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Digg it UP - 10 Business Card Basics: Does Yours Have Them?
If you are part of the business arena, it’s undeniable that you’ve got lots of printing requirements. Having a printer in your office is a great help but surely it can’t accommodate all your printing needs. So if you require for a large volume of copies to print, you will need a commercial printer to help you out.There are large numbers of commercial printers out there who offer different services to match your printing jobs. Whatever you need, there’s a printing service available to get your job done. Have a worry-free printing for the capabilities of commercial print services are illimitable.What are the capabilities of a commercial printer? Basically, they can accommodate huge volume of print jobs. They’re also excellent when it comes to printing. Since digital printing is a trend in the industry, you’ll be astounded with the quality your prints will have after you’ve submitt
5. Your Email Address
Most people are pretty good about including his, but many are still using personal email addresses instead of "yourname@yourbusinessname.com". Be professional and obtain and use an email address that features your web site domain name. It says you're a professional AND it reinforces your brand/business name.
I wrote an entire article about the importance of this; you can read it at http://www.10stepmarketing.com/free_easy.htm
6. Your Phone Number and Fax Number (if you have one)
You may also include your cell phone number if you choose to.
It has been observed that often business opportunity sellers use shills to promote their products or business opportunities in advertising. Perhaps you seen this before when someone on TV was obviously a very skilled actor will swear by certain product or business opportunity in an infomercial. They claim that they've made all kinds of money in this new investment and business opportunity, yet often this is totally fraudulent.You see, often the person stating what a great business it is; is only an actor they are not in the business nor have a meeting the money doing anything for the business other than being an actor for the video.You see, the Federal Trade Commission is now onto this and they have proposed a new set of rules to prevent this type of fraud, as it is disreputable and misleading advertising and misrepresents the truth. Below is an excerpt from the Federal Trade C
I think many small business owners miss the boat when it comes to their business card. I'm looking at a variety of cards right now that I've received over the past few months.
Most of them are missing at least one key element that could be helping them attract more clients and prospects.
Most business cards include the basic contact information, but that's where they stop.
Your business card is a marketing opportunity. Every time you hand one out, it's a chance to communicate something about your business. It's a chance to help establish your brand identity.
And, it's a chance to attract prospects and clients to your business.
But only if you include the proper information.
Following is my list of 10 things every business card should include, along with a few basic tips on creating a business card that works hard for your business. While some of it seems pretty basic, you'd be surprised what I see on some business cards!
Use it as a checklist to evaluate your business card to see how it measures up.
1. Your Name
Obvious I know, but please make it easy to find and read. No mouse-type and don't bury it among other information.
2. Your Title
You'd be surprised how many people leave this off. I recently received the business cards from two gentlemen who work for a major public relations firm. One is the founder and president, the other an assistant. Neither of their cards feature job titles. If time goes by and I forget who they are, or if I pass along their cards or contact info to someone else, they might not have any idea one of them is the owner of the company.
Too bad. It doesn't cost any more to print a title on the card.
3. Your Business Name
Most people get this one right. If, however, you don't have a business name, and you're operating as "Mary Smith, Accountant" you need to get one. Even if you're operating as a sole proprietor, a business name tells your prospects you're serious, that this is a business and not a hobby.
For tips on naming your business, you can read my article "Naming Your Business: 3 Tips to Ensure Success" at http://www.10stepmarketing.com/bizname.htm
4. Your Mailing Address
Make it easy for people to contact you. Five of the 20 business cards I just pulled out of my files do NOT include a mailing address. If you work out of your home and don't want to publish your home address, get a P.O. Box or Postal Mail Box.
This again will help establish yours as a bona fide business and not just a hobby.
5. Your Email Address
Most people are pretty good about including his, but many are still using personal email addresses instead of "yourname@yourbusinessname.com". Be professional and obtain and use an email address that features your web site domain name. It says you're a professional AND it reinforces your brand/business name.
I wrote an entire article about the importance of this; you can read it at http://www.10stepmarketing.com/free_easy.htm
6. Your Phone Number and Fax Number (if you have one)
You may also include your cell phone number if you choose to.
Think back to high school. Remember the week before your summer holidays started? You couldn't wait to kick off your summer holidays. Fast forward ten weeks later. You were looking forward to starting a new school year, to seeing all of your friends again, and, most importantly, you were looking forward to getting off to a good start and finishing the year with good grades. When the last school year ended, you were tired of it; when the new school year started, you were fresh and alert.Now you work. No more summers off. No more time off at Christmas. Maybe you've worked for years without a holiday. You might be burnt out. But you still work. Maybe your company forces you to overwork yourself.Would you agree that the way you're working, you're probably not as productive as you could be if you just had more energy? Longer vacations worked in high school. Why wouldn't it work in th
And, it's a chance to attract prospects and clients to your business.
