Business Cards and how to stop them getting binned

Your business cards are a reflection of your company but you would be surprised at how little time some business owners put into the design and style of their business cards. A little thought beforehand will enable you to have a business card which promotes you and your company effectively.

Firstly, your business card should tell people what you do and give a meaningful benefit, anything less will just confuse and your card will end up in the bin. Get rid of the tagline and put your USP on there, tell everyone what makes you different from the rest.

Always make sure you use both sides; yes a single sided card is cheaper than a double sided one but what a waste of space, and £100 well spent is much better than £60 spent badly. This space could and should be used to further promote your company, why not list the services you provide or you can place a couple of testimonials on there, what better way to sell your company than letting others do it for you. Another idea is your photograph, if like me you attend a lot of networking meetings, by the time I get back in my office and go through the cards I have forgotten who they are for, but you can guarantee if there is a picture I will remember them. Also, what about about putting on a Do you remember statement as in “do you remember me, we met at …… and discussed………” this can be a great memory jogger.

When it comes to the design of your business cards, you need to ensure that your message is the same across all of your company literature. If you have a logo make sure it is reproduced on all stationery and your stationery design should match your business image, for example, if you are a designer and your cards are a simple black and white design this is not going to help you promote your creative side.

Ensure that the fonts you use are easily readable and legible and that your card is not crammed with information. Having white space on your card helps the information get absorbed much easier.

Ensure that all your contact information is on the cards, your prospective clients should have as many means as possible to contact you so make sure you list your telephone numbers, landline and mobile, fax, email and website address etc.

One of the biggest problems when it comes to print is typo’s, leave yourself plenty of time to proof read your cards properly and if you can, let someone else do it for you, it is commonly known that you cannot proof read your own work.

Make sure your cards are of regular size, if they cannot fit into a standard business card wallet the chances are they will end up in the bin, standard size business cards in the UK are 85 x 55mm or 90mm x 50mm.

Ensure that your business cards are printed on a good quality card, at least 350gsm. Many of the free business cards sites only print on 250gsm or lower which is not a good reflection of your business. Have a chat with your printer/print manager about the different types of card available and what you plan on printing on them as they can be an invaluable source of advice. Do not print your business cards yourself, your desk printer although it may be “photo” quality is not designed to print on thick card stocks and you are likely to get inconsistencies of colour and trimming if you do these yourself. And stay away from the perforated business cards you find in most stationers as they just scream out that you do not value your company enough to produce professional business cards.

You only have the one chance to make a good impression and in most cases your business cards will be that first impression so make sure they are of the best quality and design you can afford.