·· Buinsess Card Tips ··
Never leave home without your business cards.
Catalogues, resumes, billboards, and most other advertising for your business cannot possibly be carried around with you everywhere. Business cards on the other hand are small, and even up to a dozen of them can be easily and discretely carried.
With this being the case, you should make sure that you are never without business cards while you are out. You never know when you will be asked for, or you have the chance, to give out one of your business cards. This is a business opportunity which should not be missed by the fact that you forgot to carry some of your business cards.
Make a habit of carrying a few business cards inside of your wallet, or better still invest in a business card holder, this will help give an even better impression when you are handing out your business cards and also help to keep them in pristine condition and help avoid the damage and wear that can result in placing them in pockets or inside your wallet.
Have some stored in your car, wallet, shirt pocket, diary, handbag, anywhere to avoid being in the situation of someone asking for your business cards only to have tell them that you do not have any one you.
Every time you step out of the office or home you will be constantly find possible opportunities to hand your cards out. (For more information on distributing your business cards please read some of our other business card articles). Make sure that you have a card on you to give out. Never leave home without your business cards.
Tags · Business cards · tips · important
24.09.2008. 04:57
What not to do with your business cards.
Different from most of our articles telling you what to do with your business cards, in this article we will discuss the business card No-No's:
Things to avoid doing with your business cards:
- Do not use 'free business cards'. There are a few companies around offering FREE business cards (by putting their logo on the back of your card). This is a priceless way for them to promote their company through you and your new business cards. Unfortunately there are very little benefits for you. While you may get free business cards, these business card will more than likely give the impression of cheapness and amateurness - not being able to afford proper business cards. Would you wear a free business suit that had a mcdonald's logo on the back? If no, then don't do the same with your business cards.
- Do not use a template. There are a number of online business card shops that offer templates for business cards. Choose a template, enter your contact details, order your business cards. While it may sound easy, you will get a generic business card, that does not use any clever business card marketing techniques and will do nothing 'extra' to promote your business. Be unique and get a custom design done that highlights your business and can be used as an effective marketing tool.
- Do not make a magnifying glass a necessity for reading your business card. Not everyone can boost having 20/20 vision. Consider this large percentage of people when you are designing your business card and try to make the text readable by the majority of readers.
- Do not use colors that clash. Choose colors wisely. Colors used with other colors can sometimes clash and become an eyesore and difficult to read or look at. Some colors go together and some colors don't. Do your homework and find a color wheel or a color matcher/chooser online to help you find compatible and eye pleasing matching colors.
- Do not use some else's business card or a corrected business card. Scribbling your details over your old details or on someone else's business card and then giving to someone could reflect very badly on you and your company. Doing this could give the bad impression of being cheap and not being professional. Make sure you have enough of your own business cards and if you do not have your own, get them!
- Do not forget to proof read your business card before printing. Having the wrong information on your business cards can be misleading and can result in lost business. Proofread your business card details before you submit them. Double check, triple check, make sure 100% before printing that the details are correct. This simple thing could save a lot of money if you can avoid needing to reprint 1000's of business cards with the wrong information.
- Do not print your business cards larger than standard size. I have seen business cards that are printed larger than normal as the people maybe looking to make their cards stand out and make them more memorable. While this may sound like a good idea, it could result in your card not being able to fit into business card filing systems or easily into wallets. This is best avoided, so stick to standard or smaller sizes.
- Do not neglect the material and paper that your cards are printed on. A lot of attention is paid to the design and colors of a business card and the same attention should be paid to the paper and coating. Thin papers give the impression of cheapness and leave them vulnerable to wear and environmental factors. Choosing good paper of at least 250GSM together with either a laminate or some kind of coating will ensure that your cards last a long time and give the right impression.
- Do not print your business cards yourself. While not always the case, we see far too many amateurish home printed cards which give nothing but a bad impression to the receiver. Getting your business cards printed professionally is not expensive and the difference in results in most cases will be a world apart.
