Does your business card work?

Does your business card really tell people about your business?

When you are networking for business you will, hopefully, have communicated effectively about your business to the people you meet.  BUT, if you are among many people someone has met in the last few days, will your business card give them the right information to call you to mind?

I meet many people when I am involved in business networking and I see a lot of business cards that leave me cold.  Because I do meet a lot of people I need a "trigger" to bring someone to mind to remember what their business is about, how well I understood that, whether or not they gave me an opportunity to be of help to them and whether they wanted to begin to build a business relationship with me to enable me to help them further.  Of course, if I can't get some sort of glimmer just from the name it does beg the question about how effectively they networked with me anyway!

Some of the most common things that strike me about the business cards I see are:

• Email addresses that end in @hotmail.co.uk, @yahoo.co.uk, @gmail etc.  If you are a professional and reputable business why on earth would you not want to represent yourself as such by having an email address based on your domain name?
• A business card that doesn't have a name on it!  People buy people, so who is there to "buy" here?
• A business card that apparently has all the necessary information, name, company name, address, contact information.  But the business name doesn't tell me what the business delivers and there is no information on the business card to answer that question.

There are at least two sides to every business card and it is a matter of personal choice whether you use them.  It is worth remembering that some people like to keep business cards so that if anyone asks them if they know of someone in a particular business discipline then they can pass on contact details.  Would they be able to tell someone about you because your business card gives them the full picture?

Think of it this way, there is a whole world of difference between

Joe Bloggs, Independent Financial Adviser
and
Jo Bloggs Solutions for Finance

If the second one also said "independent financial advice to help you plan for your future" it would help you understand what type of Solutions for Finance were available; otherwise this could be a company that offered one of a wide variety of services related to either business or personal finance.

So, take an objective look at your business card - does it tick all the boxes?

Your business card is a marketing tool !
 

• Your business card is often the first piece of marketing about you, your business and your business products/services that a potential customer sees.
• What does it say about your business?  Does it provide all the information it should?
• Do you make it easy for people to be interested and to contact you or does your business card have tiny print, little information other than contact detail facts.
• Is your business card plain and uninspiring?
• People can remember you - or forget you - by your business card, does yours stand out?  Is it memorable?
• As well as basic contact details add some sales information, for example an inspiring tagline
• Make sure your business card says what your business does (the benefit not the features)
• You can use colour, logos, add extra information by adding more pages - four page, eight page, so it becomes a mini brochure but always keep to the basic business card dimensions, so it fits into business card holders etc.
• Unless you've lots of money keep away from unusual shapes - they don't fit and need expensive cut out (only the printer will love you !)