If you run a business, club, gym or organisation the chances are you may need to produce membership cards. Hobby clubs and gyms use them a lot as a way to make sure that only members get access to certain areas. Effectively these double as simple ID badges.
Many firms also use them as a way to reward customers for their loyalty perhaps taking a percentage off the bill for people who carry the card or only allowing people with a card to benefit from certain offers. Some firms use plastic ID cards with a magnetic strip or simple smart chip embedded in them. This allows companies to record transactions and award points to their members or regular customers.
DIY or outsource?
When it comes to producing these cards, there are two main ways to do it. You can take the traditional route and outsource both the design and the print process.
However, if you want to you can also do it yourself. Modern ID card printers from Digital ID make it viable for you to print your own cards rather than outsource the work.
Designing a membership card is not complex. It is no harder than putting together a letterhead or logo. All you need is some simple design software. You can even design your ID card using Microsoft Word.
Once you have the design sorted, you just connect your ID card printer to your PC load it with plastic blanks and press the print button. The actual printing process is no more complicated than printing anything else.
Why print your own ID cards
In our view, the DIY option is best, at least for most firms. Here is why we say this.
It is cheaper
The cost of printing your own membership cards is low. It is normally far cheaper to print your own ID cards than it is to outsource the work. You need to buy the printer, the inks and the blanks, but the printer pays for itself quickly and the cost of blanks and inks is very low. Check the figures before you go down the DIY route just to be sure, but usually you will find it a lot cheaper to print your own ID cards
It is fast
Printing your own membership cards is far faster than waiting for a busy printing firm to complete your order. You can come up with the design and be printing within minutes.
When you get a new member, the design will already be ready and waiting, so all you have to do is to make a copy, add the client’s name and other details and print the card. Within a few minutes, you can produce a personalised membership card for your new member or customer.
You stay in control
By printing your own cards, you stay in total control. There is no risk of a dishonest worker at a print shop producing a batch of your cards and selling them. In addition, when you want to change or update your design, you can do so quickly and easily.
Photo credit: frankieleon / Flickr