Tags · What not do · Business cards · Marketing · Usage
24.09.2008. 04:55
Use your business cards more effectively: our 5 tips
When used effectively business cards can be a great marketing tool. In this article we will discuss 5 of the most effective ways that you can use your business cards everyday.
1. Be Creative.
Be creative in the design of your business cards. Business cards do not just need to be bits of paper with your contact details on them. Be creative and give your business cards a use and purpose. Make them a powerful marketing tool in the promotion of your business.
Your aim is to make your business card something that the receiver will want to keep and make use of. This is the difference between a well thought out and designed business card and a piece of paper with your contact details on it that will probably be thrown into the trash.
Give the recipient of your business cards a special offer. For example if you are a school/training centre you may offer 'first lesson for free with this card' or if you run a shop maybe you will offer '10% of any purchase over $50'.
Whatever your business, there is a creative way to give your business card real value to the receiver. If you can think and implement these new creative ways before your business does, you will have an instant advantage in that area of business, and should definitely see a rise in business if you have promoted you cards correctly.
2. The 1 minute rule
The 1 minute rule basically says, if you talk to a person for longer than 1 minute they should already have one of your business cards in their hand.
This means in conversations you need to find a way to talk about what you do, and be in the position to be able to offer one of your business cards to the person you are talking to in the first minute of conversation. This can be likened to a conversation you may have with someone at the bus stop or on the elevator. The conversation will end in a very short time and you only have a very short time to get your message across, or in this case get your business card to the recipient.
The 1 minute rule is basically just practice to get your business card out there as much as you can. Many people go through all the trouble of ordering business cards just to let them sit in a corner of their office. To use business cards effectively you must be giving them out at every opportunity that you have.
3. Make them keepers
Once you have given your business card to someone what is going to keep it from being thrown in the trash or forgotten about. Unless you are selling necessities it is probably fair to say that most likely they do not need the product/services you are offering at the present moment. Hopefully though in the future will come a time when they are looking for that product/service and that is when your business card still needs to be in the hands of the person.
Why does someone want your business card? If you cannot answer that easily, maybe it is time to think about a new business card design.
Does your business card have valuable information on it? By valuable I mean a map, discount, calendar, measurements, charts or anything relevant to your industry? If it doesn't, you may want to think about adding a value feature to your business card.
4. Leave them everywhere you go
During a number of trips around a number of businesses in my local area I have noticed piles of business cards on the counters of various businesses. For example a recent trip to my accountant I noticed they had a few piles of business cards on the counter for mortgage lenders, home loans, etc.
This can be likened very much to link swapping that goes on with webmasters looking for business referrals from similar businesses.
Every place that you frequent, you should ask if they mind you leaving a stack of you business card there for their customers. You could try this at your doctors office, your dentist, accountant, lawyer, beauty saloon or hairdresser.
For similar businesses (e.g. accountant , lawyer or money lender) maybe you can arrange to have a stack of their business cards displayed at your business when they offer your business cards at theirs. This can be a very effective way to use you business cards and can have great returns.
5. Ask for an opinion
'Do you mind if I ask you a quick question? I'm looking for opinions on my new business card'. After asking the question and bringing the topic up hand them a business card. Make sure that they keep it, even if they try to hand it back to you tell them that you have thousands printed already.
Thank the person for their time, and if they ever need the product or service that you are offer that your contact information is on the business card. Even if that person may not directly contact your business, there is always a chance that they may pass your card or business name onto another party.
Even in the worse case they may go home and tell their friend how a nut just came and talked at the bus stop and handed them a business card for his lawn mowing service. That friend may say, 'I've been looking for a good lawn mower'. 'Here's the business card I got'. And there is a situation where you may still even get business out of handing your business card to a stranger and even a disinterested stranger.
By following just one of the above five ideas each day, you can turn your business card into a great marketing tool, and see an almost instant increases in business.
