Today, I’ll talk you through what to consider when creating your autograph cards. Every pageant titleholder has to have autograph cards, not just as a give-away at children’s events. The autograph cards are vital marketing pieces for your year and must be created as such. You’ll use your autograph cards similarly to business cards, thank you cards, and flyers; so there are certain things that should always be included.
Headshot
It has to look like you, since you’ll be giving these out in person you want people to remember you and know how to get in touch. Also, make sure it’s on a white background so you can write a message and sign it – don’t use a photo with a black or dark background or wild colors all over. Trust me, it’s limiting. Use Fiverr.com to find someone who can remove the background for you, if you have to.
Name
Of course, your name – duh.
Title
Your title isn’t necessary, especially if you are going on to a national pageant, so you don’t want to have 1,000’s of “Miss Macomb County” cards if in 3 months you could become Miss Illinois and eventually Miss America, right? With that said, all state, national, and international titleholders will use their title on their cards.
Year
The year is also optional. It’s great if you won’t reuse them, but I often was told to bring 200 autograph cards and ended up using 3, so that’s potentially wasteful. Be smart, but don’t over-do it.
Website
a place where people can learn more about you and your cause
Social Media Tags and Hashtags
where and how people can connect with you
Platform concept, title, logo, website, points of interest
Personal brand slogan
This is for the advanced pageant titleholders. It’s the best way for people to connect you to future opportunities.
Now, let’s talk about how to design this. You could hire a professional designer to manage the layout, or just use a design resource to create it yourself! I use Canva.com to create custom designs. I like to at least create a rough-draft of my ideas here to send to a pro so they see my vision.
You have to also know the size of the print you want because that will impact the design. I prefer 5×7 postcard prints because they are less likely to be lost and easy to print at just about any printing source. I use Vistaprint.com because they are cheap and ship fast.
Here’s what you want:
+ On the front is my headshot and name (and year and title if you are including that)
+ On the back is where I put the info I want to teach people and a specific action I want them to take. I also put my social media, website, slogan, and anything else here.
Bring these with you every where you go and don’t be shy using them to promote your platform and yourself for additional appearances. Give them to children AND adults! You want to be proud of them!
Autograph cards say a lot about a titleholder. You want it to communicate you are professional, personable, and engaging. Then, when it gets into the hands of the right person like a potential sponsor, platform partner, media pro, or some other action-taker: BAM! Suddenly that 25-cent piece that you put a lot of thought into because a huge opportunity provider!
And, that, ladies is how you win a pageant.
Here is an example of a simple autograph card:
Contact Information
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