When was the last time you updated your business cards?
Does your business card look like everyone else’s – with your name, job title and company contact details or does it stand out from the crowd? Turn your card over – have you used that space wisely or are you wasting 50% of the available space to talk to your audience?
I’ve seen some very interesting cards over the last couple of years – and here are a few tips I have picked up along the way. There are a dozen key features that will really get your card noticed above the others that your potential client may have picked up.
Features that will help you to stand out from the crowd:
- Be bold, be brave and dare to be different
- Use humour, show your personality
- Include your contact details (of course!)
- Include your logo (of course!)
- Include your strap-line – which should be short, sassy and memorable
- Include a good quality picture of you – so people remember who you are
- Include testimonials – with names and photos of real satisfied customers
- Include tips, questions or fascinating facts that show you understand your target market or that you are the ‘go-to’ expert in your field
- Include a call to action – what do you want the reader to do? Call you? Send you an email? Head over to your website to download your fabulous freebie? Then say so!
- Consider including a time-bound offer – I’ve seen this work brilliantly at exhibitions and shows but bear in mind the downside as it could give your business cards a shelf life which could be wasteful. Think about how to create an offer that is irresistible but not time bound. Or perhaps it is time bound but it expires 30 days after you issue the card so you could include a space for a personal note and a handwritten expiry date. Perhaps the offer is only available on the website so you can change the variables of the offer and the expiry dates without committing it to your business card. Be creative!
- If you have a small team of 2-3 people who do the networking, perhaps have a joint card with the contact details of the key players in your team. This allows you to print smaller batches of cards and change the content more frequently as you discover what works for your business
- You only have 85mm x 55mm of white space on a traditional, wallet-sized card. Use the space wisely or create more space. Design a 6 sided business card – I’ve seen good 8-10 sided cards too that work as a pocket-sized portfolio for builders, artists, carpenters etc. 6 sides cards are big enough to be different and show your personality but are still small enough to pop into a pocket, purse or wallet.
Here is an example of our business card – we’ve had great feedback where ever we have given them out. We’ve picked up most of the points above with the exception of the time bound offer! Let me know what you think!
