Business cards are often likened to mini-billboards that you carry around in your wallet, allowing you to advertise yourself and your services while you’re on the go. When making the decision to design and order cards, however, entrepreneurs make the mistake of saying too much or too little in the tiny space allotted. This overview of business card “pizzazz” will assist you in updating your card’s current look or inventing a new one that will yield the most return for your printing investment.
CONSISTENCY
Assuming that your business card is part of a total package that includes letterhead, envelopes, postcards, etc., it’s important that the colors, fonts and imagery be consistent with one another. Whether you choose to purchase a software program that will enable you to custom print everything yourself or if you only supply the artwork and layout to a professional printing service, the key is to go with a line of correspondence tools that complement, not clash.
CHEAP=BORING
Take a moment to pull out the various business cards you’ve collected over the years. Separate the ones that are appealing versus the ones that are blah. The odds are that the latter stack will be black print on white card stock. A lot of people go this route for the number one reason that black and white is cheaper than adding a splash of color. Unfortunately, they may as well not have purchased cards at all if they’re going to be so dull and uninspired. If you want your card to stand out, consider printing it in a different color or adding color to a black and white design. The extra expense will make an enormous difference in making your card memorable to the people who receive it.
The second biggest mistake is to go with a card stock that just doesn’t hold up with time. Many of the do-it-yourself kits fall into this category by using a lighter weight stock that can feed through home printers without jamming. Again, if the card is flimsy or has perforated edges from being torn off an 8-1/2 x 11 sheet, the message communicated to the recipient is that not very much expense was put into this form of one-on-one advertising.
TOO MUCH INFORMATION/TOO LITTLE SPACE
Have you ever received a card that causes you to squint in order to read all of the content? Likewise, do any of the cards in your collection have more content than you really need to know in order to make a decision? By using an itty-bitty font or cramming too much data into the space, it creates too much work on the part of the reader and will probably result in being thrown out.
NOVELTY CARDS
Now and again, entrepreneurs will try to make their cards stand out by deviating from the standard size or shape, affixing glitter or other flaky substances, having them produced in lightweight plastic, or even creating folding cards that allow them to add twice as much text. While the last of these four can sometimes work if the additional content contains useful information (i.e., a restaurant tipping calculator), the added production expense is rarely commensurate with increased sales. What does work, however, is when the card content is printed vertically (as opposed to traditional horizontal) or when it has been cleverly designed to look like something else (i.e., a movie admission ticket). This can be done at a relatively low cost but still be consistent with other wallet-size business cards.
WHAT A BUSINESS CARD SHOULD CONTAIN
At a minimum, a business card should contain your name, your company name, and how to contact you. In addition, if the name of your company doesn’t conjure an easy association with what your company actually does, a color graphic will be beneficial. Clip-art software programs contain thousands of images for this purpose. If you are going with an existing clip-art image, however, be aware that you may not be the only one to think of this.
This is also applicable to the numerous online business card companies which have pre-set designs from which to choose. The prices are far less than neighborhood print shops but you do run the obvious risk of being part of a commercial herd. Let’s say, for example, that you are one of several dozen catering businesses in your community. To keep your business from being confused with another one down the street that just happened to go with the same perky oven-mitt motif, you may want to design your own artwork or utilize a photograph. The online print services do allow for customization; the cost, however, will be higher because of the set-up fees involved.
Should you include a headshot of yourself on your card? Popular wisdom dictates that only if you have a first name that could either be male or female, such as “Lee,” or if your looks are integral to the specific service your provide (i.e., “Perfect Eyebrows by Lenore”), you are better off omitting the visual introduction. If you do decide to go with a photo, this will increase the printing cost since you really don’t want the whole thing to look like a quickie photocopy.
THE FLIPSIDE
Many people don’t think of using the back side of their business card for additional data. While that’s no excuse to cram in extraneous data, it will reduce a potentially cluttered front side. For instance, you could have your spiffy artwork and name of the company on the front and then have the pertinent contact information printed on the back. If you are using your business cards as a tool to get a job, this back space could be used to list your educational degrees, professional certifications, and/or your areas of specialization (i.e., copywriting, speeches and corporate brochures). The back side of business cards can also be used as discount coupons. For instance, “Show this card and get 20% off your purchase.”
The printing costs will be higher for any duplexing that you request in your order but the result will contribute to a calling card that stands out from the norm without being overwhelming.
MULTIPLE ROLES/MULTIPLE CARDS
Did you know that you can have more than one business card up your sleeve? Just as many individuals have separate resumes depending on which areas of expertise they want to accentuate, enterprising entrepreneurs may find it useful to go with multiple cards. Let’s say, for example, that you are a freelance writer who does scriptwriting, corporate newsletters, and commercial advertising. Rather than cram all of these talents onto the face of one card, you can opt to have “Freelance Writer” on the face of all three versions and then specify the individual areas of expertise on the back of three separate orders. This will allow you to keep the same front design for all ventures but replenish and update the respective back sides as you need them. If you have extra money to spend, of course, you can also do different designs for each area of expertise.
HOW MANY CARDS SHOULD YOU ORDER
Print shops and online design companies generally require you to do a minimum order of 250 or 500 cards. My own recommendation is to go with this order initially and gauge the content’s effectiveness over a six month period. This also gives you the opportunity to update the information in the event you change locations or perhaps add a website listing that had not been in place when you first ordered cards for yourself. It also goes without saying that you need to proofread your content thoroughly prior to having your cards printed. The burden of correctness is on the person doing the ordering, as printers will not fix a job for free if the error was not theirs.
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