Business Card Tips

Welcome to my 1st blog, as you can probably imagine I see a number of business cards in my day to day business, some are fantastic, some are ok and some are just not. The business card is one of the most important sales tools that businesses have, it is often the first piece of literature that you will receive as a possible buyer and as they say first impressions count.

I have compiled a list of ideas that businesses should be doing, none of it is rocket science but its surprising how many cards don't work -

1. Back to basics

Remember what the card is for.

- It’s there to say ‘contact me’
- Make sure it’s consistent with your brand
- Make it grab the attention of your target market
- Have the correct details on - name, title, business name, logo and phone numbers, plus address, email and website.

2. Touchy touchy

The feel of your card is the first thing someone notices when they receive it. A flimsy and uninteresting card says that you haven’t put any effort in and if you can't be bothered producing a quality business card then you may not bother providing a decent product or service. Some options -

- Silk
- Uncoated (natural feeling)
- Matt (luxury – gives of a feeling of high class)
- Gloss (great to make photos stand out)
- Starmarque – (known as Spot UV or gloss highlight)

3. Colours

The colour of your card should relate to your personality, your type of business and your most importantly your target market.

- Medical related businesses often use a lot of white space for cleanliness
- Greens give off a feeling of environmental influences
- Bold / bright colours for younger audience

4. Fonts

Remove all barriers to contact

- avoid using fonts smaller than 10 point.
- avoid using fancy or decorative fonts that may be difficult to read or capable of being misread.

5. Images

Images Can help lift the card and make what you do / who you are obvious but make sure it does not clutter or detract from the actual purpose of the card.

- Logo should always be on
- Image related to industry – flowers if a florist / phones if a phone retailer
- Photo of products or premises
- Your own photo (personal touch)

6. Make use of the space

It is important to make your business card as effective as possible, so it is important to use all of the available space, including the back.

­- product or service information (bullet points)
- appointment information (great for hair and beauty / health professionals)
- calendars (tax dates if an accountant)
- special offers (10% off with this card)
- customer testimonials
- Map (great if you’re a retailer or invite businesses to come and see you)
- Tag line

7. Cut out the opposition

Although size is important there is no reason that you can’t be a bit different, why not add rounded corners for a ‘credit card’ effect or even round just 1 corner for an impact.

Another option if you really have a lot to say is to have a folded card, this gives you double the space but be careful not to over do it.

8. 1 for all, all for 1 – not always the case

If you market to different groups or offer several types or ranges of products and services consider having different cards for each. You can be much more specific and focus much more on the benefits to the individual market

- An electrician could have 1 card for commercial and 1 for domestic
- An IT consultant could have 1 for hardware / software and 1 for repairs
- A cake designer could have 1 specifically for weddings and 1 for birthdays


So there we have it, hopefully my first blog was of interest and has given everyone some thoughts.