Connecting with local customers through direct mail can be an effective marketing tool. You might even find that sending postcards directly to potential customers is cheaper and a better return on investment than social media or pay-per-click.
Vistaprint is the online leader in custom-printed marketing products and a great option for handling your postcard direct mail campaign. (view, coupons) Here’s a review of how it works:
Vistaprint Postcard Mailing Service
Tip: You can use a coupon for up to a 50% discount and free shipping on postcardsand direct mailing services! View coupons
With all the resources that are available to small businesses, it can be overwhelming to determine which is the best way to reach customers. An effective marketing tool to use is a direct mail campaign.
A direct mail campaign enables you to send promotional material in the mail to current and potential customers. With the help of Vistaprint’s postcard mailing service, monitoring a direct mail campaign is super-easy.
Let Vistaprint Stamp, Address, and Mail Your Postcards!
Instead of you stamping and addressing hundreds of postcards, Vistaprint can do it for you with just a couple of clicks.
First, you create a postcard. You can use your own design or choose from a variety of templates. Next, choose a mailing list based on your target audience. You can upload your own list, or purchase a list from Vistaprint.
Purchased lists can be customized to meet your needs based on location popular demographics and the number of addresses you want to purchase.
Then, choose your delivery options. You can even choose what to do for customers who’ve moved away. Vistaprint will handle the stamping, addressing, and mailing, and you can get back to running your small business.
How long does Vistaprint take to ship? How long your Vistaprint order takes to deliver depends mostly on the shipping method that you choose. Here’s a review of Vistaprint’s three shipping options with estimated delivery times:
Shipping Method:
Shipping Speed:
EXPRESS:
3 Business Days
STANDARD:
5 Business Days
ECONOMY:
8 Business Days
*If your order is placed after 6pm, the delivery time is calculated from the following day.
Tip: Vistaprint does not offer overnight or 2-day shipping due to the necessary “production time” which consists of the printing process and order customization.
Delivery times include production time, including the amount of time it takes to process, print, dry, (ink) package and ship your order to you.
Once your order ships, Vistaprint will send you a shipment confirmation that includes both shipping methods and estimated delivery date. Standard and rush shipping speeds will also include a tracking number.
*Some Products take Longer to Ship
While most products ship at the estimated times above, some products take longer to deliver. Here are some popular products that take longer to print and deliver:
Address Labels: 5-10 business days
Personal Checks: 5-8 business days
Bags: (totes, drawstring, messenger bags, etc) 9-11 business days
Promotional Products: (pens, embroidered clothing, USB flash drives, etc) 9-11 business days
Free samples: Sample kits take 10-14 business days
How Much Does Vistaprint Shipping Cost?
Vistaprint’s shipping fees are based on your order total and shipping method choice. Here are the costs for each shipping method:
Vistaprint is a Dutch company delivering to over 130 countries around the world. They have regional headquarters in Boston, MA, Barcelona, Span, and Sydney, and three shipping facilities for domestic (USA) and international orders.
Here’s where Vistaprint ships from:
Windsor, Ontario Canada(That’s across the river from Detroit, MI.) processes and ships all orders for the U.S. and Canada
The Venlo, Netherlands manufacturing facility handles all European / U.K. orders
The Victoria, Australia location delivers all Vistaprint orders to Australia
Conclusion:
Before placing an order at Vistaprint it’s important to know all about shipping times and cost. Hopefully, we’ve given you the info you need to choose the right shipping speed so you know when your order will arrive, and how much it will cost.
Coupons for Canvas Prints from Vistaprint.com – Not to be confused with their cheaper cousin, “mounted prints,” premium canvas prints from Vistaprint are a beautiful way to display your favorite photos as wall art. Use a coupon below for up to a 40% discount or free shipping:
Ok, customer reviews of Vistaprint’s canvas prints are pretty positive. Now it’s time for me to design and order one myself!
Vistaprint Canvas Prints: Ok, Now My Review!
Canvas prints are a way to show off or preserve your best photos and memories. After a two-week trip up the California coastline I had no shortage of candidates to print on canvas to remember our trip and some of the breath-taking views that we saw.
*Tip: Don’t be tempted to go for the cheaper, mounted prints, which are categorized under “canvas prints” but essentially printed on thicker paper stock, not canvas!
So, here’s a review of my own experience and the final product:
#1. Don’t Pay Full Price; Always Use a Coupon Towards Their Canvas Prints!
The Vistaprint.com website displays different pricing, depending on where you arrived from. For example, if you just type their URL in and go to the site, you’ll probably pay more than if you did a 20 second search for coupons.
There is always a promo code or coupon of some sort available that works site-wide, towards photo gifts, or specifically for canvas prints. For new customers you should consider the “20% off + Free shipping on $50+ promotion, and all customers should aim for at least a 25% discount off their regular price.
