The first rule of thumb in a successful business is making yourself known. One of the best ways to do that is to hand out business cards.  There is no need to go and spend tons of money. There is also no need to be toting a business card with someone else's business printed all over the back. Some one is bound to know were you got them and that they were free. 

You will need:
A paper cutter
Card Stock (paper)

First, get your supplies. There are many places that you can find these items at low prices. You can get a paper cutter (the kind that slides with a razor) for about 10 bucks at W**mart. You can also find a huge pack of card stock there for around 4 dollars.

Secondly, find an online site that allows you to customize and print a template of your business cards from home. A couple of sites that allow this are Avery and American Greetings
Go to your website of choice, customize your card and print. Make sure you have your card stock in your printer! =)

From there it's just a matter of using your paper cutter to cut them out. We use the paper cutter to get professional and even looking edges.

Rules to live by:

*You can use a fancy font for your name or business name but do NOT use one for your information. You want your card to be readable. To EVERYONE.

*You should have no more than 2 fonts on your card. Use either one for the entire project or one for your name and one for the rest of the card.

*If your using a background picture or color, make sure you can read the text. If you don't contrast the background colors vs. the text colors enough than you've just defeated your whole purpose. eg. Don't use a dark grey background with black text.

*Include as much contact information as you can (or are comfortable with). The easier it is to get a hold of you, there better your chances are of making a business contact.

*Give them to everyone. And if it's someone you know, ask them to take more to pass around.

*Make sure that you include what it is you do! Don't just put a name or business name and expect people to know.

*And lastly, SPELLCHECK!