Marketing with Business Cards

One of the most effective and readily available tools at any business’ disposal is their business cards.  As every business person knows, the best referral is one that is given to you by someone else.

This type of referral reinforces the confidence and basically qualifying you and your business.

A well designed business card is the most important marking tool. It’s compact, it can be visually compelling, has all your contact information, it can contain coupons, it’s low cost and it is tangible. Unlike an email, you can touch a business card, put it in your pocket and retrieve it without use of a computer.

What does your business card tell potential leads about you?

• It gives people a way to find you.
• You heard “A picture is worth a thousand words”. Your image on the business card is a powerful tool.
• It can grab your attention with its color, shape, as well as the material it’s been printed on.
• It can be funny, unusual, odd and quite memorable.
• It must tell, who you are and what you do without having the recipient having to read a single word.
• It gives you credibility. The recipient sees your name and a way to contact you. Make sure you have a physical address and contact information on your cards.

So, what’s the best way to use this very versatile marketing tool?

Design it with what you do in mind.  It is amazing how many ways a business card can be designed and the list of material they can be printed on. I have seen business cards printed on wood, glass, metal, magnets, different weights of paper, cardboard, plastic and virtually all types of fabric. We printed a set of business cards for a client who built oak cabinets a few years back using sheets of Oak wood. Now I am talking about a sheet of 2×3.5 inches of the actual oak tree. This amazing card not only felt like a sheet of wood, it even smelled like a freshly cut oak.

If you are selling exotic cars, why not have your business cards printed with images of the types of car you sell. Taking one look at your business cards is all it takes for any prospect client to know what you are all about. For a manager of an art gallery who has an exhibition of a certain artist. Why not have a set of business cards designed with images of the work made by the artist and printed with all the time sensitive information for the exhibit. This way, any single business card that is handed out acts as a formal invitation to the exhibition.

Spend the money where it matters. When time comes to get your unique business cards printed, spent the few extra dollars and get your cards printed professionally. There are tons of do-it yourself packages available in every stationary store. Is it worth the money you save when you prefer not to hand out your cards because of the way they look or the thin paper they are printed on? These days, the cost for professionally printing business cards has dropped so much so that trying to save on business card printing is ridiculous. Passing a unprofessional looking business card not only does not help your business, it will absolutely make the recipient see you as an unaccomplished business prospect.

Don’t just give out your cards, pass them on and make every exchange memorable.

• Always try to hand write something specific for the person who is getting your cards. This can be another phone number, another web site address or just a looking forward to hearing from you message.
• For every business card you give out, make a note for yourself. This note is to jog your memory in a later time and can be the person’s name or something that you noticed about the person. If at all possible their contact information. This helps you to connect better when they do contact you.

• Don’t be shy to give your cards to the most unusual prospects, from the restaurant host & server to your favorite bar tender. You never know where that contact information may end up.

• Remember, using your business card is also a numbering game. All you want is to have enough cards end up in the hands of  just so many prospects names. And you will do it again next month.

Categorised in: Marketing

This post was written by Progressive Printing Team

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