Simply clicking on a promotional link will usually apply the discount, and they usually notify you which promo code has been applied as soon as you arrive on their site from a promotional link or banner.
#2. Designing Your Canvas Print
First, have a large photo ready to upload, and choose a Size for Your Canvas Print. Vistaprint offers canvas prints in these sizes:
8×12, 12×12, 12×16, 16×24, or 24×36
You can print your canvas horizontally or vertically, but unlike other products, there are no design templates for canvas with borders or text. (you upload the complete design)
For the most accurate results, design your image in CMYK color mode, instead of RGB. If you have a photo-editing program like Photoshop, it’s easy to save your image in this color mode. A few reviews complain that the image printed darker than expected, which is probably due to color mode.
You can upload your image from a number of sources including Facebook or your image library if you’re a returning customer. Beware: If you do upload a photo from Facebook, make sure it is big enough! Printing of all kinds should be done at high resolution CMYK; I recommend at least 150 dpi or more. If you have the ability to work with a 300 dpi image, go with that. That means any image less than about 2500 pixels wide won’t work on any size canvas.
After you upload your image, you’ll see a preview screen like this:
*Tip: Always upload a high resolution photo! After choosing one or more photos, I can’t stress enough the importance of using a high-resolution photo. These canvas prints are much larger than a common 5×7 prints and holiday cards, and you can’t get away with using small photos.
If you are uploading a file from a phone or device, make sure that it’s the biggest version available. Any files showing a size less than 1mb are going to be too small.
Tip: Beware of the Safety line, and the sides of the canvas
Unlike designing and printing on a flat surface, (like posters) you have to account for your photo to wrap around the sides of the canvas. That big outer frame in the preview (shown with your photo at about 30% opacity) is the part of your photo that will wrap around the edges or be trimmed away.
Never leave important parts of your photo to the margins (lighter) preview area: Anything displayed there will be wrapped around the sides of the canvas, and likely be wrapped around the sides.
Never leave white space in the margins of the preview area. If you do, you’ll likely get white space on the side(s) of your canvas! A number of negative reviews describe these white bands, and they are easily preventable!
If you see a small exclamation point / warning icon under your image in preview, click on it for a message. Most likely Vistaprint is telling you your image is not high enough resolution, and may print blurry, especially at the larger canvas sizes.
By clicking on the image, you’ll get a few simple design tools like crop, move, and rotate.
Final preview of your Canvas:
You’ll once again notice the glaring reason that angry people go online writing bad reviews for Vistaprint’s canvas: you can’t see the sides on the final preview. Also, even when you click “view larger” it’s hard to see minute details, or whether your image could be blurry. (resolution too small)
At this point you should see a discounted price from the coupon
Without the use of a promo code or discount, Vistaprint’s canvases are relatively expensive. Companies like Shutterfly(get promo codes) and Snapfish(get promo codes here) and even art to frames (get coupons) have raised the bar on canvas quality, and the prices have really come down. The retail price of my 16×24″ canvas is $93, which is too expensive.
After applying a 20% off + free shipping promotion, the cost comes down to about $75, which is more competitive.
#3. Review: My canvas Shipped in 8 days, and looks really good!
As mentioned, the bar has been raised for custom-printed canvas online, so no major brands are printing poor quality. I notice that the photo is about a quarter inch or so off-center from the preview, which doesn’t matter for my landscape photo of the California coast. This might be an issue if you rely on text or people’s heads being near the edges of the canvas. Give yourself a little extra room to the edge so that you you have everything important with at least an inch or two of margin around the sides.
Print quality: The quality of the photo is really sharp! The colors look really vibrant, too. I uploaded my photo at 300 dpi, which means that the largest dimension of my file was a massive 7200 pixels wide! That’s a lot bigger than any Facebook or Instagram images, so be careful importing from there.
The canvas is wrapped around sides neatly and stapled for ‘a no frame’ look, which looks good on the wall. It also saves you from having to buy a nice 16×24″ frame for your print. The images are printed “full bleed,” which means that unless something went wrong during the design phase, you’ll see no white area at the edges.
Conclusion: Vistaprint is good, but not the best for printing on canvas
At the end of the day, I recommend Easy Canvas Prints(review, coupons) for the best combination of price & quality for custom printed canvas. Remember, just like Vistaprint, you should always use a coupon!
Tip: If you are not happy with your canvas for any reason, write an honest & helpful, negative review on vistaprint.com, and they will likely credit your account with the purchase amount. Hopefully this is not the case, as Vistaprint has adjusted their online design process to fix the white space issue that was creating problems and garnering poor reviews.
[yasr_overall_rating] – Review by Kevin M.
Ready to Print Your Photo on Canvas? Design Ideas & Inspiration
How to assemble Vistaprint banner stands: Banners are great for trade shows and presentations, and the stand comes with a convenient carrying case for easy transport.
We have exclusive coupons for all Vistaprint products, including banners, for a 25-50% discount and free shipping. OK, now, let’s talk about banner assembly!
