Jul 14 2008
Business Cards and Networking
In our everyday business lives, we represent our businesses in various ways. One of the most prevalent and convenient ways is business cards, sometimes known as contact cards.
Business cards are a means of establishing “contact” with someone else, someone who you would like to remember you and your business. They inform the person to whom they are given who you are, what your business’s name is, and how to “contact” you. They should have your contact information and some sort of information to remind the receiver who or what you are as a business. Business cards are not billboards. They should not be your complete advertisement for services or provide the receiver of all the information that they would ever want to know about you or that you would want to provide.
Ever hear the phrase, “Keep it simple, stupid”? It is directly applicable to business cards. Cards that are printed in the smallest font available are impossible to read. They are designed to crowd as much information on the card as can physically fit. (If your services include a magnifying glass with each business card, maybe this would work for you.)
Business cards should obviously include the business name, logo, location if appropriate, website, telephone number, fax number if appropriate, the representative’s name, title if appropriate, cell number and/or extension, and email address. (Do not make your customers have to go to your website to email you; it is not convenient for them to have to do so.) A short tag line about the business may be included. If you must include more information, use the reverse of the card.
Remember, this is “contact” information. It is used for interested persons to “contact” you. Make it easy for them to do so. Use some common sense in the format of your cards. Remember that legible fonts, the intelligent use of “white” space, and keeping it simple make business cards easier to read and more pleasing to the reader. You do want to make “contacting” you easier, don’t you? Website and email addresses are no longer case sensitive. Use capitals to help your customers enter the information into their contact files. · WWW.BetterBusinessCards.com is much easier to type than www.betterbusinesscards.com. · JohnTheSalesRep@BetterBusinessCards.com is easier to type than johnthesalesrep@betterbusinesscards.com. There is a growing trend to “make your cards stand out”. Does that include printing them to make them hard to read or keep? Dark text on dark backgrounds is difficult to read. Some people keep cards in carrying folios or binders with sleeves. The traditional layout (landscape) is easier to read and file than the trendier portrait layout. In addition, filing is easier if they are the traditional size, not oversized. Cards that fold to become the traditional size can cause your customers problems if they file them. When designing your cards, it is always wise to consult with an expert whose business is designing and printing business cards. You can print cheap looking cards on your inkjet. However, for less than you think, you can have professionally designed and printed cards with a great logo to make an impact for your business. You are the expert in your business. Consult with an expert in business card design and printing. They can make you look better than you can yourself, and you should listen to their suggestions and let them do their job for you. Networking is so much better with business cards. That’s one of the basic functions of cards. So why go to any networking function without them? Or why go with just a few? You network in order to show other people how efficient and professional you are. Not having business cards at these functions does not impress anyone. Your potential customers should not have to “remember” you without anything to assist them to do so. Don’t go out of the house without your business cards, not even to the grocery on the weekend. So what if you do run out of your professionally designed and printed cards? You need to get your print source to get you another supply as soon as possible. What do you do in the interim? You can print some temporary cards on a professional grade of card stock at any office supply store. Make them the best you can, not cheap, flimsy stock, and don’t try to make them your regular cards. Go back to your professional who knows how to present your image at a high level.
When you give out your cards, don’t just give someone one card. Give them 2 or 3. That way they have a card to keep and others to give to someone else for you. Business cards are throwaways. They are your cheapest advertising. Make them work by getting them out into the world. They aren’t doing their job in the box in your desk or in your briefcase. They need to be in the hands of your potential, or valued and happy, customers.
Post Topics: Gay Business Cards Portland, GLBT Business Portland Oregon, Business Advice
Jim Teasley is a representative of Juice Plus+®, a whole food supplement comprised of 17 fruits, vegetables, and grains, dehydrated and delivered in convenient capsules. A strong believer in customer service and peer support, he is an advocate of small businesses and their endeavors. He is willing to share his ideas of professional, honest, and ethical business operations and networking with other business operators and personnel at most any time. You may reach Jim at 360-314-8691, or WWW.JP4Now.com.
2 Responses to “Business Cards and Networking”
Leave a Reply
Hey Jim,
I’m glad that you took the time to mention this simple but overlooked necessity for every business person. What I’ve seen happen in my own business as a branding consultant (identity synergist, as it appears on my own card), I find that many people don’t put the same effort into creating a powerful business card as they do with their start-up…
When you start a business the first thing you do is rush out and get some business cards. And for most of us, it’s FAR cheaper to whip-up something simple in Word or Paintbrush, buy some card stock from Staples, and print out a couple hundred cards from our office printer. Easy, cheap, and now you have something to give people when you network. This is a great quick fix for getting started…but after the first couple of weeks (if not sooner) it is critical to start creating a brand identity that can grow with your new company.
Unfortunately, many people don’t change their start-up logos…and this is somewhat understandable, considering other minor responsibilities like covering overhead, paying themselves, and running their business. At this early stage, the term “branding” doesn’t even make it onto the radar. Branding is a term that belongs to Fortune 500’s only, right? Nope. Branding is CRITICAL for small and home-operated businesses, because the rule of marketing is that packaging sells. And perception is reality. In other words, don’t just show up as who you are today, show up as who you want to be 5-10 years from now. Establish your future through your brand’s organic identity.
