Business Cards Land

If you haven’t glanced at a calendar lately, you might want to do so.  We’re officially into the 12 Days of Christmas, if you choose to celebrate that kind of thing, and the countdown ha begun for one of the biggest holiday’s of year.  No matter what you celebrate this time of year, there’s a pretty good chance your customers are expecting a holiday card of some sort, and being in the business card business, we thought you could use a few hints and tips on what to do, and what not to do this time around.

Obviously there’s some sort of guidelines as to what should be avoided, and what should be highlighted.  We just so happened to find an article packed with tips on all the things you should know when it comes to handing out, sending out and giving out holiday cards to your customers this tricky time of year.  Here are a few things to keep in mind:

1. “Send only business Christmas cards of high quality. Quality shows and the quality of the Christmas card reflects on the sender. Sending cheap Christmas cards will make you look cheap. Buy the best Christmas cards you can afford.
2. You should only send handmade Christmas cards if you are an artist. For the rest of us, sending handmade business Christmas cards only makes us look inept or too cheap to buy Christmas cards.
3. Send only business Christmas cards that are tasteful. You may think the Christmas card with a naked Santa is hilarious, but this is not the time to try and find out whether your client has a sense of humour. Stick with traditional themes and messages to make the best impression.
4. Be aware of your clients’ religious beliefs. Not everyone celebrates Christmas. If you know that a client or customer has different religious beliefs, choose and send a holiday card appropriate to the client’s beliefs, or choose and send a holiday card with a more generic holiday theme and message, such as “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings”.
5. Besides signing your name inside the business Christmas card, hand-write a brief personal message. Don’t just write something such as “Happy Holidays” or “Merry Christmas” above your signature; try to extend and personalize the message. For instance, you might write, “Hope 2006 is the best year ever for you and your family, Joe!” “

Five great ideas, five things to keep in mind!  The countdown has begun, if you need any help finding the right cards, business or holiday, head over to OvernightPrints.com and you’ll be out in no time, with money to spare!

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It’s Friday, we’re tired, we’re ready for the weekend and if you’re within one-hundred miles of my location, you’re freezing.  That said, when all those factors combine it’s extremely easy to make mistakes and in the world of business cards, that’s an extremely easy thing to do.  The good news is, if you’re aware of the mistakes that are always being made, you’re going to be much more equipped to actually avoid those.  The bad news is, these top 5 business card blunders are beyond common, and they are made almost every day by someone designing their own business cards.

Just how common are these business card blunders?  How about common enough that Entrepreneur Magazine actually published this article.  Think they are trying to give people a head’s up about avoiding the pitfalls of poor design?  We think so, and we wholeheartedly agree.  You Can avoid these issues and it’s not hard to do.  Check out the Top 5 Business Card Blunders, according to Entrepreneur Magazine:

1. “Choosing low-quality paper stock. Inexpensive paper stock may save you money, but it often leaves you with a card that feels cheap. Touch is an important sense and plays a role in memory recall. How you appeal to this sense depends on your company’s image. For example, B2B companies wanting to convey reliability should use a substantial, mid-weight stock.
2. Using a design template that does not match the logo. Assuming you want a business card to be taken seriously and help brand your company, you need a design that works with your logo. In other words, be extremely careful with template-based designs. If the templates weren’t developed specifically to match your logo–and most aren’t–they probably won’t. Many entrepreneurs fall in love with an over-designed template that distracts from their logo, or one that features an unrelated photograph. Photographs work well in marketing brochures, but if they appear on a business card, they will distract from your logo.
3. Adding too much color to the card. When you want to get someone’s attention, do you scream? Probably not, if you want to avoid scaring them. So why scare potential customers with a super-bright, rainbow-colored card? Color is your biggest asset in branding your company. Research indicates that color is the most important factor in memory recall. Tie your business to one or two specific colors; this color should also appear in your logo.
4. Making the card too unique. You want your card to stand out, certainly, but not so much that its difference makes people uncomfortable. Complex dye-cuts, extremely oversized cards, and odd card stocks (like metal) should be used only by companies engaged in highly customized or creative endeavors. Custom embossing, rounded corners, or varnishes are better touches for most companies. While it’s tempting to create an oversized card, keep in mind that many people still use Rolodexes or tuck cards into their wallets–both difficult to do with unusually sized cards. Function overrides form.
5. Making the logo gigantic. In general, the bigger the company, the smaller its logo appears on business cards. If you want to look like a Fortune 500, size your logo appropriately. Instead of enlarging your logo for emphasis, employ white space to bring attention to it.”