If you ordered a banner from Vistaprint you’re going to have to do the assembly at home. It’s a little confusing, but the good news is that we have instructional videos to show you exactly how to assemble your banner stand.
There are a few kinds of banners, so see below on how to assemble each type of stand:
Here are video instructions for assembling the H banner stand:
The H banner stand is compatible with vertical banners in these sizes: 2.5×4′, 2.5×6′, and 2.5×8′
The H banner stand includes 2 frames, 4 frame hooks, 1 base, 1 telescopic pole, and 1 extension pole.
L Banner Stand: Assembly Instructions
Here’s how to assemble the L banner stand:
The L banner stand is compatible with 2.5 x 4′, 2.5 x 6′, and 2.5 x 8′ banner sizes.
What’s included? The L banner stand includes a top banner frame, 3 extension poles, a top banner frame, and a top pole.
X Banner Stand: Assembly Instructions
Here’s how to put the X banner stand together:
The Vistaprint X banner stand is compatible with vertical banner sizes: 2.5′ x 8′, 2.5′ x 6′, and 2.5′ x 4′ (no extension poles needed). This banner stand size is great for trade shows, presentations, and indoor signage.
What’s included? The X banner stand includes a tripod base, 2 extension poles, and 2 hooked poles.
Hopefully those videos make it clear on how to assemble your new Vistaprint banner and stand!
Vistaprint.com: Have You Ordered Yet?
If you’re placing an order, check out our coupons for up to 50% off and free shipping at vistaprint.comm (Canada coupons here)
If you have already ordered a banner, but haven’t received it yet, we have info on cost and times for Vistaprint shipping, too.
Vistaprint paper stock options for business cards: If you are printing business cards at Vistaprint, you’ll need to choose a card stock. But, which paper stock is best for your business cards?
Here’s a brief, helpful video to help you decide which paper stock to choose:
Best Paper Stock for Your Business Cards:
Get the Best Deal!
Regardless of which card stock you choose, here are the best deals for business cards:
Vistaprint offers four signature paper stocks: glossy, matte, linen, and recycled matte. They also offer two ultra-thick papers: coated, and uncoated.
Here are your paper stock options:
Business Cards: Signature glossy
Vistaprint business cards paper stock: signature glossy
Signature glossy business cards have a really lustrous coating, shiny coating that reflects the light and is really eye catching. This really brings attention to any images or logos that are on your business cards.
Business Cards: Signature Matte Paper Stock
Vistaprint business cards paper stock: signature matte
The signature matte is a simple but professional look. Matte has a dull finish, and doesn’t reflect the light and look shiny like Vistaprint’s glossy business cards. Matte is also great for instances when you need to write on the back of your business cards, which a lot of people find practical.
*Do you file your own taxes? Here’s a coupon for 20% off TurboTax!
Business Cards: Signature Linen Paper Stock
Vistaprint business cards paper stock: signature linen
Linen feels different than glossy and matte, and has a cross-woven nature that you feel as soon as you touch the business cards. It’s also visually very impactful because you can see that there’s something different about the card stock.
If you’re in the design business, offer personal services, or sell crafts, you might want to consider this very personal, almost hand printed paper stock. Linen paper stock gives a feeling of intimacy and personal connection.
Vistaprint business cards: signature recycled matte
Not only are Vistaprint’s signature recycled matte business cards made from 100% recycled paper, but even the paper mill where they are made uses only renewable energy.
*Have you seen their Kraft paper? It’s rough, recycled brown paper stock.
Business Cards: Ultra-Thick Coated Paper Stock
Vistaprint ultra thick coated paper stock
Ultra-thick business cards are the thickest paper stock that Vistaprint offers, and they really make an impact with customers.
Business Cards: Ultra-Thick Uncoated
Vistaprint has an exclusive process that integrates a technology from the paper supplier to the post-printing process to achieve a printing quality that no other company can achieve on such thick paper.
Which Paper Stock Should You Choose for Your Business Cards?
Every business is different, and no one paper stock is best for everyone. Vistaprint believes that business cards have the ability to tell your business’ story, so how will you tell yours?
We recently tried out their business cards, and wrote a review here.
Vistaprint Postcards – My Real Review + Today’s Best Coupon: If you are looking to use postcards as part of your marketing strategy, you might want to consider Vistaprint. They have some of the best pricing & highest quality custom postcards, and when you use a coupon you save significantly more.
Vistaprint Postcards for Marketing? Here’s My Review:
I’m building an online shop to sell t-shirts and posters, and looking to stretch my advertising dollars wherever possible. So, I saw the recent promotion from Vistaprint offering 50 small (4×6) postcards at 25% off. This lowered the price to only $8 + shipping, so I had to give this a try!
Postcards for marketing: An important factor that led me to postcards in the first place is that I’m looking at a relatively small profit margin from any t-shirt sales that I make. If each sale nets $5 in profit, I have to be careful where I spend my money.
