Plan
Make an NFC version of everyone at a networking event’s business card.
Not looking for a marketing gimmick that ends up in a drawer. We want to give them a card that will get used, cherished, and hopefully shown to everyone they know with a cute little “Yeah my IT guy made this for me, oh yeah they’re great let me give you their number”
First thoughts
This is 20+ single print batches, getting them professionally printed will be somewhere between wildly expensive and impossible. Printing or engraving ourselves is an option if we have access to the applicable equipment. Anyone know someone with a laser engraver?
For them to get used not drawered they need to be either:
- Indecipherable from their existing card (paper or plastic, 10/10 print quality)
- Custom, premium and something they want to show people (Engraved wood or metal)
Options
Cardboard (Paper?)
- Cannot find these anywhere, not sure if they’re a bitch to make or no one wants them but I’m struggling
- Anywhere that prints paper cards has a minimum order size, 50 or 100
- If we can find blank cards to be have or have access to a printer capable of recreating a card from a scan that doesn’t look like a knockoff?
Bonus Meme - The Laminate
This will be extremely hard to do well but if you want to proof of concept it could be great.
- Get two of their cards
- Buy these tiny NFC tags from Amazon
- Get piece of high gauge paper or something similar as an inlay with a hole for the tag
- Sandwich the inlay with the two cards, find some sort of thin, unobtrusive adhesive to bond it all together.
- Do it right you’ve got a slightly thicker version of their card that’s now NFC enabled, with the inlay they won’t feel the chip. The chips are 0.15mm, would probably work without the inlay.
Wood
This can look and feel real nice but you’re at the mercy of the manufacturer. My $20 for 10 cards off Amazon were in fact wood but they’re too thin / light and I’ve taken to sanding the edges due to the risk of splinters.
Suppliers
- $20 per card
- “Subject to 30 business day turnaround”
Aussie company, didn’t see them the first time I was searching. Seems like a housewife in her shed but nothing wrong with that. If anything means more care given.
Photos look good?ish? only one photo and it’s probably AI.
Seems to imply you MUST have a unit.link account to purchase, can ask to send it blank or just reprogram it.
- $25 per card
- 7 day turnaround
I’m curious about these guys, seem way more legit, have better photos that might not be AI
- $20 per card
- 30+ day turnaround
The guy I ordered from, they look amazing but they take forever.
Amazon This isn’t a supplier but we can get a laser engraver for $160 apparently. I assume it’s terrible.
Plastic
The most common option and it all depends on the print, a wood or metal card can be carried by how it feels but on plastic that design needs to pop. The massive issue there is that we’d be scanning the card so not exactly providing the best image for them? I might be wrong about that I don’t know much about how printing works.
Suppliers
- $30 per card (Full Print)
- 3-5 Business days
See these guys a lot, they do basically every material (except cardboard of course), I emailed them about the wood and metal to ask if they’re printer or engraved but I think it’s printing.
Prices drop a decent amount the more you buy, I think they’re worth a shot
- $15-20 per card
- 10 business days.
As above would have to try them.
- $18 per card
- Unsure of shipping
Same story, but they show photos of the prints and I hope the others look better.
Metal
These look great, feel great, pure premium. If you ever worked in a shop you know the douchebags with the metal Amex that always dropped it on the counter so everyone could hear the ding. Everyone wants to be that guy.
Obviously they’re expensive, $50 per piece minimum for single units.
Suppliers
- $50 per card
- 3.5 business days If they engrave instead of print I say we go for them
- $20 per card, free sample
- 5-10 business day turnaround
- LOL Scam - Free sample doesn’t exist, 600 setup fee
Just found these guys now, not sure how I missed them, might order the sample just to see what they’re about, seems to good to be true.