<p>I am pleased with the number of "free-lance" jobs my son has gotten this summer- piano, vocals (church, funerals, etc.), as well as playing trombone in the local county summer jazz band. Someone else called today to hire him to play piano for a party this weekend. Made me think, "Hmm, maybe this kid needs a business card". So, I sat down with Printshop and came up with what I thought was quite nice and he even liked it! Info included is his name, major and school, home and cell phone numbers, email. Also a little text box that says something like "Pianist, Vocalist available for your church service, party or other event". A couple simple graphics and voil</p>
<p>I think that sounds good. I don't think you need the reference thing. If someone wants references, they will ask. My son has a pretty simple one - name, instrument, cell phone and email, and one graphic. Seems to work for him.</p>
<p>I agree with shennie. It's not a resume, you don't need to mention references. Keep the card simple and clean. </p>
<p>It's a very practical and useful investment.</p>
<p>Agree. Short and simple. Make it "pop" visually, or with a nice card stock. Too much and it gets cluttered, and looks "schlocky".</p>
<p>Agreed...keep it simple. You can purchase business card stock in all the office supply stores. Name, address, email, phone, service offered. Use an easy to read font.</p>
<p>Be sure to give out lots of business cards just after Labor Day to caterers and the Chamber of Commerce. There are LOTS of corporate Christmas parties and they start planning early. A demo of 15-20 minutes goes a long way.</p>
<p>Thanks all for the input. I went to Staples yesterday and bought some business
card stock. Hadn't thought about a demo, he has some classical pieces that were recorded at school, will have to see what he thinks about recording some jazzy, popish, and "cocktail" piano and maybe a vocal track. That would be good to have.</p>
<p>He might want to think about a MySpace page to promote himself. My son is finding that it is pretty much an expectation. He says it is pretty easy to set up and MySpace is free. But he will need some recordings that demonstrate his work and a couple of photos.</p>
<p>shennie: thanks for the tip about MySpace. Will mention it to him. I know that for socializing, like most college students, he has abandoned MySpace for Facebook.</p>
<p>OP,</p>
<p>when i did my business card, all i put was my name, instrument, a phone number and email. also, i put at the bottom something about lessons, parties, weddings, etc.</p>
<p>i think its much better to keep it simple. i designed it myself, had about 500 printed up for $27, and people compliment on the card itself all the time. good luck. have fun with it.</p>