Postcards for Profit: The other use I’m getting out of these cheap little postcards is to print my artwork on them and resell them as small “prints.” The quality is good enough to do so, and while they only cost me a quarter each to print, I can resell them for $3 each. Not a bad profit margin!
*Tip: If you want to read more reviews, there are actually customer reviews under every popular product, including postcards, at Vistaprint.com. These aren’t filtered, either, as some of the reviews are negative.
50 Postcards for Under 20 Cents each!? Even Cheaper When You Buy More – My REVIEW
In the last few years there has been a mad rush to spend advertising money online through sites like Google Adwords and Facebook. This is certainly understandable, as never before has technology allowed you to target niches of people online so quickly and easily. So, is there still a place in the marketing world for the barbarous relic that we call the postcard? Of course!
So, before Igo on, here’s my review: These look great and have me really excited about their potential uses. The annoying thing was that none of their postcard sizes (small, standard, or oversized) corresponded to the proportions of my design, so I had to take some off the top.
I chose a matte finish to make these postcards look vintage (the glossy finish would spoil that effect) and I chose small, 4×6 size so that they could fit in a standard frame. (more on that below)
You can cut the cost per piece in half pretty quickly if you are ordering a large number, but for my purposes I’m estimating their cost at about a quarter each, including shipping, as I’m only printing 50. Ok, I have these great cheap postcards, now let’s put them to use!
Vistaprint: People Like Holding Things Like Postcards, Dollar Bills, & Coupons (And Baby Bunnies!)
Here we are in the 21st Century, but still not lost in a world of virtual reality, or even virtual currencies. Even though digital money makes more sense than costly paper and metal currency, we still use it. Not only that, but the value of gold and silver has risen steadily since the invention and popularity of the internet.
This is because there is still great value in things that are tangible. Even though a Google ad serves a valuable purpose, it is not tangible, and disappears into the ether the moment you click, or move on to a different page.You’d also think that with the wide-spread use of of smartphones we could stop chopping down trees to print coupons, right?
Nope, people use those annoying coupon mailers you get every month because they are tangible. You just can’t replace that quality. Try petting a photo of a baby bunny on your iPhone… See, it’s not the same as the real thing!
So, let’s see how we can use this old-fashioned marketing medium in today’s digital world.
Vistaprint Postcards: Tack Them Up, Mail Them, or Hand Them Out
(Not to be confused with “smack it up, flip it, rub it down!” lyrics for “Do Me, Baby”) Since I’m only printing 50 postcards and investing about $15 here (including shipping), I can’t afford to festoon entire cities with my postcards. But, let’s see if I can make that meager $15 a good investment.
First, I’m going to tack one of these postcards on every free bulletin board in town. There’s one at Starbucks, the local library, pizza place, and hardware store, which happens to be next to a PetSmart. I figure a lot of people will see these postcards, so ideally the web address of my online store would be prominent on the front.
That may have been my first mistake, but I did print the back of the postcard for an extra $2.25 as well, (see below) prominently showing my URL. In this case, I figure if someone likes the design on my postcard enough to take it off the bulletin board and home with them, they are at least going to check out my website. At a cost of about a quarter per postcard (the same price I was paying for a click from Google) this isn’t a bad option.
Idea: Consider framing & Selling The 4×6 or 5×7 Sized Vistaprint Postcards of Your Art, Designs, or Photos
The postcards I had printed through vistaprint.com are nice enough to frame, or sell on their own. There is no annoying Vistaprint logo on the back, (like Shutterfly has) so, as a customer these look more like “small prints” than “postcards. At a cost of a quarter each, you have nice room for a profit margin, even if you sell them for $1 each.
If you are at a trade show or event, you can frame one or more of these postcards, as they are a standard 4×6” size.
If you print your artwork on them, it’s almost like a little handbill like the ones they used to give out for concerts. Add a cheap black (wood?) 4×6” or 5×7” frame from your local Michael’s store, and the framed postcard might only be a total investment of $5 or so.
Their oversized postcards are at a 8×5 x 5.5 size, so while they are great as a “print”, framing them may be annoying at this non-standard size.
I’ll bet that as an artist or photographer you could easily resell a framed postcard of your art or photos for $10 each! I imagine if you are paying to have a little space as an artist in a market somewhere this is actually a pretty good option for selling your designs. Vistaprint lets you choose the finish of the postcards, so you can decide on matte or glossy during the design / checkout process.
If you don’t want to resell these postcards, then at least display one of the framed ones for people to look at.
A small “postcard” of your design(s) would be a welcome, low cost addition to any Etsy store as well. Maybe your full-size prints are $20, but these can be added to an order for $2 each. Or, have a lot of them printed, and sell them as “postcards” in groups of 6 or more.
