Business cards are an important marketing tool for many designers, and a lot of web designers also design business cards for their clients. If you’re interested in learning more about business card design take a look at the tutorials presented here. Some of the tutorials cover the process of designing the card in Photoshop and others use Illustrator.

How to Create a Nebula Background Business Card

How to Create a Sweet Bokeh Business Card in Photoshop

Design a Clean Striped Business Card in Illustrator

Making a Print-Ready Business Card Using Only Photoshop

Design a Print Ready Business Card

How to Create Print Ready Standard Size Business Cards

How to Create Old Grunge Style Print Ready Business Card

Stylish Print-Ready Business Card Design

Designing a Professional Business Card in Photoshop

Create a Molten Chocolate Business Card in Photoshop

Make a Swiss Design Inspired Business Card in 30 Minutes

How to Design a Business Card

How to Create a Stylish Business Card Template in Adobe Photoshop

How to Make a Space-Themed Business Card in Photoshop

Business Card Design Walkthrough

Create a Slick Business Card with Stunning Typography

Creating a Colorful Vibrant Business Card

Create a Fun Print-Ready Doodled Business Card Design

How to Make a Great Print-Ready Business Card in Photoshop

Creating a Cartoony Print-Ready Business Card in Photoshop

How to Create a Sophisticated Business Card Design

Create a Print-Ready Business Card Design in Illustrator

How to Create a Colorful Business Card Template in Illustrator CS4

Create a Business Card in Illustrator and Print it with UPrinting

How to Design an Abstract Business Card in Photoshop

Design a Slick Print Ready Business Card Design Using Photoshop

Create a Grunge Print-Ready Business Card

Design a Cool and Original Jeans Style Business Card in Photoshop

Design a Print-Ready Business Card for Designers

Business Card Design Project Walkthrough

Making a Grungy Business Card

Cardboard and Torn Paper Business Card

Design a Dirty Business Card

Business card design can be tricky if you’re not familiar with the process. As you’ll see in these tutorials, there are a number of different programs that you can use to create business cards, but setting up the layout properly and getting it ready to print can be the most challenging part.

This selection of tutorials will show you some techniques for designing business cards, as well as give you all the information you need to get set up the right way to make the design a success.

Design a Print Ready Business Card for Designers

This tutorial from Chris Spooner will show you how to create a two-sided business card using Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.

Making a Grungy Business Card

Learn how to create a business card with a grungy style by using Photoshop.

Making a Print-Ready Business Card Using Only Photoshop

Collis Ta’eed shows us how to make a stylish business card design in Photoshop.

Print-Ready Business Card Using Photoshop

PSDTUTS also put together a video version of Collis’ original tutorial.

Using a Vanishing Point Filter to Mockup a Business Card

This tutorial does not cover the process of designing a business card> It does, however, show how you can create a realistic mockup of your design to include in a portfolio of to present to a client.

Photoshop Business Card Templates and Tutorial

GreatFX provides some basic Photoshop templates for designing your own business cards, and a tutorial for working with them.

Making Your Business Cards Dynamic in Illustrator

Veerle shows how you can easily get business cards ready to go to the printer.

Business Card Tutorial

Learn how to create this business card with just Photoshop.

Cardboard and Torn Paper Business Card

PSHero shows how to make a business card in Photoshop with a textured look.

Business Card Design Project Walkthrough

Chris Spooner provides some helpful insight into his process by walking through a case study of one of his own clients.

What Makes a Good Business Card?

While this isn’t a tutorial that will show you how to design a business card, it is a very useful guide that can help to keep your work on-track and get results.

Dealing with ups and downs in terms of your work level is part of being a freelancer. Yesterday we looked at ways you can maintain a more stable income as a designer, but for those unavoidable times when you’re just not as busy as you would like, it’s good to have a plan. Just because you don’t have as much client work as you would like doesn’t mean that there is nothing positive you can do for your business. Here are some things to keep you productive.

Improve Your Business:

1. Work on Your Portfolio Site

The portfolio is critical to attracting new clients and building your reputation as a designer. An outstanding portfolio speaks for itself. With the huge number of freelance designers out there, having an effective portfolio is important. However, it’s not just the quality of the work itself that’s important, how you display it can also make a big difference. Designers are getting more and more creative in how they show off their best work, and sometimes the portfolio itself is just as impressive as the work contained inside it. Those who are able to stand out can get plenty of attention from web design and CSS galleries as well as from other designers that write about, and link to, the best portfolio sites.

UPDATE: We recently launched a gallery dedicated to showcasing the best portfolio sites – Folio Focus.

2. Develop a Blog

The single most important factor in my career as a designer has been blogging. While blogging may not be for everyone, you may be surprised what it can accomplish, even if you’re not a gifted writer. A blog can help you to network with others in the industry, improve your name recognition, attract new clients, bring new referral business, draw more visitors from search engines and social media, and even allow you to increase your rates.

