{"id":19282,"date":"2011-11-02T18:18:18","date_gmt":"2011-11-02T23:18:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/metroactive.org\/wordpress\/blog\/what-is-the-right-business-card-for-you\/"},"modified":"2011-11-02T18:18:18","modified_gmt":"2011-11-02T23:18:18","slug":"what-is-the-right-business-card-for-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metroactive.org\/wordpress\/2011\/11\/02\/what-is-the-right-business-card-for-you\/","title":{"rendered":"What is The Right Business Card for You?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Business cards are by far the most common advertising and contact management tool used by businesses and entrepreneurs throughout the world.\u00a0 Your business card has more impact on your business than most types of advertising. Despite this importance, if you\u2019re like the average entrepreneur, chances are you\u2019ve spent very little time choosing and designing your business card.
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Image via\u00a0Wikipedia<\/a><\/p>\n

As President of Canada\u2019s largest business networking group, I\u2019ve seen just about every type of business card you can imagine. \u00a0At times I\u2019ve been impressed, other times shocked, other times entertained and a few times frustrated.\u00a0 I\u2019ve also had the opportunity to see how others react to various business cards and the results at the end of an evening of networking.<\/p>\n

Here are some guidelines in designing an effective business card:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Decide on the purpose of your business card.\u00a0 Is it to provide your contact information, to entertain, to advertise your services, to demonstrate your style or some other reason? If the card is to be given to existing customers then it is about providing contact information and other information that a customer may find useful, such as an\u00a0online\u00a0website or tool, even a notice. For example, you could mention that you have 24 hour service or a life-time warranty on your product or service.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Know who it is that you are planning to give your business card to. If your customers and potential customers are a conservative type, then providing them with a creative, out of the box card may alienate you from them by making them feel like they can\u2019t relate to you or simply uncomfortable. A good rule is conservative card for conservative target. If your market is more innovative and creative, such as inventors or artists, then you would want to use an out of the box design.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Be clear on the result you would like to achieve by handing out the card. Do you want to catch the attention of the individual, list your services, send them to your website, establish your credibility (use credentials, brand names, appropriate titles), or remember you for when they need your services so they can call you?<\/p>\n

As you can see there should be some thought put into your business card and how it fits into your business strategy even\u00a0 before you sit down to look at its design.\u00a0 Regardless, there are some tips that apply in general.<\/p>\n

DO\u00a0NOTS<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Use really small font. Remember most people once they reach 40 years of age have problems reading small print without their glasses. Not only will they not be able to read it, but you also have not put them in a feel good position.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Use a laminated or plastic coating on front and back. Most people will make notes about you on your business card so they can remember later on. Sometimes that note is to remind them to call you or to connect you with someone you know. If they can\u2019t write on your card they could forget and you\u2019ve lost a lead.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Use\u00a0oversized\u00a0or awkward shaped cards. Remember that your card will be put into someone\u2019s pocket and hopefully in their\u00a0rolodex\u00a0or storage.\u00a0 If it doesn\u2019t fit, they are likely to put it somewhere else and possible in the trash can. Keep size and shape standard and show your creativity in a different way if you have to. Different countries have different standards for business cards. In Europe the cards tend to be\u00a0oversized\u00a0compared to North America. In South America even more so.
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Image via\u00a0Wikipedia<\/a><\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Use colours you can see in dim light. Contrast is important on business cards for a number of reasons. Yellows and lighter colours are good if they are contrast with strong colours.\u00a0 If you need lighter colours try using them as filler and use the strong colours for fonts.
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Image via\u00a0Wikipedia<\/a><\/p>\n

DO\u2019S<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Keep your business card simple and easy to read. Business professionals are busy and they just want to get down to the facts. Most don\u2019t even read everything on the card. By having less on your card you\u2019re more likely to have them read what you want them to.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Leave the backside blank. It is cheaper and it gives room to make notes.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Be clear on what you can do for your client or the benefit you provide. Having \u2018Virtual Assistant\u2019 on your card lets people know what you generally do. However, if you were to add \u2018I help you stay out of the office longer\u2019 or \u2018I make sure your customers get an answer right away\u2019 then you\u2019re more likely to get better results.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Use language anyone can understand, unless you\u2019re using it only among your peers. There is no use in sharing your card if the person doesn\u2019t understand it or is bored by the words. Here is one area where entrepreneurs can be creative in using common language to describe what they do.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Use a firm stock that doesn\u2019t easily bend. There is a subconscious reaction to how a business card feels in your hand and that impression is also adopted towards the person giving you the business card.<\/p>\n

Even if you follow these tips there is a chance that you could end up with a card that will not give you the results you want. The best tip I can give you is to test your card. Print off a few of your cards and take them to a networking event. As you hand out the first 10 stop and ask the person if they can help you with some feedback with your new business card you\u2019re testing. But only ask them after you\u2019ve given them the card and they\u2019ve looked at it.\u00a0 Then you ask them what you do, what they think is different about you, what kind of style you have, what catches their attention, what they would do with the card, and what other feedback they may have.<\/p>\n

Taking this approach with the design of your business cards will lead you to look at your overall business and marketing strategy.\u00a0 Having your cars in alignment with the rest of your marketing collateral and strategy will make your efforts both more effective and efficient. The process of alignment will also make it easier for you to ask the most powerful question of all, \u2018What does my target market think?\u2019<\/p>\n

It is not about what you want to say, but about what your customers (and potential customers) will see (and hear).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Business cards are by far the most common advertising and contact management tool used by businesses and entrepreneurs throughout the world.\u00a0 Your business card has more impact on your business than most types of advertising. Despite this importance, if you\u2019re like the average entrepreneur, chances are you\u2019ve spent very little…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metroactive.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metroactive.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metroactive.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metroactive.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metroactive.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/metroactive.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19282\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metroactive.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metroactive.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metroactive.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}