What does your business card say about you and how effective is it?
Business cards are the most neglected item of business apparel. Yet they’re the one thing that business owners carry around with them pretty much all the time, in their wallets, Jacket pockets and purses and yet lots of business owners simply don’t understand how much more they could achieve by thinking about their business cards and how they use them.
In almost every interaction between businesses and their customers or clients a business card is handed over, yet nobody thinks about their purpose and how it could be expanded. If you ask people what the purpose of their business card is they’ll say something like, “Oh it’s just to provide my contact details” or it’s “So they’ll remember to contact me”.
This short blog is about how you can start to use your business card more effectively and use it to generate leads and business if you do it in the right way! The point is:-
Your business card is a miniature advertisement about who you are and what you do as a professional.
As a formal extension of yourself in the business world, a business card is an important piece of marketing collateral. This tiny little piece of cardboard can represent not only your business but yourself as a professional in your industry.
If you have a home-produced card, you may run the risk of looking like an amateur. However, if you’re in the recycling business and you have an expensive, glossy card, you may be communicating the wrong message about your company’s values.
Your card is a leave-behind piece that serves as a reminder of your first impression in the eyes of your clients and business associates. How do you want to be remembered? What will make you stand out?
Here are seven of the most common business card mistakes you should avoid:
- The contact information is out of date.
You need to make sure you’re handing out accurate information, or the whole purpose of the card is wasted. If you need to, correct new phone numbers and email addresses with a pen, and get a new batch printed ASAP.
- The contact information is incomplete.
People expect a range of options for reaching you and for finding out more about your business. Make sure you include at least your phone number, email address, and website address, as well as the physical address of your business.
- The type is too small.
Don’t make your audience have to grab a magnifying glass, or “decode” the text on the card. Make your card easy to read, or it will get tossed.
- You can’t write on it.
Most people make notes on business cards to trigger their memories, or for following up later. If your card is glossy or had no white space, it will be difficult to write on and could run the risk of getting tossed.
- The backside is blank.
While not all business cards are two-sided, as a small business owner you’re missing out on a prime opportunity if you leave the back side blank. Use this space to give your client a reason to keep the card. Print a special offer on the back, and you’ll also be able to track where the lead came from.
- No marketing message or statement.
If your business name doesn’t immediately describe the product or service you provide, be sure to include a tagline or your marketing message on the card. Make sure you can do this in a simple sentence, mine is “Business Growth Made Simple” and is right on the top of my business card. This allows me to have a conversation with someone right off the bat about how I think others over complicate business growth. This enables me to describe what makes me better than the competition.
- Too big or oddly sized.
While you want to stand out, if your card doesn’t fit in the rolodex or business card holder, it may get thrown away or overlooked because it isn’t stored with the rest. Try to be aware of standard business card sizes, and create your interesting shape within those parameters.
The biggest sin of all.
The biggest sin of all is: Sticking with a business card that doesn’t work…The number of times I’ve spoken to people about their business cards and they say ok, I know that my telephone number is wrong or I’ve just changed my email address or my web address, but I’ve got 1000 of these business cards printed so I’ll correct them once I’ve used them all up. Why would you do this? Business cards are not expensive to get printed and if you do them in smaller batches you can actually test what works.
So the next time you go to grab one of your business cards to give someone, just have a quick look at it. Can you spot any or all of the seven mistakes above, does it have a marketing message on (most don’t), do you get leads from your business card? If you spot any of these then for heaven’s sake don’t make the biggest sin of all. Get some new ones designed and printed today.
Twelve intensive half-day meetings.
