Business cards tend to matter right about the point you're seeking funding or customers via face to face meetings. Up til that point it's probably more vanity and so, doesn't much matter.
More important in the scheme of things is a proper domain and email - @aol looks lame even on the side of a plumber's van these days - it only takes moments and pennies to set up. (Ignoring the ages it'll take to find the .com you want that's not taken)
Holding pages: Well, is this a blank "Nothing to see here" page, or a branded designed holding page with an email capture and perhaps your blog? Until it's the latter, business card is unnecessary.
When it does get to be time for cards and you're meeting with decision makers, it's important to make it complement your branding and marketing.
Can you make it a little different in such a way it's more memorable or easily retrieved, rather than bland like the other 30 she got handed at that trade show ?
Last time I did some, they were essentially mini brochures for our service, using a folded piece of card (think two business cards together with the fold along the shorter edge). They essentially contained punchy reminders of our offering along with company branding and the usual contact info.
Needless to say these were quite a bit more pricey than black and white plain cards, but more memorable. Of course these had to be produced later in the timeline as we had to be sure our service or offering was accurate as printed!
They worked rather well, but I'm not sure if I'd choose the same approach if I was targeting say lawyers or accountants.
Don't forget you can look official and ready to go with exceptionally cheap printing, or even self printing, then refactor it as the image starts to matter.
