… with writing so small you need a magnifying glass to read it?
by Stuart Livesey
Toni rang me from our shopfront office today and asked me to grab the phone number from a business card on her desk. I found the business card but the number was so small I had to go find my hobby magnifying glass before I could read it clearly.
If you’re going to have a flash looking business card for your small business at least make sure that the important bits can be read quite clearly.
Business cards can be a great marketing tool but not if you use them like this guy did
by Stuart Livesey
Your business card can be a great marketing tool for your small business and I wrote about it back in 2005 when I wrote Marketing Your Small Business with Your Business Card but they can also have the opposite effect if you try and push the limits and be a bit of smart-ass.
Last night we had to duck down to the computer shop to set up a download so that we could grab some very large files from a client. Rick, the guy we share the computer shop with, likes to promote other small businesses in town by allowing them to put a business card holder and a few business cards on his front counter. Included in those on display is one for our text and web design business.
Last night while I was waiting for Toni to set up the download I was looking through those business cards and noticed that none of ours were on display. That seemed a little odd until I noticed that someone had placed several new cards for Wide Bay Connections in front of ours in our card holder.
A phone call to Rick revealed that Jeff from Wide Bay Connections had been into the shop to source some parts through the week but hadn’t asked if he could leave any business cards. Instead it looks as though he spotted our cards and thought it would be a good move to get his cards in front of those of a competitor while Rick wasn’t watching.
Not a cool move Jeff because it not only sends the entirely wrong message about the sort of small business that Wide Bay Connections is but it also means you’re going to have to look for a new source any computer parts you want. Rick doesn’t take kindly to people who pull dirty tricks like that … and nor do we.
I’ve been collecting business cards – Toni has been collecting collectable cars on eBay for our grandkids.
Both of us have been having a very interesting time – yep collecting business cards from local businesses has been interesting because it has really been teaching me something about perception.
I’ve been collecting business cards for a website project that I’m working on and I now have quite a collection form many of the small businesses here in the town where I live and didn’t think much about them until I read an ad in the local paper.
A new design studio has opened in town and one of the things they specialise in is business cards and their ad included this statement:
“… a business’ identity should be a combination of style, well defined colour and most importantly, be visually appealing and create a lasting impressions.”
That made me take a look at my collection of business cards and think about the impression that they have left with me.
What sort of impression does the business card for your small business leave with your potential clients? Is your card robust, vibrant and professionally made or is it something you’ve cobbled together yourself and run off on your inkjet printer?
Which type of card would think left the best impression?
A major hassle for small business and home office people – especially those who don’t live in major towns or cities is finding someone to meet their printing needs. Of course anyone can play around with graphics and printing programs and produce business cards, flyers etc. but somethimes the professional look is missing.
If that is a problem that you face then here is a solution that might work for you.
A quartet of new web sites makes running a small business or home office easier with hundreds of free printable templates. Visitors to the sites can download, customize and print business cards, stationery, fax cover sheets and certificates in just minutes.
Visitors to http://www.FreePrintableBusinessCards.net will find 200 customizable business card templates. All of the designs can be edited in Microsoft Word, allowing the user to customize their cards with company name, title, address and other contact information. The choices include striking color photo business cards, elegant graphic designs and even fun business cards for personal use.
At http://www.FreePrintableStationery.net, users can download and personalize more than 150 stationery and letterhead designs. Each stationery template, available in “lined” and “unlined” versions, can be customized with the user’s personal information. To help small business owners create a unified look in their documents, many of the stationery designs have matching business cards at http://www.FreePrintableBusinessCards.net.
http://www.FreeFaxCoverSheets.net delivers more than 100 customizable fax cover sheets. Many of the cover sheet designs are ready to print and use, while others can be customized with your own business information.
http://www.FreePrintableCertificates.net delivers more than 100 printable certificates in PDF format. The selection includes award certificates (such as Certificate of Excellence, Certificate of Completion and diplomas) as well as blank gift certificates for business owners. For just $4, users can download any certificate in Microsoft Word format: these editable versions can be customized to meet their organization’s exact needs.
I’ve never used them and I have absolutely no affiliation with them but I thought that you might find these handy.
Spending money on marketing and getting value for the money spent can be very hard for any small business. It’s easy to spend a lot on glossy television ads and print ads that can bring in very little in the way of additional business.
But almost every small business has an incredible advertising tool at hand that they constantly over-look. It isn’t big, it isn’t expensive but it can be very powerful and most of us already have them made.
They are our business cards. That little bit of coloured card can be a very powerful tool indeed. Of course handing them out where ever you go or including them in all your correspondence is one way of distributing your business card. You can also do a deal with other businesses to display some of your cards on their shop counters.
That will bring you some business but there are other ways to use them to bring in business. I heard a story some months ago now of one guy who found a different way to use his business card to bring in more business.
When he is out and about he leaves his business card every where. He drops them in elevators, he slips them into the edges of mirrors in washrooms and he leaves one on the seat of any taxi he uses. Every where he goes he drops his card.
At first he was amazed at how much business it brought in and thought that it might have just been a surge in business that would fade away. But he kept up dropping those cards and the business kept on coming.
Will it work for you? I guess you won’t know till you try it and, when you consider how little a box of business cards cost to have designed and printed, it has to be a cheapest forms of advertising that any small business can have.
Where can you leave your business card so that you can get your small business in front of the eyes of people that are likely to buy your product?