Idea: Vistaprint Postcards as Leave Behinds
(that’s my attention-grabbing back of the postcards; you know, like everyone rallying for Chairman Meow?) I have a framed poster up at a local coffee shop, so I’m going to leave about 20 of these postcards on the little table next to where my artwork hangs, along with some of Vistaprint’s free business cards coupon. This way, people interested in my poster can take something tangible home with them to check out the URL. We all have short attention spans, so with a business card or postcard they won’t forget to go checkout my shop.
Once again, the postcards are about a quarter each, so I feel good that at least 1 in 20-30 people who takes one will buy something from my site. Actually, the investment looks better on paper for the cheap or free business cards, (only 3 cents each) so I can leave a hundred of those behind and feel even better. If you want to leave a stack of postcards somewhere, I suggest printing many more than 50 to bring the price per piece down. Otherwise, at 20 cents each your return on investment may be too low. Here’s some postcard design ideas on Pinterest.
Vistaprint postcards
sample postcards
Vistaprint postcards
Be sure to use a coupons or promo code towards postcards!
Never place an order at vistaprint.com without looking for a good coupon or promotional link! There is currently an ongoing marketing sale on Vistaprint’s coupon page that applies a 25% discount towards any postcard order. There is also a site-wide promotion for new customers that offers 20% off + free shipping on your first order. (free delivery requires a minimum order size)
Inexpensive Custom Flyers from Vistaprint: Marketing flyers are like the infantry of the marketing world; simply getting the job done without glamour. Whether you’re advertising a coupon for your beauty salon, an upcoming concert, or letting the neighborhood know about a new house for sale, flyers can get the job done. Here are the best Vistaprint flyer coupons available:
Inexpensive Marketing Flyers from Vistaprint: Spreading the Word
While technology has changed vastly in the last couple of decades, nothing has replaced the effectiveness of getting something into people’s hands. We’re still tactile learners and observers, and while we can ignore over 99% of banner ads online, we usually notice postcard-sized ads that are handed to us or appear in our mailbox.
That’s where flyers can help; they are an inexpensive, versatile form of marketing that has passed the test of time.
Vistaprint Flyers: 101 Marketing Uses:
Vistaprint real estate flyers
Should flyers be a part of your small business marketing plan? If you are a brick and mortar business or restaurant owner, you’ve probably had to step up your marketing efforts in recent years. Not only do you need to focus on social media and customer reviews like never before, but if a site like Amazon sells similar products, you’re going to have to separate yourself from the crowd.
sample flyer design vistaprint
Here Are Vistaprint’s Flyer Sizes
There are 5 flyer sizes available including:
Quarter Page Flyers: At 5.47″ x 4.21″ this is the most popular size of flyers. Great for handouts, you can distribute these small flyers in high-volume
Half Page Flyers – (8.52″ x 5.47″) Great for special events, sales, coupons, this size of flyer can really attract attention
Long Flyers – (3.74″ x 8.27″) Use for menus, price lists, or promotional take-aways
Full Page Flyers – At 8.5″ x11″, these large flyers are the size of a standard cheet of paper. Leave these on the counter, or tack one up to a bulletin board
Infamous bed bath beyond flyer coupon
Some popular uses for flyers:
Flyer Coupons – Give potential customers an incentive to come to your store, and the satisfaction of saving money. A majority of consumers say they are more likely to make a purchase if they have a coupon, so use flyers to create new customers, or bring back those who you haven’t seen in a while
Restaurant Special Promotions – Two words: happy hour. Ok, beyond that, flyers are a great way to advertise specials, events, and music at your restaurant or store
Realtor / Real Estate Flyers: A great way to for realtors to promote themselves and houses for sale or recent sales
Holiday or Seasonal Event Flyers – In December hundreds of people are wandering around town like Capitalist zombies, looking for a reason to part with their money. Use flyers to get on their radar, and get them excited about what you are offering this season
Community Event Flyers – You don’t have to be selling something to mail or give out Vistaprint flyers. Pass them out or leave a stack of them at schools, events, or even the public library. As Princess Anna once said, “Why have a ballroom with no balls?” Flyers help give balls to your marketing campaign!
Trade Show Flyers – Trade shows are a whirlwind couple of hours; make sure potential customers have something in their hands of yours when they leave so they don’t forget you
Advertise a Competition – Generate interest in your business with a competition or contest. *Tip: While a costume contest for Halloween is a fun idea for a restaurant, nix the idea of a pie-eating contest in your barber shop or funeral home. It’s just not in good taste
Promote a Party or Concert – Are the kids still having raves these days? How about sock-hops? Are those still cool? Whatever rhythmic ceremonial ritual you’re hosting, consider advertising it with Vistaprint flyers
OK, so which Coupon for Flyers is Best?
If you are considering placing an order for flyers at vistaprint.com, definitely take a couple of minutes to find the best available coupon or promo code. There is always a promotion that includes flyers, so consider site-wide promotions as well as flyer-specific coupons.
