I'm starting a new business and amongst all the details required to make it successful, I have to design my business cards. Designing is only part of the process, though. I must first decide if I want to use a local print company, one that will take my design and then create the cards, bit by bit, to my exact specifications-and this way will often take a lot of my time and a number of trips to visit the print shop to verify each step of the process. Or if I'd rather go with an online print company that will allow me to, in real-time, design my business cards, I can put them all together myself right there on a virtual drawing board, verify and then submit my preferred design, and pay for it … all at once. Or if it takes me more than one session, so be it, since I still won't have to go anywhere to design my business cards, except right to my computer where my project is saved and waiting for me. All the online print company has to do is actually print the cards.

I decide to go with the online printer because I like the idea of being my own boss for the overall process. By taking care of this task online, I not only design my business cards, but I select each and every aspect from the comfort of my own computer, verifying the stages one by one and then, finally, authorizing the printer to create the cards for me. I enjoy the fact that I am the master of my own success, and when I design my business cards in this fashion, it gives me a great sense of accomplishment. Turning the majority of the process over to a service provider just can't in any way compare.

So what will I need to do exactly to design my business cards? First, I have to find just the right print company, one that will be available to me 24 hours each day, seven days a week. I may decide I want to spend a late evening on this, and if I'm sitting at my computer in my pajamas at midnight as I design my business cards, I want someone available if I have a question or a problem arises while I am there at the computer. Yes, I certainly do ask a lot but I'm spending my hard-earned money on this job and as a business owner who cares deeply about my public and professional image, it is important to me that I can do this exactly as I wish.Once I have selected my printer, I visit their templates page and review each and every available design option, selecting the one which I find to be the most attractive and which will be the best basis for me to design my business cards. From the point where I begin with the templates, I will be able to then add and change colors, play around with different fonts, and pick just the right paper for the type of card I need.

Do I want graphics? Of course I do. I have a logo and that will serve me well here as I design my business cards. My choice of printer allows me to download graphics and photographs, and drop them right into my creation. I can play around with it for as long as I want as I design my business cards, even saving the project and coming back another day. I'm having so much fun with it that I find I've worked well into the night, and finally I decided I simply must go to bed. I can do this, stop and start again tomorrow, with complete confidence that my design to this point will be right there waiting for me when I return. This indeed is another added benefit of working with an online printer as I design my business cards. This is total convenience, and it's total convenience on my schedule … no one else's.

So I've decided on what paper stock to use, what color paper, and I'm now I'm down to selecting a few different fonts and ink colors. I know what I'm adding insofar as graphics-my logo-and I've worked the right information so that my business card speaks to my perfect customer. As I design my business cards, I repeatedly go over each detail separately to make sure I don't forget anything once I move on to the next stage of the effort. My business cards are important tools in my promotional arsenal, and I want to make sure every last point is perfect.

I had a vision when I started to design my business cards, and as I watch the card evolve, I'm thrilled with what I see. I have the card stock selected, the ink color and font chosen, my logo is uploaded, and my information and business message is in place. I review it all as a complete package, am totally satisfied, and decide I am finished. All is well. There are only two things left for me to do now. First, I have to pay my bill, and then I have to wait a week or so for my new business cards to arrive at my door.

What an amazing experience! I'm going to design my business cards every time I may need new ones from here on out. I have become my own graphic designer.