Business Cards that Do the Business
Here are some ideas:
*Use colour – black and white is too boring but don’t use “day-glo” colours – too cheap
*Put your photo on – it will help people remember you and make that important human contact. The photo needs to face into the text, not away and be of good quality – not a “mug shot.”
*Quality paper – my business cards are made from a really durable card, that doesn’t get “dog eared” easily and are difficult to tear up
*Put your logo on – make the logo small, you’ve a lot more important information to put on your card. You don’t necessarily need a logo but helps give you an identity. Get a graphic designer to produce one for you; however there is software you can buy for a DIY job. If you don’t have a logo you could utilise a drawing, caricature or a picture – as long as you’re consistent.
*Make it a standard shape – however you can use a fold-over which gives more space for text and looks different. I used to have a card like a small tent card. I’ve seen it several times standing on a customer’s desk. It looked too good to throw away.
*Do something different – have a card that stops people in their tracks and makes them want to find out more
*Have benefit statements and/or your USP (Unique Sales Point) prominently on the card – tell customers what you can do for them – how you can help solve their problems. Your name and your business name should be much less prominent.
*Use both side of the card – if you have a photo, benefit statements and all your business details then you’ll need both sides of the card. Business details can go on one side and benefit statements on the other.
*Don’t squeeze too much in – it can start to look messy
*Contact information – you business name, address, phone, email and website. I would avoid putting your mobile phone number on. You can always write it on for “special” customers, letting them know that you only give this number to certain people.
*Your name – put your name on as you’d like to be addressed when a customer calls you. You don’t need all the middle initials. Also avoid all your qualifications, the majority of people aren’t impressed by all the exams you’ve passed; they only want to know if you can solve their problems and they could even be put off by a whole string of letters.
*Make the text easy to read – don’t use all capital letters and not too many typefaces. Fancy fonts can look really cheap
*Change of details – if your details change, don’t score out the old and write the new stuff in – order new cards. Putting little stickers on with your new information is another no-no; it makes you and your business look cheap.