New Customer? Consider the Free Shipping Promotion for Your Flyers
Vistaprint reserves their best coupons for new customers, so look to get both a percentage discount andfree shipping on your first order. You’ll probably have to meet a minimum order size for free delivery, but it’s usually only about $50. Most serious orders of flyers can easily exceed that.
Vistaprint Flyers: Bad Reviews?
In reading through the many reviews for Vistaprint flyers, there were two complaints that seemed to be most common:
Photo(s) are blurry – Make sure you use high resolution photos on your flyers. Photo’s taken with your own camera should be imported at full size; probably at least several hundred “k” in file size each, and very sharp
Photos are dark – While most customers report a product that looks the same as the preview, a number of reviews say that the images in the printed flyer are darker than expected. Not a bad idea to brighten your images slightly before uploading
Note: Customers who did post bad reviews of flyers on Vistaprint.com were offered a credit on their account for the entire purchase, giving them a second chance to get it right.
Review of Vistaprint business cards – I’m in the middle of developing an online shop to sell my cat-related t-shirt designs, so I figured I’d invest about $20 to have business cards printed to advertise my online store.
The name I’m most familiar with for printing business cards is Vistaprint.com (coupons), so I decided to go with them. Here’s my review for business cards from Vistaprint:
Vistaprint Standard Business Cards: My Review
I’ve ordered business cards through Vistaprint a couple of times before, but never to specifically promote a website or online store. In this case I wanted the cheapest business cards possible without looking or feeling cheap.
I went with their ongoing 500 business cards for $10 promotion because it only cost me $1 more than getting 250 business cards. ($8.99 with same coupon code)
By the way, they don’t seem to offer “free,” or economy business cards anymore, which is a good thing. Those used to have the Vistaprint logo on the back, and the paper felt cheap!
That’s a bad first impression to make with potential clients or customers. I sell t-shirts at my online shop, so I don’t want people thinking they are also cheaply printed!
1. First, Use a Design Template
Vistaprint offers design templates for all of their products, including business cards. TO be sure my design was the right resolution and in CMYK, I downloaded this template:
Anyway, in this case I used a 300 dpi version of one of my t-shirt designs, and formatted it for the vertical 3.5×2″ size of their Standard business cards. I also chose a matte finish, (included) as I wanted a vintage look. Glossy might be appropriate for certain designs or photos, but I usually go with matte.
*Their “Signature” business cards are printed on an adequate, 14 pt. paper, but you can upgrade to Premium or Signature with a heavier if you’d like. For my purposes I wanted the cheaper option, as I plan to just festoon these around the city.
I had no need to print on the back of the cards, so my order total was $9.99 for 500 standard business cards plus $5 shipping.
2. Be Sure to Use a Promo Code
If you click on a link for a specific promotion, the discount might be applied immediately, or, you have the option of entering a promo code at checkout like this:
Enter Vistaprint promo code
3. You Can Consider Upgrades: (Brilliant Finishes) Metallic, Spot Gloss, Raised Print
Upgrades like foil, and spot gloss can really make features on your business card, like your logo, pop!
4. You’ll Have 4 Paper Stock Options
5. Here’s My Vistaprint Business Cards!
Wondering how long it takes Vistaprint to ship business cards? Their cheapest shipping option (economy) took exactly 8 days. (7 business days) They came in a neat little box, and I was excited to open it. (Need your cards fast? Check out the shipping speeds here)
The business cards themselves look great, and the colors are just like the online preview. Once again, be sure to design in CMYK at high resolution (300 dpi). Here’s another photo of my business cards:
Some of the cards printed about 1/16 of an inch off-center, but they mention that your design should be in the “safety zone” as it might shift by a small amount horizontally or vertically.
These business cards are great! 5 stars for the $15 total price. If you want you can upgrade and spend more on Signature business cards or ultra-thick which cost a lot more.
My Review: 500 Vistaprint Business Cards
You can see the “premium business cards” pictured above that I had printed with one of my Chairman Meow designs. I wanted heavier paper, so I was willing to pay an extra $5 than the 500 for $10 deal. Here are a few highlights of my premium business cards:
Economy delivery took 7 days (free shipping not available)
The business cards have a matte finish, and the paper is nice and sturdy
The design is full-bleed, and was well centered
The color was true to the online preview
The total cost was about $20 for 500 business cards (with this coupon)
Not using a design template? Remember to create your own design in CMYK!
*Tip: If you are on their site looking at the standard business cards, scroll down and you’ll see customer reviews. Consumer affairs is where you’ll find negative reviews, which are helpful to read, too
Ideas for Using Vistaprint Business Cards
Ok, so your on the fence about ordering 500 business cards? Business cards are like the Swiss Army knife of marketing, as they have so many potential uses for for many people. Here are a few ideas for getting your money’s worth:
1. Cheap Business Cards to Promote an Online Store / Shop / Blog
I used to imagine business cards as what people passed around at industry events, or left behind as contractors. However, if you have a website or online store or blog, they can be so much more!
