I’ve got well over 100 printed business cards. And looking them over, I thought I should create some tips from the ones that stand out from the rest. Here’s what the best business cards of the bunch do differently from the others.
1. They have colors or use colored card stock. This isn’t too hard to do. I can see the merit of a black-and-white card – as long as the black overshadows the white. What I mean is that nearly everyone has a white business card with black lettering. The ones that stand out don’t have neon colors – a simple change of cardstock to cream or light gray could do the trick. The one I like the best is black on the front and white on the back. The back is matte, so I can write on it if I choose. The black makes it stand out from the rest.
2. The simple designs win out over the complicated and cluttered. Some have crammed so much text, along with a logo and tagline, that I just gloss over them when I’m looking at them along with the hundred others in my handy business card holder book. The ones with the most white space, or empty space, look the neatest, cleanest and most professional.
3. The best ones are free from typos. Proofread before you print. Please. Just do it. It can’t take more than a few minutes for the longest business card. Give your proof or your contact info to someone else to look over. Typos and spelling errors make the few who do it unprofessional. If these people can’t or won’t take the time to get their business cards right, there’s no way I’m trusting them with my business!
4. Have a professional email address. This is just a small pet peeve of mine. These people took the time to create a business card, but they don’t have a professional email address. My opinion of someone with a Hotmail or Yahoo account, or even Gmail account is that he isn’t professional. He doesn’t have the resources to even get an email account at his Web site address? I think a lot of domain names come with email space as well, so if you have a Web site, you should have an email address at that site. For me, when I’m comparing two real estate agents, the one with the address at her real estate company’s site seems more reliable and long-term than the one with an email address at Yahoo.
5. Write a personal note on your business card as you hand it to someone. Whether this is your cell phone number, a date or a product name, the cards with enough room to jot something down (and that did have something down) stand out to me. Handwriting looks weird on a business card, so those with writing stand out. Writing your cell phone number or some other number that isn’t printed on your business card makes the recipient feel special.
When you print your business cards, you should expect to get a lot out of them. Business card printing is and should be used for more than just your contact info. Use some of the following ideas to get the most out of your business card printing budget:
On the back
1. Print a multiple-use coupon on the back. This means when people want to use the coupon, they just have to show the back of your business card, rather than having to submit it to get the discount. This gives people a reason to keep your business card handy.
2. Print a local sports team’s schedule on the back. Fans will keep your card just for that reason and they’ll look at your name on the front every time they pull out the schedule.
3. If you speak at a lot of conferences, print some conference business cards. Use the back to list your key principals from your conference presentation.
4. Write your unlisted 800 number or your cell phone number on the back when you hand someone your card. This will make people think you are giving them a special way to get a hold of you that other people don’t get.
Use them as ads
5. Use an ad specialty item, like a pen, keychain or luggage tag as your business card. Print all of your contact info on the item like you would a business card so that people will keep the item for its functional use as well as your contact info.
6. If you give out gifts to customers, like a bag of candy at Valentine’s Day, attach a business card to the bag.
Ways to distribute them
7. Put a business card in all your correspondence – invoices, direct mail pieces, and even include them with your electric bill or credit card bill. Hey, the credit card company sends lots of flyers and ads with their bill; there’s nothing to say you can’t do the same! You never know who’s opening your payment envelope and could use your services.
8. Mount them into greeting cards. When you send out cards for the holidays, pick out a greeting card that has slots built in to hold your business card.
9. Get a little sneaky with local bookstores and libraries. Place your business cards in books, as if you were using them as bookmarks and forgot about them. Make sure to put them in books somewhat related to your industry or business.
10. Ask neighborhood businesses if you can leave a stack of cards at their registers. Offer to reciprocate, if possible.
11. Hang them on bulletin boards in the community, like the library or the supermarket.
12. Give out two or three cards at a time and ask the prospect to give the extra card(s) to anyone they think might need your services.
When you choose custom business cards, you want to make sure you choose a product that is going to provide the most benefits for your business. That means don’t choose color business cards that are gaudy and bright and deflect from the purpose of the cards. Choose colors that are easy to see—light background with dark printing rather than dark backgrounds with font colors that are hard to read. Don’t choose fonts that are flashy and fancy by stay with common fonts when you choose business card printing options.
Even if you choose cheap business cards you can choose those that look professional and serve the purpose of your business. That means making your logo and name the largest print on your color business cards and including your advertising slogan and website address on your business cards. If you don’t have a logo for your business, many online companies can create one for you inexpensively. Your logo is the most important part of your business and who you are. You don’t want to use simple clip art as your business logo—you want to personalize the logo to show others about you, your company and what they can do for others.
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