Business cards are the only way to make your initial introduction. They will also be the way that you make contact with people in the future, once you have made a good impression on them with them. The more well-crafted and professional your business cards are, the better your chances are of getting a call back from that client.
A good business card is the first contact that people have with you. Your new contacts, your future clients, will receive your cards through a variety of methods, including mail, email, telemarketing and perhaps even face-to-face. As your contacts come to know you, they are most likely to contact you, and then possibly make some type of purchase from you. This is why you want to make sure that your cards are absolutely professional, and don’t just reflect your skills and abilities, but also reflect your personality.
When designing the layout of your cards, make sure that the lines are clear and not crowded. Lines like these: “For more information,” and “Would you like to contact me about this?” are bad ideas for any type of card. You don’t want your cards to look like billboards, and it’s not a good practice to open with a sales pitch. If you want to sell your services or products, use those other methods of communication.
When making a presentation, it’s important to make sure that the audience is able to see your entire face. People will look at your face a lot, and in some cases, a person will be unable to make out your face completely. In that case, make sure that you use lettering, and you do not need to go all the way to the edge of the card. Use a close-up photo that includes your full face, and make sure that you don’t have too many photographs on your card. Remember, everyone has to pass your card, so only one photo per card is fine.
If you’re using a template, make sure that you take the time to ensure that the template is accurate when it comes to making the outline of the cards. Some templates will omit all the outlines. For instance, if you have a website on your card, make sure that it includes all the links on the card, or even better, use arrows and gradients to properly outline your card. Sometimes, business cards will be used as a marketing tool, so make sure that they have great sales copy. Make sure that you have testimonials on the card as well, because this shows people what you are about.
A little friendly advice for you, should you have business cards, is to be careful with how much information you put on the card. Don’t have the sales letter on the card, and make sure that you don’t have more information than what you needed. It can also be a good idea to only use a small percentage of your card for the business name and contact information. Make sure that you don’t overdo it, or your card will look over the top.
If you’re using templates, make sure that you take the extra steps to make sure that your cards are exactly what you want them to be. You don’t want to be stuck with cards that are really poorly designed, or cards that you didn’t even bother to create, and you don’t want to have poor looking cards either. The best thing that you can do is to make sure that you ask for feedback, and that you use an editor to make sure that you get all the elements that you want.
The final element of making your cards is making sure that they come out right. Be sure that you have a designer on staff that you trust, and get your cards in front of people that will read them, and not just see them.