Tags · Business cards · tips · creative
24.09.2008. 04:48
Organizing Business Cards for Effective Contact Management
Now that you've had colorful new business cards printed, and have been distributing them diligently, what do you do with the cards you collect from other people? If you're like most people, you have a stack of rubber-banded cards floating around you desk. Or you have been using them as bookmarks, toothpicks, and used gum wrappers and they are all over your office, car, wallet and purse ? but that doesn't help you build your business.
Without a good filing system, the information on those cards is useless. So clean out your desk and develop a system for prioritizing, organizing, and following up with those contacts.
High
Tech or Old School? There are two choices for organizing business
cards:
The traditional way of keeping them in a card file
The contemporary method of keeping contact info on a computer file
When you return from a networking meeting or trade show, before
you do anything else, update your contact information. Rank the
cards you've collected in order of importance before you put them
away. Separate warm leads who are likely to bring you business,
people with whom you definitely want to follow up, and whose information
you want at your fingertips. This can include prospects, people
you will refer to others, or who will send referrals to you.
Don't
be afraid to throw away cards from people you will never contact
or refer. You can file cold leads somewhere else or toss them into
the trash.
Know Your ABZ's...
How you alphabetize and file your cards is up to you. Decide how you remember information best, whether it's by company names, people's names, or by category. Perhaps you are better able to find information if it is organized by region or department. Then, alphabetize them appropriately.
You
might also file by date or by the event where you met the person.
Just choose one way and stick to it. For instance, don't file some
by last name and others by business name, or you'll never find what
you're looking for in a pinch. Electronic = Portable and Duplicable
Storing contact information on the computer keeps your office neater
and is one more step toward the paperless office; for most people,
searching on computer is more efficient than rummaging through paper
cards. In seconds, you can run a sort and locate contacts by company,
name, dog's name, date you met, etc. If you bring work home with
you, it's easy to duplicate your contact list, rather than hauling
your entire Rolodex with you.
Storing
info electronically is also effective for building mailing lists
and printing labels. But remember, backup, backup, backup. I was
a high-tech junkie until my hard drive crashed and I didn't have
a backup of my computer database. Good thing I kept those hard copies!
There are numerous programs on the market to organize contact information,
such as Act or Outlook. I put all of my information in Microsoft
Access.
For a low-tech backup, I use a plastic card file box with alphabetical dividers, filing my cards by last name. I also prefer to use transparent sleeves to store business cards in, since I almost always file business cards instead of handwriting the information on blank cards. The sleeves are a uniform size, keeping the box tidy. But you may be different--any system will work, as long as you are consistent with it.
To
Keep or Not to Keep?
Some people say you should keep every business card you have ever
received, while others think you should throw away the cards you
will never use. With the rapidity of people moving around and switching
companies today, I throw away cards of contacts I haven't been in
touch with for three years. By then their contact information has
surely changed, so even if I did want to get in touch with them,
it's not likely that I will.
If you insist on holding on to old information, archive those business cards in a separate database or card box. Since I make notes on the backs of cards when I meet people, I always know the date when I first made contact; notes also help refresh my memory of people I haven't been in close contact with.
Finally, remember to follow up with your contacts! Keep a schedule and goals for making contact by phone calls, emails, or snail mail. Periodically go through your filing system and update or delete old information. The reason you store this information is to keep in touch with people--so use your new organizing system to stay efficient and your business will thrive!
Tags · Contact management · Business Card Organizing · Business Card sorter · Card file · Business card holder
24.09.2008. 04:17
Never Be Caught Cardless Again: Five Tips to Help You Remember Business Cards
Sorry,
I Don't Seem to Have a Business Card With Me...
Those could be the "famous last words" of the forgetful
entrepreneur.
If you habitually find yourself without a business card, you're
habitually losing money; or at least the chance of making money.
Your business card, more than any other marketing weapon in your
arsenal, is what prospects and colleagues rely upon to remind them
why they should do business with you.