See!  Easy to spot, easy to avoid, easy to steer clear of.  A helpful tip is to use templates provided by the company you’re ordering your business cards from.  In general they provide a way to make a spot-on business card that avoids the mistakes and gives you some great results.  Check out the ones over at OvernightPrints.com, they have some spectacular, mistake-free templates that will get you on the right track!

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If your business has a lofty goal, a high-minded or optimistic plan to do something better than, faster than or more impressively than any other business, don’t you think that is something that each and every person that receives your business card should hear about?  Don’t you think you should very simply and very honestly explain how good you are right up front?  Yes, so do we. 

Apparently, so does Sarah Sami and her business card design.  She is quite obviously involved in the design field, either as a graphic designer, an artist or some other similar industry and as such she wants to know that she’s going to do her best to completely rid this world of “bad designs.”  Looking at her rusted background, the brilliant red block letters for her information and the “BAD DESIGNS” logo done with thermography.  In short…beautiful, effective, potent and perfect.  Can you tell we’re definite fans of people that explain very plainly and very confidently what they do best?

That’s something to think about as you dive into your next design, what do you do best and how can you, in one or two very short brilliantly designed sentences let each and every person know about that.  You’re obviously in business to be the best at what you do, why not make sure that every hand that touches your business card knows exactly that, no compromises and pure confidence.  You’d be shocked how many people are drawn to that, even in a business card.

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When it comes to designing a brilliant and beautiful business card, sometimes the easiest way to achieve a desired result is the most simple.  That said, when we saw these business cards, despite the fact that the company on the card probably didn’t want their cards to have anything to do with tennis, that’s the exact effect they achieved. 

How they achieved this, is extremely simple and should be a lesson to each and every person out there as to just how easy it can be to make your business cards whatever you wish it to be, simply by thinking about it and adding a little color.  To make this business card look like a tennis themed, or tennis ball business card, all they did was pick the perfect color of green, coupled it with white text on top of it and the rest is history.  Remember, sometime the best results can come with the simplest efforts.

So, next time you’re designing your business card, if you’re trying to achieve a certain result, whatever that result may be, think about the simple ways you can achieve it, rather than the most complex.  Trying to create a business card that screams Baseball?  Go for white background and red text maybe in the shape of the seams of a baseball.  Whatever look you’re going for, experiment with colors, both of the background and the text on top of it, and see how simple it can be to achieve drastic, and great results.  Try it now!

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Here’s a question that absolutely everyone, who has ever been given a business card, has asked themselves:  What now?  What do you do with all of the business cards, from all of your contacts you’ve been given?  Do you store them away, do you file them, do you enter the information into your computer?  Maybe.  But if you want a much cooler, inventive, and faster way to deal with them, why not snap a digital photo?  That way, in addition to keeping all of the information, you’re also keeping the design, quality and originality of their card too!

That said, there are ways to do it, and then there are ways to do it right.  I just found an article with a few tips on exactly how to photograph those business cards you’ve been accumulating in a way that they’ll be actually memorable, and to give them the respect they deserve.  Check out the full article, but for now, here are the tips:

1. Picking the Perfect Background – Don’t just shoot on your desk, pick a background that makes it stand out.
2. Bring Out the Texture – Adjust light, focus and angle to bring out the quality of the texture in the card.
3. Picking the Perfect Position – Avoid the Top Down shot, work with great angles.
4. Focus on the Focus – Always make sure the card is in perfect focus.
5. Lighting, Lighting, Lighting – Sometimes, Natural light is best.  If not, light appropriately.

As always, read the full article, but that paraphrasing should help you capture the business cards you’ve been given in a perfect, and timeless way!

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You’d think that, as ubiquitous (there’s your vocabulary word for the day) as business cards are, that most business owners and salespeople would have a pretty good idea by now about how to use them effectively.  About what design elements are smart, and which aren’t.  About which contact specifics are essential, and which can be left out.