They are great to hand out, and if you ship orders from an online store, be sure to drop a couple into each package that you ship.
If you do any online marketing whatsoever, you are probably familiar with paying for clicks on Google and Facebook. If you have a budget for this type of advertising, please consider supplementing it with business cards!
2. Business Cards are Like Online Clicks, But Cheaper
In my own online advertising experience, it’s costing me upwards of 50 cents per click to advertise my website to people categorized as “cat owners.”
That’s nothing compared to the $10+ per click a friend pays per click through Google for his basement waterproofing business. Yikes!
Anyway, by paying for clicks I quickly realize that the math doesn’t work to my advantage. I’m only making $6 on the sale of a t-shirt, and the potential conversion rate from these paid clicks is pretty low. There’s just no way a high percentage of people are going to take out their wallet and buy a t-shirt, so I need to find a cheaper way to get people to my online store.
While I work on ways to bring this cost per click way down, I’m printing 500 business cards for some guerilla marketing. Vistaprint offers 500 business cards for $10 + $5 shipping, so the cost of each business card is about 5 cents each.
Like online clicks they deliver information for a brief moment with the hope of hooking a customer. While online advertising has many advantages, a business card is tangible, and doesn’t disappear into the ether once that moment has passed.
If you cross paths with your potential audience at any time, consider printing cheap business cards that get attention and send people to your online store or website!
For my shop, imagine how much more effective a little stack of business cards would be if left at a cat cafe, coffee shop, or pet store!
3. Cheap Business Cards for an Etsy Shop, CafePress Shop, Zazzle Store, eBay Store, or T-Shirt Store
If you have an online store, you’re probably trying to market your unique designs or products. This greatly increases the odds that you have some kind of design experience, or at least the ability to photograph your products close up.
Tip: Consider zooming in on your best design or product, add your URL, and print it on a business card? Make sure your image is really sharp and high-resolution!
These potentially catchy business cards can be stuck in lots of locations; either one at a time, or even fanned out or stacked in strategic places.
Example: I go to a dog park every other week, which is a very social environment. That would be a great place to hand out a business card. You’re not limited to dog products in that environment either. Maybe you just mention during conversation that you have a side-business, like an Etsy store, which would be a great time to whip it out. (a business card)
I have also propped up business cards on signs, wedged them into the side of bulletin boards, or any little corners where they might get noticed.
Idea: Not only can business cards help you hook potential new customers, but existing customers as well. I recommend including at least one business card in the packaging of all orders that you mail out. Your customers might hold onto it, or even pass it on to a friend.
So Many Ideas for Using Business Cards
There are a number of great resources out there that list creative ideas for using business cards to market your store, but I’d just recommend the following in summary:
A catchy “hook“: a design featuring a head-turning product photo or example of your favorite design
No more than one one line of text or it will be too crowded
Your easy to remember domain name
Printing on the back of the business card may cost more
Anyway, if you’re an entrepreneur of any sort, I do recommend Vistaprint’s business cards, as they are really cheap and great quality. I was really happy with the result, and it was a great investment of less than $20.
Vistaprint Posters Coupon + Review: So, a lot of the reviews out there were written in haste by people who never used Vistaprint, but will make a buck if you click on their site. I decided to put my money where my mouth is and have a poster design printed through Vistaprint, and share the results.
If you are just here looking for a coupon, and don’t care to read my review, no offense. Here’s the best available coupon for posters:
This year I was once again tasked with the job of creating an 11×17″ poster design for our town’s annual “Music In the Park” fundraising event.
This is what you’d call a “labor of love” as designing and printing the poster usually takes me three days of work, and I always exceed the $100 budget that I’m given to print 50 posters. Any money spent above that comes directly out of my pocket, so it’s in my interest find the best price and quality for 11×17″ posters.
Instead of using the guy at the print shop down the road who does me a favor to only go $50 over budget, I’m using Vistaprint this year.
Using Vistaprint for Printing Posters
So, the hard part was designing these things, which can take me a long time. I’m not a perfectionist in many areas of life, but I truly invest myself in anything that I call my “design,” especially when it’s displayed publicly all over town. So, that’s one of the reasons I can’s mess this up.
My first thought was to have my poster design printed at the Staples down the road. One quick call, and I realized that printing 50 of these color posters at 11×17 inches was going to cost me over $250 dollars. Not an option.
Next thought: Vistaprint. I’ve had a number of things printed by them, and have always been happy, so here goes.
How Much Do 11×17 Posters Cost at Vistaprint?
A quick search through this week’s Vistaprint coupons and I found a code for 40% off all poster printing. Woo hoo! A quick estimate, and I realized that with shipping and premium poster cardstock these 11×17 posters would cost me about $2 each if I printed 50. If I had only needed 20, they would have cost about $3 each.
