Here’s how I create free digital business cards.
001: Find free business card maker.
I recommend not searching the phrase “free business card maker.” Instead, just use whatever design software you use.
I use Canva to create images for this blog, Instagram, Pinterest, and pretty much everything else I make. (Including planners and journals.) You can use Canva here too.
There is a free version of Canva. I don’t use it. Instead, I pay about $120 a year for Canva Pro. I use it a lot to create graphics and even to schedule social posts to Instagram. To me, it’s worth it.
You can absolutely use the free version though. But I’m definitely a Canva stan and believe it’s worth the upgrade.
Once you’ve found your free business card maker, think about any graphics you want to use and how you’ll need to use them for your business card. More on this later.
002: Get free digital business card QR code.
There are tons of QR code generators online. The key is to find one that’s free and that won’t expire after it’s been accessed a certain number of times.
Again, I use Canva for this. I’m not sure if QR codes are part of the free Canva plan, but I do like how you can set up a ton of QR codes with Canva and they never expire.
003: Set digital business card template.
Now we’re going to go to your website and create a page for your digital business card to live on. You want to make sure it’s a mobile-friendly page, so take that into consideration when you’re designing.
Think about how you want to lay everything out. Do you want to use images? Do you want to take some of those graphics you may have created in Canva and add them to your digital business card?
I use Elementor as a page builder for WordPress, and it easily allows me to create buttons or linked images. So when I create the page my digital biz card will live on, I generally use those elements.
There’s no set template for this. Instead, think about what information you want to include and let that drive the design. Create a template that works for you.
I include my email, my blog, my YouTube channel, links to relevant books, and some of my social platforms. I also change this based on what kind of event I happen to be attending. Am I there as a fiction writer or a freelance writer? That determines a lot of the information I include.
(For more on conferences, check out this post on what to bring to a writing conference and this post on how to find speaking gigs.)
You can also use a service like LinkTree or any other link in bio services. Canva has the ability to create a bio link website too, if you were on the fence about whether or not you needed Canva Pro.
004: Create digital business card.
Once you’ve gotten all the links chosen for your digital business card and put them in place, it’s time to hit publish. Then, make sure the link to that page is attached to the QR code you created. Print that QR code, or keep it as an image on your phone. Show it to whoever wants a business card.
Don’t worry about if you need to make edits. That’s the best part about digital business cards. You can always update them.
So even though hitting publish might be a momentous occasion in your mind, it’s no big deal. Your digital business card will live through a ton of iterations and adapt to whatever you need it to do.
You can also create multiple digital business cards if you wear many hats. I mentioned I have different versions for freelance writing and fiction writing. But I could easily create a tarot-centric version too.
The sky’s the limit here, which is fine since you don’t have to worry about printing costs.
The Best Free Digital Business Cards
At the end of the day, the best free digital business cards are the cards that work for you. Don’t get bogged down in design and options. Just create something that will give all the information you need it to.
Have you ever created a digital business card? What tools do you use? Any design tips and tricks?
Originally published at https://marisamohi.com on December 12, 2022.
