Spreading bitcoin to the masses

[Ian Maxwell]

All right, here's something I mocked up over a couple of hours.

 

(The full size files look somewhat better than these.)

I think the copy on the reverse could use some work---it's hard to cram much information onto a business card. As it is, the typeface is already pretty small. Maybe we should go with something bigger? Or maybe I should aim for intriguing rather than informative?

Also, the redemption URL is blocked out because I haven't got one yet.  

Ubitex, how does the "banner ad" look? I think it could be improved, and I'm happy to work with you on that. I'll print 1000 cards with your ad for 25 BTC, or 200 for 10 BTC. (The "extra" will cover the cost of shipping and my time.) The same offer goes out to anyone else who wants to sponsor some cards.

[goatpig]

You should add "don't join Deepbit" at the end...

[Ian Maxwell]

For 0.025/card I will include any text that is legal to hand out in public in the United States, including "Don't join Deepbit."

[Alex Beckenham]

Also, the redemption URL is blocked out because I haven't got one yet.  

SunAvatar, I will donate 'bitcoinvoucher.com' to the cause if you build a website and tell me the name servers.

*I'll personally guarantee to keep the domain pointed there for at least 6 months, and will give plenty of notice if there is to be any change.

[Gavin Andresen]

I'd suggest removing/replacing the "it is anonymous" claim.
Anonymity and bitcoin is...complicated.  I'd suggest:

"It is like cash" -- no one can steal your identity

[Alex Beckenham]

I'd suggest removing/replacing the "it is anonymous" claim.

And the 'no one can track your purchases' claim, actually.

[evoorhees]

Throwing this idea out there:  If you're giving out Bitcoins to get people excited and curious, perhaps don't tell them exactly how many Bitcoins they've "won." Instead, the card should say "find out how many you've won by visiting xxxxxxxxxx.com" or something similar.  This curiosity element may yield better response rates. A truly scientific group would take two cities and distribute fixed amounts in one city and unknown amounts in the other city, then track response rates and adapt the program accordingly.

[NghtRppr]

All right, here's something I mocked up over a couple of hours.

Colors around the edges are a pain if you plan on printing these yourself.

[InstantBTC]

For 0.025/card I will include any text that is legal to hand out in public in the United States, including "Don't join Deepbit."

Since you are making the cards I can't really stop you but the point of this project isn't to make money its to spread bitcoins, to the public. I'm going to be spending a fair bit of my time passing these cards out and driving the 45 minutes into downtown LA (using my own gas money) and you want to take personal gain for adding extra text, something that costs you nothing at all? If I'm missing something here please tell me. If people want to sponsor a card with a appropriate term than I think that's a good idea too, but not for your personal gain, I think I can look into other resources for production of the card if that's the case.

EDIT: or actually it'd be easier if I just let you take full control of the project and do it however you wish. Feel free to create your own thread and let this thread fall down.

[Ian Maxwell]

@InstantBTC: What personal gain? I'm performing the service of printing and assembling these cards, and cuddlefish offered to pay for ad space to defray the cost.. I asked 0.025 because that's the point at which I'm sure my cash costs are covered, so that all I have to worry about are my time costs. It will allow me to send the cards at face value to people who want to give them out. Should I pay for the privilege of assembling these cards for other people?

If I were doing this strictly for profit, I'd have to surcharge at least 0.05/card to make it worth my while. By that standard I am expecting to donate at least 100 BTC worth of labor to this project, and possibly much more. If I get a high enough volume of orders, I will probably have to pay out of pocket for high speed production. I'm actually considering backing out as I think about this, and getting complaints that I'm daring to take money for it isn't making me feel much better.

[InstantBTC]

@InstantBTC: What personal gain? I'm performing the service of printing and assembling these cards, and cuddlefish offered to pay for ad space to defray the cost.. I asked 0.025 because that's the point at which I'm sure my cash costs are covered, so that all I have to worry about are my time costs. It will allow me to send the cards at face value to people who want to give them out. Should I pay for the privilege of assembling these cards for other people?

If I were doing this strictly for profit, I'd have to surcharge at least 0.05/card to make it worth my while. By that standard I am expecting to donate at least 100 BTC worth of labor to this project, and possibly much more. If I get a high enough volume of orders, I will probably have to pay out of pocket for high speed production. I'm actually considering backing out as I think about this, and getting complaints that I'm daring to take money for it isn't making me feel much better.

Why wouldn't you just have the business/individual pay for the card that they want their text on instead of relying only on donations

[MoonShadow]

@instantBTC

It doesn't matter if he's making a profit off of this project or he isn't.  The only thing that matters is, can he get good quality printing done for less than you can?

[InstantBTC]

@instantBTC

It doesn't matter if he's making a profit off of this project or he isn't.  The only thing that matters is, can he get good quality printing done for less than you can?

I'm sure he can make them cheaper since I would have to have a friend design and then go to kinkos or something to print them. But what I'm saying is that then I would say that I want to be compensated for gas and my time, but I don't want to do that, I would rather have that be a part of my contribution. And if I got payd for gas and my time, so would the people in chicago and new york, and that will add a fair bit of cost to the project. That is my thinking on the matter.

[Ian Maxwell]

Colors around the edges are a pain if you plan on printing these yourself.

They shouldn't be so bad with perforated sheets of business cards. But I still have to actually print these to make sure they're legible at business card size. If not, production cost will probably be a bit higher.

Truthfully, I don't have any special ability to do cheap printing---I'm planning on doing plain old overpriced home printing. Is there anyone here involved with an actual print shop who could get this done on the cheap?

[cuddlefish]

All right, here's something I mocked up over a couple of hours.

(images stripped)

Ubitex, how does the "banner ad" look? I think it could be improved, and I'm happy to work with you on that. I'll print 1000 cards with your ad for 25 BTC, or 200 for 10 BTC. (The "extra" will cover the cost of shipping and my time.) The same offer goes out to anyone else who wants to sponsor some cards.

It looks great, except for one thing: "want" instead of "need". Sounds less pushy.

[Ian Maxwell]

Okay, so now I'm looking at third-party printers, because depending on how many of these we want it really won't be cost effective to do it from home.

How many of these do we want? Speaking for myself, if I spent a few hours in downtown Boston I can imagine handing out 500-1,000 of these things---and Boston is smallish as big cities go. With even a few distributors we could easily find ourselves needing 10,000 cards or more (probably in small denominations like 0.01).

It looks like, for orders over 5,000 cards, these guys will be at least as cheap as home printing, even for two-sided full color as in the mockup. I'm planning to send in a quote request, but first I want to see just how much interest there is. If you're planning to participate, could you post here or PM me with how many cards you'd want, in what denominations?

I wonder if we can still pay for this with advertising. I'll have to ask about minor variations in design when I send in the quote request. Meanwhile, as above, if you're interested in paying the printing cost for some cards, in exchange for ad space, let me know either here or via PM.