As a designer you may be hesitant to devote time to writing and maintaining a blog, but I think you’ll find that the benefits far outweigh the time requirements. If you already have a blog you can use your down time to develop new content, research post ideas, interact with other bloggers, or anything else you want to do to build the blog. If you haven’t started blogging yet, see if your host offers easy installations of blogging platforms, such as WordPress, and add a blog to your portfolio.

Marketing:

3. Network

In addition to blogging, networking has been very important for me personally. Actually, blogging and networking go very well together and improve the opportunities and the results for one another. If your freelance design career keeps you restricted to your home and offer little interaction with others in the industry, your slow time is a great chance to change this.

Networking can take place in any number of forms. You may be a member of a local chamber of commerce that has specific networking events, or you may prefer to network online with designers around the world. For networking online you can set up profiles at places like LinkedIn, Virb, Twitter, Carbonmade, deviantART , and more. Commenting on design-related blogs or niche social media sites can also be a great way to interact and get to know others.

4. Work on Your Marketing Materials

When was the last time you worked on new business cards or other marketing materials? This type of stuff can easily get pushed aside due to a heavy work load, but when things are slow you may want to give more consideration to these tasks. While your marketing materials aren’t going to directly make you money, they obviously can have a profound impact on your end results.

• Inspirational Business Card Designs – PSDTUTS
• 35 Cool and Inspirational Business Card Designs – Crazy Leaf Blog Design
• 36 Cool Business Cards You Should’ve Seen – DZine Blog
• 42 Awesome Business Cards (with Links to 100s More) – [Re]Encoded

5. Set Up a PPC Campaign

Pay-Per-Click advertising is capable of giving you an outstanding return on your advertising investment. Most freelancers aren’t interested in spending big money on advertising and marketing, which eliminates many options. PPC allows you to cater the campaign to your budget, regardless of how big or small that may be. It’s possible to get results by only spending $50 per month with PPC ads.

Major PPC programs also allow you to target specific geographic regions if you are interested in pursuing local clients. Setting up a campaign can be done relatively quickly, and once it is running you won’t have to do much more than monitor it occasionally.

• Tips for Localized PPC for Designers – Vandelay Design
• 17 Most Common PPC Mistakes Web Marketers Make – SEOmoz

Giveaways:

6. Build a Free WordPress Theme

Designing and distributing a free WordPress theme can bring tons of links and traffic to your site. If the theme becomes popular among WordPress users it could also help to establish your name in the WP design community. Designing a theme takes time, but since work is slow, this is a great opportunity.

7. Design Icons to Give Away

There are a number of skilled graphic designers that offer free downloads of icon sets that they have developed. Although there is no shortage of free icons, good ones will always draw attention. The results can be similar to giving away a free WP theme, lots of visitors and links.

Alternate Sources of Income:

8. Build a Premium WordPress Theme

Building a WordPress theme to give away isn’t the only option. It’s becoming more and more common for designers to shift some of their income from client work to sales of premium themes. If client work is slow, why not pursue another avenue for income as a designer? Of course, a premium theme will need to be worth paying for since there are thousands of other themes available for free.

9. Design Templates to Sell

In addition to selling WordPress themes, you could also sell HTML/CSS templates. Even though a higher percentage of websites are turning towards CMS, like WordPress, there is still a sizeable market for premium templates. You could sell the templates through you own website or through a marketplace like Templamatic .

10. Work on Sites that You Own

You may already have some sites of your own that are currently, or have the potential to, produce income. Many freelancers are turning to blogs and other design-related sites to use their abilities and knowledge to establish a secondary income in relation to client work. If you don’t currently have any of your own sites, I would encourage you to look into the possibilities and see if it interests you. It can be very rewarding to work on something different, and something that you personally own. Being able to do things the way you want, instead of the way a client wants, can be a nice change of pace.

11. Create Graphics to Sell

Talented graphic artists also have the opportunity to earn supplementary income through sales of images/graphics/vectors. Stock photography and graphics marketplaces provide an easy way to start making some money in this way. It’s unlikely that you’ll ever be able to make a full-time income, but when your client work is slow why not try another method?

12. Write Tutorials for Other Sites/Blogs

If you enjoy writing and teaching, you can also make some additional money by developing tutorials for other websites. Many websites and blogs will pay writers to publish their tutorials, and the money can be quite good in some cases. There are tons of sites that offer design-related tutorials, so consider contacting some of them to see if they are in need of new writers.

13. Write a Book/E-Book

While most of us spend the majority of our days online, it’s still nice every now and then to pick up a book and learn something new about design. If you visit your local library or bookstore you’ll see books from some very talented writers and designers. Depending on your skillset and your level of experience, writing a book may be an option.

If you like the idea of writing a book, but getting published and writing a few hundred pages is more than you want to deal with, there’s always the option to develop an e-book on your own and to sell it through your website. The costs of developing and selling an e-book are minimal. Either option here will require some time, but if you have some available you may want to give it a shot. If you’re successful, this can be an excellent way to build your name and your reputation as a designer.

