You will have a lot of decisions to make as you design your card holder: what material to use for the holder, what material to use for the faceplate, what text to have engraved, the font you want, and whether you want additional accents or artwork. You can see examples of all the materials on our site. You will only see the first few letters of the alphabet in any font when you do a preliminary search on our site. If you want to see how every letter looks (upper and lower case) in that font, please click directly on the sample where it says "ABC" and you will get a pop-up window which shows the entire alphabet.

If you run a small business and are looking for a way to make yourself more visible around town, talk to other local businesses and ask if you can make your business cards available at their locations--and be prepared to reciprocate! If you were just to leave a stack of business cards on a table, very little would likely come of it. If you were to leave them in a customized business card holder, however, it would be much less likely that anyone else would put their promotional materials over yours, and your cards would be more likely to catch someone's eye and convert to business for you.

1. With or without engraving?The answer lies in the look or image you want to portray. For the most professional look, choose a card holder which allows your name, name/title or business name/logo to be engraved on it. Why engrave these on the holder when your business cards are sitting in the holder? The more times people see your name, company name and/or logo, the more apt they are to remember them.

Engraved business card holders add a sense of permanence, of being established. If you’ve put out the effort to personalize your business accessories (business card holders, business card cases, name tags for your employees) you’re more likely to still be around tomorrow.

Engraved business card holders, like wearing a name tag, immediately identifies who you are, and perhaps what your position is. People like to know the name of the person they're dealing with. This helps establish a more personal rapport between the customer and the sales person. It also fosters an additional sence of responsibiltiy in your employees - their name is right there for customers or clients to see.

If you choose to personalize your business card holder, Specialized Engraving, LLC offers over 40 type styles to choose from. Some business card holders have room for accent lines, accent pairs and/or clip art.

• Check out all the letters of the alphabet (by clicking on the ABC square that will pop up next to the type style name) to be sure you like all of the letters you’ll be using.
• If you want all capital letters, very few type styles will work. Roman, Century, Contemporary and Gothic, and other simple styles will work the best.
• Adding clip art or accent pairs will affect the amount of text that can be engraved.

2. What to put on the engraved plate? This will be affected by the size of the business card holder - the larger the holder, the larger the plate, the more characters/spaces available on each line. Here are some ideas:

• Your company name
• Your name / position
• Logo if there is room and if it can be converted to an engravable format
• "Please Take One"
• "Please Take A Card"
• "We Appreciate Your Business"
• "Thanks!"
• "Thank You For Your Business"

• Home office, business office, reception desk, shop desk, trade show area.

For business owners, card holders make great gifts for your employees for: Secretary’s Day, Christmas, end of probationary period, promotions, the new associate. A gift to yourself or a family member or friend. For someone’s first or new job. When a friend opens their own business. A gift for Boss’s Day. Set out your business card holder at craft booths, informational booths or tables for non-profit organizations. Use at business promotionals, book signings, lectures and seminars, career fairs, recruitment centers. As promotional gifts. Do you own a carpet cleaning, pest control, house painting or landscaping business? Consider giving out business card holders as gifts to your local real estate agents. How does this help your business? On the front of the holder, have their name engraved (be sure to get the correct spelling). On the BACK of the card holder, engrave your company name and phone numbers. The client sees the agent’s name, the agent sees your name all day, every day! One pest control business owner would give this kind of business card holder to each new graduate of the local real estate school! Do you show or exhibit animal cats, dogs or birds, livestock, horses, llamas, or alpacas? Perhaps you sell animals, reptiles, fish, snakes, etc at exotic pet fairs? Make your business cards handy at your booth, grooming space, cage top, or informational table, Use them as post-it notes or small notepad holders. Engrave a "We Love You" on a holder, tuck a note pad and pen in it, and give to a new college student leaving home. Put a phone message pad and pen, wrap up in cellophane and give as part of a house warming gift basket. With a "Honey-Do" list pad and pen tucked into a holder, it’s a fun little extra for a wedding gift!

4. Types of Business Card Holders:

• Clear acrylic business card holders fit with any decor! Being clear makes them neutral, allowing them to fit into any color scheme. Available in one tier and multi-tiered. Engraving is not available.
• Brass business card holders are a traditional classic. Brass gives a feeling of richness and elegance. A small engraved plate is available with this holder.
• Marble business card holders in black or green give a feeling of permanence. Engraving is available on some of the marble holders.
• Pewter business card holders are usually fun and whimsical. From horses running though a field, to a cat on a fence to the lovely red, white and blue flag and eagle holder, most pewter holders are sculptured on both sides. Engraving is not available on these holders.
• Wooden business card holders come in a variety of sizes and are available with and without engraved plates. The shorter holders come in walnut, rosewood and oak finish. Perhaps the most elegant is the business card and name plate holder, which is a solid walnut holder with either an 8" or 10" long engraved plate.