Get More Value from your Business Card

by Chaun Soh

Just think about your business card for a moment. It’s a far more powerful marketing tool than its small size and low cost might suggest.

Business cards date back hundreds of years. They were initially used as personal calling cards, both for the sake of clarity and prestige.

It was a natural step for them to be used as an effective business tool.

Even today, when almost all forms of marketing have been so dramatically transformed by computers and internet technology, business cards remain a highly effective business builder.

For this reason alone, your card should be an integral part of your company’s visual identity and marketing communications.

With a little thought you can make your card do so much more than simply leave your company’s name and address details.

Here are just some ideas you could put to work for you:

Promote your positioning

Include your business positioning or USP (Unique Selling Proposition) on your business card. This is your most important sales message: a brief, succinct statement that answers the questions 'Who are you?' and 'What’s in it for me if I do business with you?'.

Some of the confidence-inspiring marketing statements I have recently come across are:

• ‘Websites that Sell Like Crazy’
• ‘The World's Most Beautifully Balanced Bowling Balls’
• ‘The Discount Real Estate Guy’, and
• ‘The Source for Cottages and Summer Homes’.

Express your USP on your business card and you instantly communicate who you are, your competitive edge and the special benefits you offer your customers.

Make your card a mini-brochure

Make your card work harder by including useful information on the back or by using a different format — such as a three-fold card.

A three-fold or brochure-style card enables you to include a comprehensive list of services and prices. It also elevates your card into a useful information resource your customer will want to keep, not throw away.

Communicate essential information

Highlight key benefits of your goods or services: is your product more advanced, more affordable, a better return on investment? Say so.

Make sure it clearly shows your location, either with a map, details of the nearest cross-street or by a reference to a local landmark, eg, ‘Opposite McDonald’s’, ‘In Warringah Mall near Dick Smiths’ and so on.

If you accept credit cards for payment, highlight this as well. Many a sale has been made through this fact alone.

Make your card an invitation

Don’t be content with just a few tame address details.

Use your card to invite prospects to visit your place of business or to log on to your website. The more specific or beneficial the reason you provide, the more effective your invitation will be.

At the very least you could include an incentive: ‘Present this card to receive 10% off all items in the store,’ or ‘Log on to our website to download special discount vouchers valid at all our stores.’

Make your card visually striking

Add colour to your cards and they will attract immediate attention. Colour creates the appearance of greater value than plain white and tends to stand out from the rest.

A well designed card is the hallmark of a professional — so choose a style and design that enhances the business you represent.

And speaking of design: your card is too important to just let a printer put together something basic.

For your card to fully reflect the positioning and presence of your business, talk to an expert and experienced designer — one who understands the potential of this powerful business tool and can make it work for you.

Get your cards out there

Even the best designed card won’t bring you any business unless your prospects receive it. Take every opportunity to distribute it widely.

Never leave home or your business without a supply of cards in your card-carrier (and not in a wallet or purse where they can easily become bent, marked or dog-eared).

The next person you meet could turn out to be your best customer — so use every opportunity to hand out your card. Even if you only need to give someone your home phone number, write it on the back of one of your cards.

Business associations all have networking functions which provide ideal opportunities for you to distribute or exchange cards.

Have cards on hand so you can hand them out at any time.

Include them with your mail

If you send or pay invoices by post, always include your business card. It costs next to nothing and it reinforces your presence with people with whom you already have a commercial relationship.

Make sure your staff always have cards

Every staff member should carry business cards. This will greatly increase the possibility gaining sales leads from work and social events.

It also boosts the self-esteem and team spirit of team members. Being given business cards reinforces the fact that they matter to your business — and they will work that much harder for you.

Keep your cards clean and crisp

Your prospects associate the condition of your card with the state of your business — and your professionalism. Always offer a card that is clean, uncreased, unbent and unmarked.

Your business never gets a second chance to make a good first impression, so let your business card speak volumes.

Business cards are one of the most powerful marketing tools in your armory. Use them to their best advantage and you can be sure they will pay for themselves many times over.