But only if you include the proper information.
Following is my list of 10 things every business card should include, along with a few basic tips on creating a business card that works hard for your business. While some of it seems pretty basic, you'd be surprised what I see on some business cards!
Use it as a checklist to evaluate your business card to see how it measures up.
1. Your Name
Obvious I know, but please make it easy to find and read. No mouse-type and don't bury it among other information.
2. Your Title
You'd be surprised how many people leave this off. I recently received the business cards from two gentlemen who work for a major public relations firm. One is the founder and president, the other an assistant. Neither of their cards feature job titles. If time goes by and I forget who they are, or if I pass along their cards or contact info to someone else, they might not have any idea one of them is the owner of the company.
Too bad. It doesn't cost any more to print a title on the card.
3. Your Business Name
Most people get this one right. If, however, you don't have a business name, and you're operating as "Mary Smith, Accountant" you need to get one. Even if you're operating as a sole proprietor, a business name tells your prospects you're serious, that this is a business and not a hobby.
For tips on naming your business, you can read my article "Naming Your Business: 3 Tips to Ensure Success" at http://www.10stepmarketing.com/bizname.htm
4. Your Mailing Address
Make it easy for people to contact you. Five of the 20 business cards I just pulled out of my files do NOT include a mailing address. If you work out of your home and don't want to publish your home address, get a P.O. Box or Postal Mail Box.
This again will help establish yours as a bona fide business and not just a hobby.
5. Your Email Address
Most people are pretty good about including his, but many are still using personal email addresses instead of "yourname@yourbusinessname.com". Be professional and obtain and use an email address that features your web site domain name. It says you're a professional AND it reinforces your brand/business name.
I wrote an entire article about the importance of this; you can read it at http://www.10stepmarketing.com/free_easy.htm
6. Your Phone Number and Fax Number (if you have one)
You may also include your cell phone number if you choose to.
Consider your life as a business enterprise. Overshadowing everything else is a business goal and a strategy to reach that goal. Also there is a business philosophy, the red thread that gives meaning of existence to the enterprise. Now consider your life. You need one or several goals, immaterial and material ones. What is important to you in life? Consider that which you want to achieve, where you want to be and also what kind of people you want to be around. In this way you can find your way to a life which will yield the things in life that have a high value to you.And so we arrive at the business strategy, how to actually reach that goal. In this world we are bound by several resources, with money being the most obvious one in developed market economies. Whatever your goals are in life, money will surely take you pretty far on the way there. As the definition of the
2. Your Title
You'd be surprised how many people leave this off. I recently received the business cards from two gentlemen who work for a major public relations firm. One is the founder and president, the other an assistant. Neither of their cards feature job titles. If time goes by and I forget who they are, or if I pass along their cards or contact info to someone else, they might not have any idea one of them is the owner of the company.
Too bad. It doesn't cost any more to print a title on the card.
3. Your Business Name
Most people get this one right. If, however, you don't have a business name, and you're operating as "Mary Smith, Accountant" you need to get one. Even if you're operating as a sole proprietor, a business name tells your prospects you're serious, that this is a business and not a hobby.
For tips on naming your business, you can read my article "Naming Your Business: 3 Tips to Ensure Success" at http://www.10stepmarketing.com/bizname.htm
4. Your Mailing Address
Make it easy for people to contact you. Five of the 20 business cards I just pulled out of my files do NOT include a mailing address. If you work out of your home and don't want to publish your home address, get a P.O. Box or Postal Mail Box.
This again will help establish yours as a bona fide business and not just a hobby.
5. Your Email Address
Most people are pretty good about including his, but many are still using personal email addresses instead of "yourname@yourbusinessname.com". Be professional and obtain and use an email address that features your web site domain name. It says you're a professional AND it reinforces your brand/business name.
I wrote an entire article about the importance of this; you can read it at http://www.10stepmarketing.com/free_easy.htm
6. Your Phone Number and Fax Number (if you have one)
You may also include your cell phone number if you choose to.
