What I like the best about this method is that you don’t have to invest your 
own money, you will collect the payment first and then pay, without 
spending even $1 of your money. 
 

Without wasting any more time, let’s get started. 

First thing you have to do is navigate to Canva (​https://www.canva.com/​) and 

create an account there, it’s super simple & free + you can register/login with 
your Gmail account. 

You’re going to click on ​create a design ​button at the top left corner and 
you’re going to find ​Business Card ​under ​Marketing Materials 

 
 

1 

WWW.EDOLLAREARN.COM
 

Now you’re going to go to Craigslist (it doesn’t have to be your local 

one, it can be whichever one you want) - ​https://www.craigslist.org/​ for 
this example i’ll use Milwaukee (even tho I’m from Europe) and 
you’re  going to navigate to ​Services -> Skilled Trade  

The reason I like to use that section is because people who mostly post 
there are just getting started and they haven’t got their ‘business’ 
established yet, for example; website, logo, etc.  

We’re going to take advantage of that. 

2 

WWW.EDOLLAREARN.COM
 

You’re going to pick a random business owner and you’re essentially 

going to create a business card for him & his team. It sounds hard but 
it’s actually pretty easy. 

For this example i’ll use Jeff and his drywall & woodworking services 
and we’re going to go back to Canva and create a simple business 
card for him and his team/business. 

Search thru Business Card section until you find a nice looking 
business card that is matching the craigslist ad. 

3 

WWW.EDOLLAREARN.COM
 

I went with a simple but modern style for Jeff and his services (as you
can see in the image above). It took me less than 5 minutes to create 
that business card.  

Now what you need to do is e-mail (or phone??) business owner and 
offer them your services. I prefer to phone them and explain them over
the phone what I’m doing and then ask for their e-mail but you can just
e-mail them, it doesn’t really matter. 

You can search for their e-mail and other business info thru ​Better 
Business Bureau ​(​https://www.bbb.org/​) or you can contact them thru
Craigslist list if they have that option enabled. 

 
 

4 

WWW.EDOLLAREARN.COM
 

As for BBB, you can simply search their phone number on the site and 
if anything will come up. 

5 

WWW.EDOLLAREARN.COM
 

Now all we need to do is write them an e-mail and attach the business
card that we made in the Canva. I’ll post example e-mail below but I’d 
highly recommend ​that you write your own e-mail! 

------------------------------------ 

Subject: ​Hey Jeff  

I saw your ad on Craigslist. 

I couldn’t find any website for you guys online to learn more about 
you and your business/services. 

I’m a new designer building up my portfolio so I decided to design you

guys some business cards for free. 

Could you please give me some feedback on them and let me know if
you’d like anything else added to them. 

I’d be happy to make any changes for you since it helps me sharpen 
my skills and I’m helping you guys too. 

Looking forward to speaking to you 

Kind regards, 

- Luke 

------------------------------------ 

6 

WWW.EDOLLAREARN.COM
 

Now, the catch here is that, when they reply to your e-mail, you will
offer to print & ship business cards​ to their home or work address.  

And that’s how you’re going to make money. 

Personally I use ​https://www.docucopies.com/​ but you can use 

whatever site you want, it doesn’t really matter. 

Now choose to upload your own design (aka Canva design) 

7 

WWW.EDOLLAREARN.COM
 

As you can see, it’s around ​$26 + shipping for 250 business cards ​or ​$36 + 
shipping for 500 business cards​.  

8 

WWW.EDOLLAREARN.COM
 

Now that you know the price for the cards you’re going to e-mail back the 
business owner and talk about prices (if they are interested in ordering 
cards, obviously).  

I usually charge ​$100 + shipping ​for ​250 cards​ or ​$150 + shipping ​for ​500 
cards. I sometimes throw them ​1000 ​cards but I ​recommend that you give 
them at least 2 options​, ​maybe even 3​. 

So let’s say you sell them 500 cards for $150 

-$36 for printing & -$11 for shipping, it gives you around ​$100 profit ​for 
almost no work​.  

Now, if you think my prices are expensive (or if business owners think that 
way), explain to them how they are paying for a business card ​design​ ​and 
printing & shipping ​cards to their home/work address.   

9 

WWW.EDOLLAREARN.COM
 

As you can see, designers on Fiverr are charging ​$50-$325​ for a business 
card design ​without printing or shipping!  

10 

WWW.EDOLLAREARN.COM