Forgetting
a business card is a marketing mistake of significant proportions.
We're so inundated with advertising messages that most of us learn
to tune them out. Yet every time you're asked for a business card,
and sheepishly reply that you don't have one with you, you're missing
an honest-to-goodness invitation to market to someone.
Worse, leaving your business card behind when you may need it is
a social faux pas as well.
Being
asked for a business card is a compliment. Not having one with you
at that critical moment is subtly offensive. It puts both you and
the person requesting the card in an embarrassing situation. And
it nonverbally tells your prospect that you're not quite the business
person they thought. You're not really serious about your business,
or too careless and forgetful to be entrusted with theirs.
If you're determined not to be caught "cardless" at a
critical meeting again, here are some tips to help you remember:
Develop a strategy for using business cards to actively promote
your business
It
may be as simple as deciding to give 5 or 10 cards away every day.
It may mean printing labels describing your current promotion, sticking
them to the back of your cards, and pinning them to bulletin boards.
Whatever! The point is that if you consciously figure out a way
to use your business cards to bring in business, you're much less
likely to forget them.
Invest in new cards
If you haven't ordered business cards within the past two years, there's a good chance that the information or photo is out of date by now. And if your last order was for 1000 cards and there are still 990 cards left, ask yourself why you haven't been passing them out. If it's because you dislike the cards, pitch them and get business cards you're proud of!
Draft
and practice a business card presentation
Unless you're comfortable and confident when handing out your card,
you won't do it. Besides, the words and actions that accompany your
business card when you give it to someone can really cement a positive
first impression. Invest in a quality business card case, one that
you're proud to show off and to use. Business card cases can be
conversation starters in and of themselves, since there are so many
unusual, classic and artistic choices available. I suggest investing
in a few cases; a more professional, elegant case for formal business
occasions and a flashy or fun holder for social situations.
Tuck a few business cards everywhere
Your car's glove compartment. Your briefcase. Your gym bag. Your
wife's purse. Next to the front door on the table where you keep
your keys. Your desk drawer. Your secretary's desk. The pocket of
your coat. Your suitcase.
Never leave home without them!
Tags · Business cards · tips · forget · marketing
24.09.2008. 04:14
Business card design tips
Getting business cards for your business is a very important process. It is important to remember that the card itself should reflect your business for the simple fact that it is quite often the first impression that one will see. For that reason it is important to take the time to make sure that the card and its design reflects the ideals and beliefs of the company in a manner in which you would best prefer to show to potential future clientele.
For starters, it is important that your business cards have your logo. This of course cannot be stressed enough as a company’s logo is much like a person’s signature in that it becomes a part of your business in such a way that it is often the most recognizable part of it.
While it is possible to use the help of an advertising firm to help you design the perfect logo for your business, this is an added expense that is really not needed. Furthermore, along with this logo, you will also need a company slogan. This is the company’s catch phrase and just like the logo should be something not only represents the company but also is something that is recognizable as belonging to your business.
If you have a company website it is imperative that you also include its address because some people would like to know a little bit more about you before they even contact you. If someone has to ask you for your website address, in most cases they will not return to you for more services or products in the future because this should be something that is expected and commonplace today.
Keep your business cards clean looking. You want to use legible fonts so that they can be easily read by virtually anyone. Don’t forget to also include your business email address and phone number and in no situation is it appropriate to use your personal email address or home phone number.
Obviously you want your business card to be seen and not just tossed into a desk to be hunted down later. To get you cards to stay out of the desk, it is important that you make it stand out without being too gaudy. Make the card something someone would want to keep around which also means not letting it look just the same as everyone else’s cards.
Last but not least, the paper stock used to print the business card on is just as important as what is printed on them. You can tell a lot about what type of person someone is simply by looking at the card stock they used for their business cards.
Tags · Business cards · business card · design · tips
13.09.2008. 13:16