Lisa Quirk is a brilliant surface design artist re-entering the market now that her kids are older. She wanted to create a business card to bring to networking events, but wasn’t entirely ready to invest in a full identity package. I suggested she cut up business card size swatches of her hand-painted renderings, which she did, then rubber-stamped her contact information on the reverse side.

At networking events she’ll spread out 6-8 of these swatches and offers them like a hand of playing cards, “Pick a card” which immediately creates a sense of play and invites conversation–which is what you want when you’re networking.

Lisa feels good having these cards until she’s ready to commit to an official business name and brand. “I feel good,” she says. “It has my touch.”

This is a great example of starting where you are rather than procrastinating because of perfectionism.