Business Cards Land

It’s very difficult to be objective about ANYTHING we design ourselves or is even about us in a positive way.  That’s true for business cards – you probably fell in love with yours the minute you saw it, but it doesn’t mean other people see it that way!

One way that you can get a feel for how well your business card stands out from the competitors is to grab a stack of random cards – maybe 50 to 100 – and spread them out on a table, right side up, facing toward you.  Make sure your card is included too.  (Better yet, have someone ELSE spread out the cards, so you don’t know where yours is.)

Position yourself in front of the table and shut your eyes for 30 seconds.  Now open them – which cards stand out the most, and why?

I got this idea from Scott Ginsberg, “that guy with the nametag” – and this is what he noticed when he did this exercise:

~ Red: every card that had red on it stood out

~ Picture: only a few cards had pictures of the cardholder. This not only made them stand out, but helped  him connect faces with names and companies.

~ Vertical: several cards were formatted vertically, which caught his eye.

~ Black Background: most cards have a white background, so the black ones REALLY stood out.

~ Image: cards with some sort of colorful image that took up at least one fourth of the total surface area captured his interest.

So how does YOUR card stack up – er, stand out?

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Honest.

Now I didn’t get it from Jolly Old St. Nick in person – rather, from one of his assistants – but I’m SURE it was the real deal.  I mean, it had a North Pole address – why would anyone use that address if they didn’t really live there?

Seriously – it got me to thinking about seasonal cards, clever cards, celebrity-related cards.  There’s a lot to learn from a business card like that – most notably the concept that if somebody as well known as Santa needs a business card, you probably do too.

So are there ways YOU can play around with a card like that and create something memorable?  Maybe you play Santa at the Hospital or in a local theater production – create business cards, have some fun and generate a little publicity.

There are all sorts of celebrity and even storybook fictional figures you could use as a starting point for a clever take on a business card – not only Santa and the elves, but the Grinch.  Think Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, Mother Earth, Father Time.  (Just check any copyright restrictions.)  How could any of those figures, or the stories associated with them, tie in to your business?

You could capitalize on some sort of seasonal card as well.

Say you own a lawn care business and during the winter months, you do snow removal.  Why not make a business card like this one?

You can whip up something like that in 5 minutes with the Express Design tool at OvernightPrints.com.

Remember – you don’t have to use a single business card, or some generic company card – business cards are such affordable and versatile like tools that you can be a bit fun and innovative without overwhelming your budget.

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I’m going to play Devil’s advocate in this post.

Tyler shared some great info in a couple of other posts about unique and creative business cards.

And I’ll be the first to admit that the business community often seems to be populated by people with no imagination whatsoever – either that, or they so truly underestimate the marketing potential of a business card that they simply don’t deem it worthy of any particular design or creative considerations.

There’s absolutely no excuse for a blah, boring, black text on white background business card, even if you try to liven it up with some generic clip art.

That being said… a really original, creative, out of the box business card design can be more hassle than it’s worth.  There are distinct disadvantages to certain types of unusual cards – so let’s look at those.

1) Many unusual business cards cost substantially more to print.   Die-cut business cards, cards on materials such as wood or metal, cards that pop up or fold out – they’re all going to cost more.  Sometimes a LOT more, than traditional business cards.

2) Unusual business cards may be hard to store.  True, a business card that stretches like a rubber band is sure to be remembered and passed around – but how in the world will anyone put it in their Rolodex or business card holder?  I doubt a business card scanner can handle it either!

3)  Related to the above – they may be hard for YOU to carry around and hand out, as well.  The good thing about standard-sized business cards is that they are well… standard.  They fit in a business card case.  They’re easy to carry around.  Which means you’re more likely to have one with you and actually use it.

Am I saying that it’s always unwise to design an unusual business card?  Absolutely not.  There are occasions when having a truly MEMORABLE business card trumps those other considerations.  Just make sure to carefully weigh the pros and cons.

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