I have business cards, and boy, do they come in handy.  How?  Here’s some of the ways I use my cards.

1. Give them to other moms.  How often have you scrambled for a scrap of paper to write down your phone number for a mother of your child’s classmate or a new friend met at the neighborhood park?  Make it easy and quick to hand over your contact information.

2. Win free stuff.  Often, restaurants or local businesses will have a fishbowl on the counter for business cards.  Drop yours in and you could win a free lunch!

3. Little Girl Lost.  When we go out into crowds, I give each of the kids my business card to carry with them.  If they get lost, they are supposed to go find someone else’s mommy and give her my card.

This came in handy when we were at the Renaissance Festival.  Miss C wandered around the backside of a shop tent and out of sight.  Luckily, she remembered what to do and found a woman with kids, who called me on my cell phone.  We were only about 20 feet away but with so many people, I couldn’t see her.

4. Keep your promises  Sometimes, I’ll have to tell the kids “you can do that tomorrow” or “you can have it later, I promise”.  That wouldn’t satisfy them, and they’d whine “you’ll just forget!”  And they were right.  So, for those extra special promises, I give them a “ticket” – my business card with the guarantee on the back.  Just write on “Good for one ice cream cone” or “I owe you a dollar” on it and hand it over as an I.O.U.

5. Preparedness.  Bad storm shuts down the city?  Hurricane or fire forcing evacuations?  Pass your business card to your neighbors to stay in touch, and leave one on your front door.  When Hurricane Ike came through, it was a call from a neighbor that let us know electricity was restored and that we could come home again.  Also, our neighbor was right there with our house and was able to put our mind at ease about damage, when we were far away.  If your card is in a neighbor’s wallet, it most likely will be grabbed in an emergency as they run out the door, and it will help you stay connected.

6. Finding its way back  Worried about a book or piece of curriculum finding its way home after you loan it out?  Tape your business card to it!  Keep a few in your wallet as well, in case of loss.  You driver’s license doesn’t have your email or phone number on it, but if you’re business card is tucked next to it a good Samaritan or customer service clerk can quickly get ahold of you.

You can print your own at home using special paper, but it’s much cheaper and easier to just order them online.

For years I’ve used Vistaprint to get great cards for a super low price.  Right now they’re offering 250 business cards for free (pay $5.67 shipping and handling).

Inkgarden also is offering 100 free cards, (single or double sided!) all you pay is the price of shipping $4.99.

I recommend against Staples business card service.  I tried them and the cards were truly abysmal and they didn’t meet their deadline, meaning I had to make two trips.  I ended up cancelling them altogether.

What to put on them?  Well, that’s up to you.

I’ve seen Mom Cards that have email, phone number, and kid’s names and ages so the other parents know which mom belongs to the kids, which is a great idea.  It makes it a lot easier when you know someone only as “David’s mom”!

My cards have my name, my email, my site URL and my twitter handle (really, they’re blog business cards) and I left a space to write down my phone number.  I don’t necessarily want to give my cell number to everyone I give my card to, so this gives me a little privacy control.  Plus, we have a landline for the kids, so I can also choose which number to give out- mine or the family line.

What info would you put on a Mommy Card?

Linking up!

Works for Me Wednesday