First goal of gaining new business business is to attract the attention of a passive shopper. Most people have worked retail at one point or another and understand shelf placement and packaging. It doesn’t matter if the box is full of diamonds or dirt. If the packaging grabs my attention, and engages my interest, then I’m already two steps closer to buying the product. Even if the product is crap! Good packaging is a necessary evil for selling your brand. Period. Especially in the event that you can’t just buy shelf placement, and the box is at your feet, above your head, or jammed in with 20 other competitors, striking packaging is critical.
In the matter of seconds that it takes a shopper to scan the shelves (cruise the internet, scan your business card/flyer/website), your packaging (logo, website, brochure, catalogue) needs to:
1) Attract Attention
2) Engage Shopper
3) Evoke Memory
4) Provoke a Sale
The following will explain how to acheive these criteria for your LOGO.
1) Attract Attention. In order to attract the attention of potential buyers, you need to first identify your target buyer. Understanding what they’re looking for will help you craft a message that says “here it is, I have it.” When you’re just starting out it’s difficult to identify a target audience when what you really want is everyone to be your audience. But what’s makes a company go from good to great is their ability to zero in on their ideal buyer and focus all marketing efforts toward attracting that business.
Once you’ve identified your target audience, then it’s time to craft your message to them. This message will also serve largely as your mission statement. The task for your logo is to communicate your message with as few words as possible. Key aesthetic components:
a) colors
b) type face
c) lines and shapes
d) tag lines
2) Engage the shopper. Unlike other marketing collateral, such as catalogues, websites, and brochures, your logo has very limited space for words that would normally be used to communicate the message of your brand (for selling your product or service).
**This is another reason for why it is especially important to create a logo that is timeless…or that can grow as your business grows. Similar to how a business plan functions as the blueprint for your company’s growth, your logo functions as the blueprint for your brand’s growth.
Engaging the shopper is all about connecting with the part of you that is a consumer. As consumers we have certain expectations for what we buy, and depending on what we buy, our expectations can vary. What you want to do is figure out who your ideal shopper is and put yourself in their shoes. Forget about engaging ALL shoppers, because that’s not realistic (and remember, organic branding is about setting out to achieve realistic goals), and you’ll chase your tail trying to understand all of them. PLUS, if you focus on attracting only your ideal shopper, your chances of engaging real buyers will increase.
Sometimes the shopper doesn’t know what their expectations are, and as an organic brand, it is your responsibility to encourage their expectations to weigh heavily toward quality. Let the shopper relate to you on the level of another consumer. They expect quality, you only deliver quality. Establish a few key connections and then focus on creative ways to communicate your understanding through your logo’s presence.
3) Evoke memory. When you meet someone, you hand them your business card, you shake their hand, and you exchange a few words. I can’t tell you how many times I have forgotten a name but could match the card to the face. “I see their face, but I can’t recall the name!” Raise your hand if you’ve ever said that before. Raise your hand if you have a pile of business cards on your desk, in your purse, or in your car’s armrest. Business people are inundated with business cards on nearly a daily basis. So how do you get yours to stand-out? Create something original, relevant, and emotive (this applies to packaging, print collateral, and websites too!).
It sounds simple enough, but this is a major problem with inorganic branding today. With the advent of easy-to-use templating tools that can be purchased for cheap on the internet, people are flocking, literally flocking, to designs that have been mass-manufactured and repeated. While you can change around a few colors, and make minor adjustments to the layout and typeface, there is really little room for any substantial originality or creativity. The logo may look alright, but does it sing you? It needs to sing “YOU” because it is “YOU” that you want people to remember. YOU are what people are buying. Don’t cheapen yourself. BE organic.
4) Provoke a Sale. Rule #1, people do not want to be sold to. They want to feel that you understand what they need, and how to deliver it. People want trust, and trust within an increasingly capitalistic society is a bit of an oxymoron these days. The beauty of our culture, however, is that people are craving something fresh, robust, and honest, and if you can deliver that, your brand will not only attract new buyers, but it will accumulate loyal customers. Building growth upon growth is a key component of building an organic brand.
I agree with both Jim and Dee.
A business card, while a simple thing, can open doors and can provide retention. It’s your first impression and should make a statement.
When I design a business card for a client I include a reasonable degree of descriptive information on the front AND back of the card.
I have clients that don’t even hand a card to a prospect when first they meet. They offer the cards (usually two) during the course of the conversation, especially if they see the prospect’s attention waning a bit. When a card is designed properly and printed nicely, especially in full color, it can actually serve as a type of visual aid allowing you to ‘bring the prospect back into the conversation.”
It’s ideal to have a business card, as well as all your promotional material, complement a primary theme or corporate “Brand”. For instance, using your web site as a starting point, the business card should incorporate many design features found on the web site (colors, type styles, verbiage, images, etc.). As a matter of fact all your printed media should keep a core design theme to promote and enhance your overall Branding effort.
The idea of going cheap to save a few pennies is not at all an effective marketing strategy. Having a do-it-yourself business card solution (as well as web site, etc.), using pre designed backgrounds and the like, can actually be more of a dis-service to you when meeting a prospect as it basically says “cheap”. Besides the cheap business card does not make a statement about who you are and what you represent and thus is easily discarded into a card “pile” or worse, just tossed.
When I set up a Branding program for a client I generally start with the business card, once approved I then move on to the web site, then spin off the design aspects to whatever else they need designed and produced (rack cards, door hangers, brochures, etc.). A comprehensive Branding effort really is the most effective form of marketing.
I design business cards to have that “WOW” effect. Nothing is more gratifying than having a client come back to me and exclaim how their cards had elicited a response of ‘Wow, nice card.”