I promised in my last entry that I would eventually show you what I came up with in place of “drop cards” since I am too poor to initiate production of those.  Enter MOO cards and Printfinity.  Along with the QR Code Generator website I like to use, I was able to create custom cards that were under $30.00 total for each order.  These function as both advertisements for my books and business cards.  I know the pictures are kind of hard to see, but the back of each card has my information on it.  The fronts all have different designs.

The great thing about the MOO Printfinity is one side of your card is the same on all the cards.  The other side can be different and you don’t have to pay more to use this feature.  My original order was a set of full-sized business cards.  There were 50 cards, which is usually the minimum for full-sized cards.  I designed 4 different images to be featured on these cards.  Moo has Photoshop templates and what I did was take my book covers and shrink them to fit into the card template.  I then made a custom QR code that lead to where you could see or buy the book.  For my non-comics, I use a free service called Books2Read that will let a reader decide what store they want to shop at.   So, when you scan the QR code it takes you to the Books2Read landing page and from there you can choose stores such as Amazon or Apple.  This lets the reader choose what store they want to visit for their device.

The back of the card was designed online with their easy to use tools.  You can make QR codes directly in your design process on Moo, like I did on my larger cards, but then that code is the same link on every card.  Which is fine if you do what I did on the back of the larger business cards, linking to my website, but not so good if you want to Printfinity your order with a bunch of different codes and pictures as I have done on my book cover cards.

For the mini cards, which are half business sized and are 100 minimum to order, I went with my domain name and email address due to the limited room on the back.  For #Broken and my Blurb Art book, I merged the QR code/Art in Photoshop using the MOO templates for the safety lines.  For the one card with only a QR code, I made this whole card on the website with their free tools.

A way you can Printfinity more than one QR code that you have made with MOO’s tools would be to use the picture space on the front for your QR code as QR codes count as “pictures”.  Unfortunately, the card would only have the QR code on the front because it counts as your “picture” and there would be white space like mine.  (I plan on signing mine there for those that really want my signature.) I could not get the system to let me upload two pictures to the front nor a picture and a QR code made at MOO for the same space.  Yet, even if they are plain, it might be fun to have a random QR code that nobody knows what it is until after it is scanned.  Like a scavenger hunt of products.  Just be sure to put your contact or website info on the back.

I originally wanted drop cards because you can put a digital copy of whatever you want to sell on the card and it was all accessible at home to the user.  Essentially you were selling a download link to your content in a pretty package.  You load up the card in your panel and then sell the cards.  The user then goes and enters the code and is given access to the items they bought.  It is a great way to sell a digital download of anything from music to art.  I just don’t have the funds to pay the set-up fee!  However, the next best thing would be cards with different QR code links on them.  This way a patron can leave with something physical in their hands that will take them to the digital item.  I wanted this mostly for my comics b/c until I get done with the series I won’t be able to offer them in print.  Shoppers are more likely to scan a link and purchase items when they get home if they have it readily available.  Heck, some could even scan it and buy it while they were standing there and then ask me to sign one of the white cards.

I also think that cards with QR codes on it would be great to hand out links to free things to real people you meet.  Who wants to type in a hyperlink? Even for a free item?  Hand them a card with a QR code on it that they can use their cell phone to scan and get an active hyperlink.  If what you are handing out isn’t something they can easily download to their phone, they could always use the phone’s “share” feature to email themselves a link.

The quality of the printing is AMAZING.  The card stock feels so good in your hand.  Plus, with both orders I have received a fairly durable cardboard holder at no extra charge.  I used to order cards from lots of places, but MOO makes it easy to give me more mileage out of one order.  I don’t have to pick and choose.  I can put 50 different fronts on my cards and just pay one fee.  The cards look great and don’t feel cheap.  The pricing is competitive and I am just happier overall with the finished product.

Also, if you are a new customer and you click on the MOO links in this post you will get money off your next order and I will get a referral credit.  Currently you can get $30.00 off your first order if you follow my referral link.  I don’t know if this changes or if there is a certain amount you need to buy, but remember I got both of these orders with shipping for under $30.00 each.

Oh and this place has custom stickers and all kinds of other cool, useful stuff to help you sell YOUR stuff!

2019 Update!  BookFunnel has a thing called Print Codes that allow you to sell copies of your ebook out in the wild!  Each code is good for one download.  You only have to print it out and give it to your customer.  You can make some cute cards and print the unique codes on stickers.  With MOO’s multiple print options you could make a cute card on one side and put the code on the back!