Your Contact Strategy
Before you go making cards…
The first question to consider about business cards is do you need one at all?
In the 21st Century giving each other small pieces of card with our name printed on them seems very old fashioned. Before you make a card it’s wise to think about your entire contact strategy. Here are a few examples.
Email signature
Make sure that you have created a professional email signature that is added to every outgoing email. Include your name, title, phone number and email address. You may also want to add your web or weblog address. Some people also add an email disclaimer at the very end.
--
Doug Hole
Director
Earthworks Ltd
01234 567 8923
doughole@earthworks.com
www.earthworks.com
Answer phone message
Make sure you have enabled the answer phone facility on your mobile phone and record a professional message that reflects well on your business. One useful trick is to get another voice to record it.
“This is Earthworks Ltd and you’ve reached the voice mail of Doug Hole. Please leave a message and Doug will phone you back as soon as he can”
Anticipate web searches
If someone remembers half your name or your name but only part of your company name they are likely to turn to Yell.com or an internet search engine. You ought to mimic this behaviour and carry out a number of searches for yourself using Yell, MSN, Yahoo, Ask Jeeves and Google. What happens? What did you find and what will a potential customer find?
One way to control this process is to make sure that there is a short, professional biography and contact details somewhere on the web. At the moment (mid 2010) a personal biography on LinkedIn or Facebook stands a very high chance of appearing in the first page of Google search results. The reason for this is that those sites are constantly updated and have huge numbers of incoming links. This means that Google gives them a prominent place in search results.
Using networking software like LinkedIn to place your biography online is free to you and also free to maintain. The next stage is to own your personal domain (yourname.com) and make sure it has a ‘contact’ page which many search engines look for. You may like to put your name into ZoomInfo which specifically searches for ‘about’ and ‘contact’ pages on the web.
Your business card
If you are still persuaded that you need a piece of card with your name on, here are some suggestions…
Get your outcome clear
What job do you want your card to do? Who is it aimed at and what do you want them to do with it? Answering these questions will drive your design decisions
“It’s a contact card that I give to people who have met me so that they have a record of my contact details. All I want them to do is keep it.”
“It’s partly for marketing. I’m using the back to give the customer a special offer. I want them to visit my website as a result of looking at my card.”
Make the basic design decisions
| Decision | Options |
|---|---|
| Format | Portrait or landscape? |
| Size | Standard or outsized (A6 = postcard)? |
| Materials | Card, paper, wood, plastic, metal? |
| Style | Conforms to the norm or stands out from the norm? |
| Photo | Add your photo or not? |
Consider alternatives
Would an alternative be more suitable for your business - stickers or fridge magnets for example. Could you link your contact details to something useful like a USB stick or a pen?
Finish it for unconscious quality
One way of giving your card an authentic feeling of quality and perceived value is to use coated paper, specifically a matt laminate or matt varnish. Unlike a shiny varnish, the matt varnish does not reflect the light so it does not look cheap and because it makes the card feel thicker it will transmit the feeling that yours is a quality business. This kind of matt finish is one of the few options it is really worth paying extra for on a business card.
How Do I Get A Card Made?
There are really no limits on what you might pay to get a card made if you ask a graphic designer to come up with a bespoke design and print package. At a much lower cost there are a number of companies who offer a more standard process for producing your card.
They offer a number of standard templates on a website or the ability to upload your own design. You approve the card on screen and after paying online they are printed and shipped to you.
Here’s a table of some of the more popular services:
| Vistaprint | A very wide range of templates ranging from almost free (you pay for postage) to a premium range. Their business model depends on encouraging you to come back, so whilst the service is very good you will find a weekly bombardment of special offers. It is a good place to buy your first cards with a comprehensive range of alternatives using the same templates - from fridge magnets to mugs and business stationery to mailing labels. |
| moo.com | Smaller range of templates than Vistaprint but the cards are higher quality and more modern. Much easier to upload your own images. |
| Goodprint | Similar to Vistaprint but with an alternative style of templates |
| Streetcards | Business cards for social and business use with a more design and visual style than Vistaprint. Includes card options for more than just business cards. |
Summary
Just before you give the go ahead for printing or press the buy button online it’s worth stepping into your customers shoes one last time and trying to see your card through your customers’ eyes. If your customer is looking at your card and asking What’s In It For Me? does your card help them answer this question? Think of your card as a secret agent, lurking on their desk or in their wallet waiting to grab their attention.
Make sure your design reflects your original intentions for the card and that it works for you when you are not there.
Oh, and you may find this helpful
Help yourself to Card Shark - creating killer business cards that sell…
Did you know that the average business card is only looked at 3 times?
- Once when you give it to someone...
- Once when they decide how to file it...
- and once again, briefly, when they throw it away!
How can you design a business card that gets kept, looked at and encourages your contacts to do business with you?
That’s what Card Shark is all about.
After reading it, I redesigned my business cards and ordered new ones.
Download your FREE copy of Card Shark. Card Shark will download as a .pdf file for you. Windows users may need to right-click
.
Card Shark was written by Debbie Jenkins at Lean Marketing and she has other free ebooks and information available. Debbie helps new business spend less on marketing and achieve more. Visit Debbie Jenkins/Lean Marketing.
