The death of paper was announced prematurely; love ’em or hate ’em, business cards are here to stay.
Business card mistakes are abound. In your quest to create an unusual business card or a green business card, be sure not to overlook these five business card tips.
LOOK DIFFERENT. Basic marketing commands that your product stands out of a crowd, but at the same time, appeals to a broad audience. That’s perhaps your greatest challenge when designing a business card to promote yourself. This advice is not unique; recent cards have undergone a color and size transformation. In fact, if you want to stick out, ironically, you might want to consider sporting an old school, standard-size, plain white business card!
DON’T JUST SAY WHAT YOU DO. Your business card should clearly state what it is you do. (Andrew Rosen, Pro Blogger) But that’s not enough. When someone is thumbing through a stack of business cards 10 months from now, there needs to be a tagline that supports what you do. (Award winning posts, 8M page views…and counting)
MORE IS LESS. Think of your own reading habits. A business card holds your attention for a mere second. Not only does your information need to be presented in a clear and concise matter, but you better make sure the important info – strike that – ALL of the info can be read and comprehended on the first pass. Also, two-sided cards are swell, but if you’re going to detract from your main message (getting business/contacts), skip it.
DISTRIBUTION PLAN. The greatest cost associated with business cards is the initial set up and printing. That means 1,000 cards won’t cost you much more than 500. But the best business card in the world is useless if it’s sitting in a box with 999 others like it. Devise a plan on how you will distribute your biz cards. (more on that soon; subscribe now) I also find it helpful to set a distribution quota and hold yourself accountable.
COLOR COORDINATE. As the paper business card continues to thrive in a digital world, more and more people are scanning cards into a digital repository. Keep in mind that certain colors (green? purple?) do not scan as well as others.
If you end up leaving a job or shifting gears and find that you have a bunch of useless business cards sitting around, consider recycling them.
If you have an image of your business card or any business card advice, feel free to share in the comments section below.
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