Your smallest marketing tool may also one of your best. Business cards are easy to produce, carry and distribute, and are recognized and utilized around the world.
Check out these six tips to help your cards stand out and be effective!
- Get a second pair of eyes on your cards before you print them. A typo in your first name, a mistake in your phone number or your website, or a blurry logo can ruin an otherwise great card. Also make sure you have included all necessary information on your card; it’s surprising how many people accidentally leave out critical information. Make sure your card makes it clear what your business is! Sometimes a logo is not clear enough.
- Watch how much text and graphics you include. Business cards are small, and it can be tempting to try to pack tons of content and graphics on them. Stick to the basics and let your cards be a simple way to stay top of mind with your connections.
- Less is more with color. Overloading a small card with too many colors overwhelms the recipient and looks unprofessional. Consider using no more than two colors for your cards. Photographic backgrounds rarely work well, and using the wrong color text on a competing color background may render your card worthless.
- Use fonts wisely. This refers to not only the size font you use (try not to go below a 7-point font or you risk losing some readers), but also the fonts that you chose to use. A script font is much harder to read when small or in color.Stick with sans serif (think Helvetica) or clear serif (i.e. Times Roman) fonts over anything too decorative. As with color, one or two fonts are best; more makes you look unprofessional.
- Consider a different size, orientation, or paper stock. Most cards are horizontally oriented. There is no reason you can’t do a vertical layout, rounded corners, a unique size, special shapes, unique paper stocks.or even other materials. While some options have little impact on your printing price, those with larger budgets can really stand out if they chose.
- Use both sides of your card. Since business cards are small, it is important to use all available real estate. Perhaps on one side, you put your information (name, phone number, email address, etc.) and on the other side details about your business (website, address). Using both sides wisely can help you get the most bang for your buck, and in today’s digital print age, rarely adds much to the cost.