Author and business owner Steven Briffa talks how to make business cards work for you.
This week's theme for business strategy is marketing, so check out our newsletters on Wednesday and Friday for more marketing tips.
Steven Briffa is the owner of Plenty Valley Printing. He is also a contributing author to Self-Made: Real Australian Business Stories.
What your business card says about you
Marketing your business is something that every business owner should think about constantly. It isn’t just about putting together some brochures and hoping that the customers come to you.
Everything you do from the way you answer the phone to the car you drive and the quality of your business card all say something about you and your business. So many people come to Plenty Valley Printing with the design of their business card that really doesn’t get the right information across to a potential client.
I like to think of a business card in terms of fishing. I talk to someone, then hand them my business card. It’s a bit like putting bait out for a fish and then reeling it in. The business card acts like a hook or something that a person can remember you by.
The cards that have had some time and effort put into them will stand out and you will remember them. Even in this new age of technology, a physical card is something that is tangible and memorable.
Have you ever had a conversation with someone then been given their card. You study the card, turn it over and feel the quality. If it’s been put together well it will leave an impression on you and may even create a conversation between you and the owner. If it looks cheap you may feel equally flippant about the owner.
So what does your business card say about you? Have you printed your cards online or worse, printed them in your home office and then cut them out by hand? Is the ink faded and the corners of the card curling up? What impression does it give a potential client? That you are cheap or that you don’t care? Ask yourself if this is the first impression that you want to make with someone.
So here are my top five things to think about when creating your business card:
1. The card should always carry your branding. This means that it should have your business logo on it and the colours should reflect the colours incorporated in the logo. This helps foster brand recognition and helps the person you are speaking with to remember who you are.
2. The design should be clear, clean and concise. Don’t make the card too busy but make sure that the information needed is there. You should have your name, what you do and a phone number to contact. If someone looks at your card and has no idea what you do, why would they talk to you?
3. Proofread the artwork! This seems very basic but it happens all the time. Cards go out with mistakes on them. Check everything before it goes to print. There’s nothing worse than having a thousand cards out there with the wrong phone number on it. Or, you have recently rebranded and the old logo is on the card.
4. The size should never be greater than the standard 90x55mm. There are a lot of fancy ways to print a card and some people like to go all out and print smaller or larger cards because they think it will have more impact. The fact is, if it doesn’t fit into a wallet, purse or business card holder, it will probably get thrown out or left somewhere loosely and become forgotten.
5. The stock should always be of a significant weight so that is does not wear easily. There are cheap ways to print your cards but this usually means that the card stock will be flimsy and will bend and tear easily. It also looks cheap and this will give the impression that you don’t value yourself and don’t regard quality as important. When you have your card printed by a quality printer, the colours will stand out and the impression will be, ‘This person values what they do, so they will value me as well.’
For more information on Plenty Valley Printing visit www.pvprinting.com.au or contact [email protected].