Larger sizes cost more, smaller posters cost less. The more you have printed, the lower the price per piece.
My Review for Vistaprint Posters: 11×17, 16×20, 18×24, or 22×28″
Here’s my poster design: (digital file)
music in the park newtown pa 2016
So, I had a complete design, so I ignored the design templates that they offered and chose the “upload your own design option.” Be sure to download their free poster design template for the best results.
The design templates ensure that you have the correct color setup (CMYK) and a high enough resolution design. (175 dpi)
Vistaprint offers full-bleed printing, which means they print right up to and over the edge if you’d like ensuring that you don’t have an unwanted white border anywhere. Their design template (Photoshop) inculdes guides that show you where the safety zones are so that a tiy shift in printing doesn’t give you unexpected results or cut off your design.
After the easy file upload VIstaprint walks you through a few screens including a virtual preview of your design which you have to sign off on. (look for misspellings or unexpected cropping here) Looks good on-screen, but as you can tell, my poster has a lot of little details like a vintage effect (fine scratches) as well as color gradients, which made me nervous.
A poorly printed gradient can print out in ugly bands of color, like my cheap inkjet printer would do. Let’s hope this goes well!
I chose to upgrade to premium 80-lb cardstock instead of the thin glossy paper that is the cheapest option. I’m hanging these posters around town, so I want them to be sturdy! The premium cardstock added about $1 per print.
Ok, all looks good. Time to choose my shipping option.
Vistaprint Poster Shipping: How Long Does It Take?
Normally I am a procrastinator, but I didn’t need these posters in my hands for another 2 weeks, so I chose economy shipping which was estimated to take almost 2 weeks, but it’s much cheaper.
*Tip: If you are a new customer, there is often a coupon available for free shipping!
Turns out the posters arrived exactly 7 days after I placed the order and used economy shipping! Maybe shipping speed varies by location and product, but I got my posters in half the time estimated. Glad I didn’t spend twice as much for expedited delivery!
Using a Promo Code at Checkout for Posters
I had copied down a coupon code for 40% off posters before starting my order, so now is the time to enter it at checkout. As promised, the code delivered and gave me a 40% discount. Wow! That’s now much less than half the price of printing 11×17 posters at Staples!
If you have any issues using a promo code, make sure it’s not just for new customers, or try another code. I update the Vistaprint coupons on this site every day or two.
*Tip: After I placed my order, Vistaprint gave me the option to double the number of posters printed at an 80% discount. That would mean I could add 50 more for a total of $19 more. I didn’t think I needed another 50, but it was tempting!
Vistaprint 11×17 Poster: My Review – GREAT Discount Custom Poster Printing Online!
WOW! My crappy iPhone 5 photo doesn’t do these posters justice. Bright colors and sharp lines! I’m so happy with how these posters turned out!
The premium 80 pound glossy paper(cardstock) is really sturdy. I originally wanted to print these with a matte finish, but that wasn’t an option. I’m really happy with the glossy result!
As I mentioned, these shipped really quickly, and I got them in a week (6 business days) even with the cheapest shipping available.
Vistaprint posters Are Not Exactly the Stated Sizes / Dimensions
*Note: The Vistaprint 11×17 posters are not exactly 11×17. They are slightly larger, measuring about 0.25 inches larger on each dimension. (About 11.25 x 17.25″) If you are just tacking these up somewhere, this probably doesn’t matter. However, this was annoying when I bought 11×17″ frames and had to trim about 1/8 of an inch from all 4 sides!
Some Vistaprint Poster Samples:
Vistaprint Poster Review Conclusion
I will be using Vistaprint again for 11×17 posters, as this is a great size for small business marketing, advertising events, concerts, etc. _ The same process and quality is, of course, available at larger sizes like 16×20, 18×24, and 22×28.
You can also check reviews directly on the Vistaprint site for other people’s experience with printing posters and honest reviews.
Why the negative reviews on Vistaprint.com? From what I can tell the most common reason for bad reviews was that people probably didn’t use their design template. This resulted in low resolution photos and text, or posters being cropped in unexpected ways. If you don’t use their template, your also likely to have saved your design as RGB(red, gren, blue) instead of the recommended CMYK(cyan, magenta, yellow, black) color setup, which it is printed with.
Keep in mind that when someone has a bad experience, they are much more likely to write a review! But, doing your homework and reading all the reviews that you can will help you to not make the same mistakes. Vistaprint seems to always offer disgruntled customers credit to redo their order, regardless of who is at fault.
Here’s my final printed 11×17 poster one more time. I threw a quarter in there for scale.
Coupons for Canvas Prints from Vistaprint.com – Not to be confused with their cheaper cousin, “mounted prints,” premium canvas prints from Vistaprint are a beautiful way to display your favorite photos as wall art. Use a coupon below for up to a 40% discount or free shipping:
