Business Cards 101–Size and Color

If you do all your business on-line and never confront a customer or prospect face to face. You may not need a business card.

On the other hand, your business card can be your most versatile marketing tool. Working very hard to convey far more than your name and a telephone number.

Here are some things to think about before you order more cards.

You want the person who gets your card to remember you and call you when there is a chance to do business. If your card doesn't fit in a standard card case, or hangs over the edges of a rubber band stack of cards, it may not be saved.

I got a card shaped like a basketball once. No way to put it in a book with slots for cards. It wouldn't fit in the electronic card scanner so if I wanted the info in my database, I would have to type it all in by hand. Not only that, it bent over the edge when I put it in the stack with others (I have several stacks of cards, all with rubber bands holding them together). Nifty first impression, but I questioned the wisdom of saving it at all when it didn't fit any of my standards.

Someone gave me a metal card. Looked like a skinny credit card. It clanked on the desk when I dropped it. I found out later it cost the guy a buck each to hand them out. I guess I must have passed the money test.

Almost everyone I know has a black business card from someone, with gold letters. I wonder if the person handing them out also has a den full of Elvis pictures on velvet bought from the guy with the truck at the busy intersection.

Now there are phone cards with a business card printed on the back. Use up the free minutes and what happens to the card? Trash, I bet. It'll cost at least a buck to hand out cards like that.

A business card is your mini billboard. You want people to be impressed, to remember, and to keep it. A crisp, clean, professional looking business card printed on white glossy stock is still the best for most applications.

To learn more about how to make your business card the most powerful tool in your marketing arsenal, visit http://bigideasgroup.com/html/business_cards.html

©2006 BIG Mike McDaniel, All Rights Reserved http://BIGIdeasGroup.com BIG Mike is a Business Consultant and Professional Speaker. His BIG Ideas Group helps business grow with promotions, special reports, mastermind groups, seminars and consulting. Subscribe to "BIG Ideas for Small Business" Newsletter MailTo:SignUp@BigIdeasGroup.com