Study:

14. Brush Up On Your Skills

As designers we all need to be constantly improving our skills and developing new ones. The industry never stands still, so we shouldn’t either. With lots of client work it can be difficult to find time for learning (well, you’re probably learning through your work, but maybe not what you’d most like to learn).

If you have some down time in your client work, pick up a new book or read through some online tutorials. Maybe you want to learn a new language, improve your Photoshop skills, or study a particular style of design. Any type of improvement can help you to become a better, more talented designer. Decide what you would like to improve on and take the time to pursue that knowledge.

15. Study Other Types of Design

There’s so much great information available online about web design that many of us tend to stay trapped in that little box of design blogs and CSS galleries. Outside the online world of web design there are tons of different types of design that can all be related or used somehow in our own web design work. Maybe you have some interest in interior design or print design (magazines, newspapers, etc.). Now would be a good time to learn a little bit more about a particular aspect of design, and who knows, maybe it can help you to become a more creative, more talented web designer.

Business:

16. Catch Up On Paperwork

The details and finances of freelancing can be a real headache. Not many of us like dealing with invoices and taxes, but we still have to do it. Sometimes be organized in these areas takes a back seat to client work, so when you’re slow take the time to get caught up and develop a system that can keep you more organized going forward.

Give Back:

17. Do Some Work for a Non-Profit

If you’re looking for a chance to use your skills for good while you don’t have a busy schedule full of client work, consider doing some work for a non-profit organization for free or at a low cost. This may not always be a good idea because some will take advantage of the situation, but in general you will get a great sense of accomplishment through helping a worthy cause that interests you personally.

18. Mentor Another Designer

Another way to do something helpful without asking for anything in return is to spend some time mentoring and helping a younger or less-experienced designer. All of us could use some help from an experienced individual at some point, so you may enjoy being the one that gets to help someone else to take the first steps in their career.

Get Away:

19. Take a Vacation!

If you have some down time in your client work, enjoy it! Most freelancers don’t get enough time away from their work, so take this opportunity to have some time to yourself or with your family. Time off is necessary for all of us and it can often re-fuel you and give you some new energy when you come back to work.

My good friend and fellow blogger, Douglas Karr has published a new eBook call 25 Steps to Success: Search Engine Optimization and Business Blogging. It’s a long title for sure. But, from a SEO standpoint, it is quite brilliant. Doug’s new eBook talks about the best SEO practices for blogs and why business must get into blogging.

Regular price for 25 Steps to Success: Search Engine Optimization and Business Blogging is $99.00. However, to kick things off with a bang and to generate some buzz, Douglas and Bryan (co-author) is putting the eBook on sale for only $9.99 for the first 10,000 copies.

Who Is Douglas Karr?

Douglas Karr is the President and CEO of DK New Media, LLC, an online marketing firm specializing in assisting medium to large businesses leverage search, blogging and social media to improve business results. Douglas also founded and is the key blogger at The Marketing Technology Blog, consistently named as one of the Top Marketing and Social Media Blogs on the web for several years. He lives in Indianapolis, Indiana with his two children, William and Katherine. Basically, he’s an all around nice guy. He’s also the guy with the longest “Where to find me online” list that I’ve ever seen.

Extremely Refreshing Sales Page

The first thing that stuck me about 25 Steps to Success: Search Engine Optimization and Business Blogging is the sales page. It’s not a mile long and doesn’t have flashing lights or sounds or promises of making you a millionaire by noon tomorrow. This is because the book is geared toward businesses looking to add blogging as another way to communicate with their customers. However, the book is also great for bloggers trying to optimize their blogs for more search engine traffic.

25 Steps to Success: Search Engine Optimization and Business Blogging is 80 pages long and filled with sound and practical advice that is sure to increase your Google traffic. Even seasoned SEO professionals will find new information here. Also very helpful are links to some really cool tools that Douglas use for his blog and SEO consulting business.

The information in 25 Steps to Success: Search Engine Optimization and Business Blogging is worth far more than the measly $9.99 Douglas is asking for it. I’ve already came away with a bunch of ideas, like setting up a Bing webmaster account and using SEOPivot to reignite old content, that I know will increase my search engine traffic. I really think Doug should charge the full $99 for this book. I know the take away I got from it will be worth thousands of dollars. Go get your copy of 25 Steps to Success: Search Engine Optimization and Business Blogging before Douglas reads this post and increases the price.

After spending 5 years scanning books, Google (GOOG) is about to produce some tangible results. It is getting into the business of printing books.

In conjunction with On Demand Books, Google will make 2 million out of copyright books available to public for around $8 a piece.

On Demand makes the Espresso Book Machine, a $100,000 machine which prints and binds a 300 page book in less than 5 minutes.

Google will keep a dollar from each book sold. On Demand gets a buck. The retailer gets three bucks and the rest covers materials and labor. Google will donate its money from book sales to charities and non-profits.

Google’s big book scanning project is under fire from its digital rivals, like Amazon, who fear Google would be able to undermine its e-book efforts. This partnership is being used to show that Google’s project can benefit the public.