(Of course, if that were true, this blog wouldn’t be needed, but I digress.)

So I’m amazed when I encounter people whose business card practices, perceptions and assumptions are contrary to everything I’ve learned since I started writing about business cards back in 1999.

I have no way of knowing if these perceptions and assumptions are conscious or unconscious, or how they were developed on an individual basis, but I’ve spoken with enough business cards users in recent years to have some idea of the underlying thinking behind them.

In my next few posts, I’ll discuss some of the most common business card assumptions – business card MYTHS, in my opinion – that I believe can have a huge negative impact on the effectiveness of business cards.

Let me tell you right now that you may not agree with me on all of them.  Some of the business card myths I’m going to present have been hotly debated on my website and in my ezine.  That’s fine – my goal is to help you get the most from your business card investment, not win a “Miss Congeniality” contest.

First up:  Business Card Myth #1:  “Internet Marketers Don’t Need Business Cards.”

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Business cards are intended to be associated with people or with companies.  But have you ever run across a business card and thought to yourself, “I know I kept this card for some reason – but why?  What does she DO?”

That happens quite often, and it’s one of my own business card design “pet peeves.”  I hate it when I get a business card and cannot immediately understand what the person does.  That’s not only frustrating; it’s foolish on the part of the business card designer.

Here’s why.

Not all of us use business cards immediately after meeting someone, when the conversation is fresh in our minds.  Sometimes we’re in situations where we’re collecting dozens (if not hundreds) of business cards in a very short time, such as at a conference or tradeshow.  Sometimes we run across random business cards – say, tacked on bulletin boards – that appeal to us for some reason, even though we’ve never met the owner or patronized the business.

So if your business card says “Jane Doe Consulting” or “Prosperity Enterprises” and doesn’t provide any further explanation of your business, that can hurt you.  If I’ve forgotten you personally, and can’t tell what you do professionally, there’s no compelling reason for me to contact you or keep your card.

If your business or company name does not make it absolutely clear what you do, use a little of that precious space on your business card to explain.  A slogan or tagline can be very helpful, as can a bulleted list of benefits or previous clients.  Industry-related information on the back of a business card (such as a mortgage amortization schedule) can help clear up any confusion about what field you’re in.

You can also use artwork or images on your business card that are related to what you do as well.  For example, the business card backgrounds shown below (available through the Express Business Card Designer at OvernightPrints.com) make it quite clear that the business card is associated with a particular type of business.

Let’s see if you can guess the industry, just by looking at the business card design…

Construction or building industry, right???

Hmmm, not quite as clear – but something money-related, perhaps financial services?

Ah!  That background implies massage therapy or reflexology to me – possibly a chiropractor, too.

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All this talk of creativity and business cards might lead people to focus almost entirely on the design, layout and appearance of the card.  This is great, but only half of the equation.  Today we just want to make sure you don’t forget the first step in this entire process, possibly the most important:  What paper do you use when getting your business cards printed?

When it comes to choosing that first element, the paper it will all be printed on, it might seem overwhelming, but if you keep a couple of ideas in mind, you’ll make the best decision with the least hassle.  Here are a couple of things to keep in mind, according to DubDesign.co.uk:

“Study your paper stock options. Do not just go for a printer which offers a low, low price on business card printing…Always see what kind of bargain you are getting.

A heavy set paper stock is ideal for business cards for it will hold up for a longer time. If it were added with a varnish or coating, just think how well your business cards will look years from now.

There are many card stocks in the commercial printers pockets. There are 14pt. Gloss Cover, 14pt. Cover with UV Coating and 14pt. Matter Cover.

If you want a different card stock, discuss with your printer if it were possible to access this kind of paper. If it is available or would it still have to be bought, since paper comes in huge sheets or rolls. Carefully weigh your priorities and budget.

Familiarize yourself too with what some finishes can do for your prints. A matte finish gives prints a dull yet smooth and sophisticated finish. UV Coating, on the other hand, prevents ball point pens from writing over your business cards. Study your habits and of course, your style.”

Keeping those few tips in mind will help you guarantee that you know what questions to ask, when to ask them, and a few of your different choices when it comes to getting your cards printed.  Remember, the paper is what holds it all together, don’t neglect it!

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