Your business card is an
advertisement
By Colin Norris
The only reason some people have business cards is
because you have to have something with your name and
phone number to give to interested people or clients so
they don't have to memorize the details or write them on
a piece of paper soon to be lost or discarded.
But it's time you started to realize your business
card is an advertisement for you and your business.
People will assess you by that 3.5"x3" piece of paper.
Some people have been doing this for years. Doctors,
lawyers, banks, insurance companies and the like
generally produce clean looking cards that are printed
two colors on expensive white, textured card, maybe with
a few expensive embellishments, such as embossing or
gold foiling. They are advertising their success and
professionalism. Their cards usually stand out because
they are well designed and expensively produced. Yet
they don't they to compete for attention - how many
doctors' or lawyers' cards do you have in your card
holder? These cards are passive, you go looking for them
because YOU want to contact the person.
A business on the other hand is competing to get
people to phone them, people who are regularly being
given cards by similar businesses. Are many clients so
loyal that they'll always phone you? A business card
that just sits there quietly waiting to be found is
sooner or later, going to lose you business. You need a
salesman in every business card holder that shouts "HEY
YOU, HERE I AM, PICK UP THE PHONE AND RING THIS NUMBER."
Yet it's not as difficult as you might think, if
you're open to new ideas. A pet shop or vet could print
paw prints or a huge snake on a card, a mechanic or
gardener could use a thumb print or two, a real estate
agent or builder could die cut a card in the shape of a
house that opens up, a pest controller could print
cockroaches or drill termite holes, a glass etching
company could produce "glass" cards, a confectioner
could produce small chocolate bards with specially
printed wrappers, a driving school could print tips for
safe driving, a laminating company could laminate the
cards and a stamp or coin business could stick real
stamps or coins on their card.
Some ideas are costly to produce so you might need
two cards - one for important contacts, one for everyone
else. However most simple, strong ideas will work
without spending much more than usual.
The Rural Innovation Centre produced a two color card
which had a bull filling most of the space with a red
line across it saying "NO BULL." It was aimed at rural
people, spoke their language and always stands out. Yet
that was just one of a dozen ideas they were
considering.
Another rule you must remember is to be pertinent. If
you get attention by putting naked women or the word SEX
on your card and then say "now that I have your
attention," unless you're selling bay hair removal or
sex aids, you're going to attract the wrong people and
offend others along the way.
Other ideas include running your information
diagonally or printing it very small in the middle of
brightly coloured cards (be sure it's pertinent) or
having a number of similar looking cards that are
actually advertisements similar to your press ads.
Cards can also be cut in different shapes -
triangles, squares or long and thin. They also have
backs which can be printed on, but be sure to put
something on the front telling the reader to turn it
over.
If you can't find a strong idea just promote your
logo or business name - make it big, die cut it, emboss
it, foil it, Verco it or repeat it all over the card.
That's if your logo is worth showing9 off, if you're
going to say something about the business be sure you
say something good.
