Here's a great recession freebie: business cards.
As grim as times are, day after day, week after week, remarkable innovations happen, especially for small businesses.
This week, business cards are gratis. We're not talking dime store, DIY cheapies, but professionally designed and printed business collateral. And the price? Nothing but the time and creative energy it takes to make them.
Even better, the source of this small-business miracle isn't a graphic-design shop. Hardware giant Hewlett-Packard (Stock Quote: HPQ) is behind the deal. The drivers are simple. Computer hardware, particularly imaging, is a tough business. HP and rivals like Lexmark (Stock Quote: LXK) and Xerox (Stock Quote: XRX) are getting crushed. Lexmark's profits dropped 82% in the fourth quarter. I can't even look.
HP, trying to find profit in imaging, is betting on printing services with MarketSplash by HP, which offers low-cost, high-quality graphics and business stuff to small businesses. This market is also competitive. England-based Moo.com, and American players VistaPrint (Stock Quote: VPRT) and 123 Print all provide solid Web-based printing services.
HP, trying to grab market share, recently launched what company spokespeople call a no-fee, no-shipping, "zero cost" business card service aimed at small businesses.
My assistant, Saj, and I have been testing this freebie for several weeks. We designed and printed our own cards. And though our traditional designers and printers have nothing to fear, we found the service decent. Quality was acceptable. Results were solid. And you certainly can't beat the price.
"We are hoping to bring a new level of sophistication to the small-business graphics market," says Aaron Weiss, HP's vice president for product management.
What you get: Perfectly reasonable business cards and other promotional items for nothing or next to nothing.
Let's cut to the chase. Not everything MarketSplash tries to sell is free. HP has brought the process of designing the paper things you need to do business to the Web, dramatically lowering the costs. Logos start at a whopping $45, Web sites at $13 and letterhead at $28. That's pretty cheap.
