Are Your Business Cards Effective?
By Steven Reddy, Select Marketing Steven @ selectmkt. com
Business Cards have the opportunity to effectively identify you and your business. The information that is provided on business cards varies from card to card. Most folks put little thought into their business cards. Employees of a business may have little or no say as to those Business Cards. The one exception may be the name used, for instance Tom or Tommy, instead of Thomas. Other than that you get what your employer gives you. Small Business Owners employ the majority of American workers. They have the flexibility and opportunity to create very Effective Business Cards. Don’ t be fooled and design your cards in an odd size. Stick with the American traditional size of 2 ″ x 3.5 ″. When you deviate from this it annoys many people. Odd sizing makes it difficult to handle, file, and keep. Odd sizing is an example of a Non-Effective Business Card.
So what information should my cards provide? 1. Business Name – Use the correct name of the Business. Be accurate.
2. Your Name Used – Don’ t use Frederick if the name you go by is Fred or Rick or Freddy. 3. Contact Phone Numbers – Include Office, and Cell if necessary. Use as few as possible. 4. Occupation – Help folks know exactly what you do for the XYZ Company. 5. Address – Especially important if you conduct your business at this address. If you don’ t work out of a specific location it is far less important. Servicing the“ Houston Area” may be all that is needed.
6. Products and Services – The back of the card is ideal to showcase your products and services if it is not apparent by your Companies Name and your occupation.
Full Color Business Cards, Pictures, Personal Photograph, Call to Action and your Logo are other items you may wish to consider. Use the least amount of information as possible. Clutter and unnecessary information makes a business card far less effective. Use the back for information as well. The cost is negligent.“ White Space” makes for easy reading. Don’ t use tiny font sizes. Hard to read cards are horribly non-effective. Include what information is important only. Remember, business cards are for contact information, and helps market your brand. They should not be used as brochures. Also, stay away from cheap paper. I like a 14pt. or 16pt. paper weight for Business Cards.
10 MOMENTUM / March 2017