A wise and dear mentor once said to me "Given enough information your intuitive sense will be validated." Intuition some suggest comes from our gut brain as described by Dr. Hawkins in his book Get Out Of Your Own Way or by others as an unknown sense that has always been with us.Whatever the source, intuition is the gut brain for business. For example, have you ever met a potential client and felt immediately that this was a good fit or conversely met a prospect and couldn't get away from him or her fast enough. Why did you have those strong feelings? And more importantly, why did you listen to them?What happened when you failed to listen to your intuitive sense? Did you experience an internal "I told you so!?" Maybe, after ignoring your gut brain because you were afraid of being judgmental, you took a chance and the end result confirmed your
For tips on naming your business, you can read my article "Naming Your Business: 3 Tips to Ensure Success" at http://www.10stepmarketing.com/bizname.htm
4. Your Mailing Address
Make it easy for people to contact you. Five of the 20 business cards I just pulled out of my files do NOT include a mailing address. If you work out of your home and don't want to publish your home address, get a P.O. Box or Postal Mail Box.
This again will help establish yours as a bona fide business and not just a hobby.
5. Your Email Address
Most people are pretty good about including his, but many are still using personal email addresses instead of "yourname@yourbusinessname.com". Be professional and obtain and use an email address that features your web site domain name. It says you're a professional AND it reinforces your brand/business name.
I wrote an entire article about the importance of this; you can read it at http://www.10stepmarketing.com/free_easy.htm
6. Your Phone Number and Fax Number (if you have one)
You may also include your cell phone number if you choose to.
In society today and the business world, the more you use your mind, the better your success will be. When you have outstanding mind and brain skills and IQ confidence usually follows. Employers hire and promote often the person who masters these characteristics better then a very competitive workforce today.A great way to keep your brain in shape is mind puzzles and brainteasers. These fun mind games are found everywhere. They are in magazines and store check out counters, they are even in newspapers across the country. They not only give you a break from a stressful day, they actually stimulate your mind.Playing a mind game such as a cryptogram, you are increasing your reasoning skills. When you figure out which letter should be replaced with another, you are strengthening a skill that you need in everyday life.Another skill that is developed by playing mind puzzles is
5. Your Email Address
Most people are pretty good about including his, but many are still using personal email addresses instead of "yourname@yourbusinessname.com". Be professional and obtain and use an email address that features your web site domain name. It says you're a professional AND it reinforces your brand/business name.
I wrote an entire article about the importance of this; you can read it at http://www.10stepmarketing.com/free_easy.htm
6. Your Phone Number and Fax Number (if you have one)
You may also include your cell phone number if you choose to. Whatever phone numbers you include, make sure they are clearly marked. How many times have you picked up a card and dialed a fax number by mistake only to receive that lovely screeching sound in your ear!?!
Make sure the font size is readable. You want to make it easy for prospects and clients to call you.
7. Your Logo Mark
This is one of the items I often see missing from small business owners' cards. Probably because they don't have a logo mark. A logo mark is your opportunity to begin establishing your brand. It sets the tone and personality for your business. In my opinion, it is a business must-have.
If you think you're not big enough or can't afford a logo, think again. If you want to be taken seriously as a business you need one. You can learn why in my article on the importance of logos; you can read it at http://www.10stepmarketing.com/greatlogo.htm
8. Your Tagline
This is another one I scarcely see. What is a tagline? It is a short statement that sums up the solution you provide, or the key message or unique selling proposition for your business. When combined with your business name and logo, it communicates a lot about your business.
It's a huge missed opportunity when you leave it off your business card. This is another topic I've already devoted an entire article to, and you can read it at http://www.10stepmarketing.com/taglines.htm
9. Your Web Site Address
The most common reason for leaving this off a business card is not having a web site. I believe ALL businesses should have a web site. It gives your prospects and clients the opportunity to easily learn more about your business and the products or services you provide, if they're not yet ready to contact you directly.
It's not difficult or expensive to get a web site. Another topic I've written an entire article about, and you can read it http://www.10stepmarketing.com/QAwebsite.htm
10. A Call-to-Action
This is one that most people do NOT include, but one that can provide a huge opportunity. If you look at your business card as a promotional tool, why not include a call-to-action, such as "Visit our website at www.ourwebsite.com to get your Free Report, 10 Low-Cost Ways to Market Your Business."
Use it as a way to drive traffic to your web site and generate new leads or prospects. It costs next to nothing and can make a huge impact, especially if you hand out a lot of cards.
This is something that can easily be printed on the back side of your card and two-sided cards don't cost much more than one-sided cards to print.
Here are the call-to-action messages you'll find on two of my business cards:
O
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