What’s Your Business Card Style?

When was the last time you got a business card and actually kept it? Well, people keep the business coins they get from Lynn Blamires.

Lynn is a 77-year-old four-wheeling enthusiast who takes other riders on trails of all difficulties. He even has a long-running newspaper column in the Ogden Standard-Examiner about his Utah ATV adventures. He also happens to be our grandpa. We sure do love him and his off-road exploits.

We printed business coins for Lynn at his request, with his logo on one side and his contact information on the other. He’s been giving them out like crazy and getting good responses.

Of course, depending on your business, a wooden business card may or may not work for you. Some other kinds of cards that may be effective for you include shaped cards, plastic cards, metal cards, and novelty cards. The more off-beat you get, the more you can expect to pay. But people are more likely to keep the fun cards and show them to their friends.

Forbes.com has 10 tips for great business cards in 2024. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/best-business-card-designs/

Here are our favorite three.

1. Use a minimalist card with embossing for emphasis. Forbes’ example has a cartographer’s business card with a topographical map embossed, perfectly suited to her business.

2. Be simple and still unique. A roofing company in the article has a business card that folds in half to look like a shingled roof.

3. Make it smart. Put a QR code or other link to your website or other material your customer will find valuable.

Remember to always have a few cards with you. We'd love to see your unique business card. Post a picture in the comments.

5 Meaningful Easter Gifts

We are not into lengthy introductions, so here goes.

1. If you are Christian, then Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We all know people who research the "real" meaning of Halloween or whether St. Patrick was a real person. Why not do some research on the origins of Easter? Some great gifts celebrating Christ's resurrection are a new Bible or Children's Bible, a cross of some kind (handmade, jewelry, etc.), a picture of Christ, or a quote about Him.

 

2. For those who are celebrating the newness of spring and the rebirth of Mother Earth, Easter could be a time for natural gifts. Fruit baskets, plants, or flowers are always appreciated. They celebrate life!

3. Let's face it, nowadays sugar = love. You don't have to give an impersonal Easter goody basket though. You could give a "box of sunshine" with all yellow candy to celebrate spring or opt for tulip-shaped cookies. Many companies sell chocolate crosses. Or, you could always go with a traditional chocolate bunny or egg with a note that says something like our great-grandpa would have said: "Take the dumb candy and just be glad I got you anything at all!"

 

4. The gift of time. Instead of something tangible, take your loved one on a walk to appreciate nature or to a church service celebrating Easter. You could also spend an afternoon decorating eggs or planning an egg hunt for the neighborhood kids.

5. Gift a gift to the environment. Those colorful, fun, plastic Easter eggs we all use for hunts are almost always un-recyclable. So what do we do with them? Reduce, reuse, repurpose.

If you already have an egg stash, reuse it instead of buying new eggs. If you don't need them, donate them. If you do need them, check a thrift store first. Another option is using old plastic eggs for crafts. Search online for plastic egg crafts and you'll find a plethora of ideas.

Good luck with your Easter gifting! We hope you have a memorable, meaningful Easter season this year!

Coming Out of the Woodworks

More than a year ago, when Bison and Bobcat Studios first got started, we had a little 20 watt laser and a small pile of wood. My husband, Benjamin, is a man of many talents, woodworking being one of them. The lure of a laser to customize his creations was strong, so we made the investment.

But where other hobbies had only held his interest for a short while, he became totally engrossed in wood lasering. With so many ideas in the works and our house filling up with wood burned items, we thought it only fair to share the joy and start an Etsy shop. 

This custom game board is one of the first things we designed and cut on the laser.

We started with just doing small jobs for friends, and now we are really enjoying doing custom wood creations for people all over the U.S. 

Alas, we now have a garage full of wood to reclaim, and our house is starting to burst at the seams with two lasers, a bunch of saws (I'm not sure what they're all called,) and piles and piles of wood. But we don't care about the sawdust and splinters and not having a place to park our car anymore. We are just glad we get to follow our passion to create and share that with others.