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.”

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.