John, it's very weird to know that you carry around two of my cards with you. Now I gotta do something really great for my next card. Hmmm.
Michiel
· 3 years ago
Business cards are for salesmen and marketeers, not for IT types like me. Strange relics of an analogue world.
John Tokash
· 3 years ago
To be completely honest, they are in my briefcase now. When someone shows me a clever business card at a conference I show them your black one. You're right - it's a conversation starter.
John Tokash
· 3 years ago
There is a guy who sells metal cards that have dozens of cuts. If you follow directions, the cards can be folded to become a variety of different art pieces for your desk. He has an operating room, and several others. Way too expensive to be a business card, but maybe an adaptation of that idea would work. I'll see if I can dig up the url.
Toby Getsch
· 3 years ago
Triple check for typos. Have someone else triple check for typos. Wait overnight and then check for typos again in the morning.
Nope, I've never had a typo on a business card. (Oops!)
The other thing I have noticed is to say something about the business card when you hand it to someone. This gets them to look at the card and while talking with you, it helps associate the person with the card.
Robert Scoble
· 3 years ago
Michael, I totally disagree. Cards are still the best way to network with other people, particularly if you go to a conference or a party. I have hundreds of cards from IT people and tons of CTOs.
If you're a geek and you don't think networking is important then you probably are making about 60% of what you could make if you were a little more skilled at networking.
Robert Scoble
· 3 years ago
Toby, good advice!
met
· 3 years ago
Scribble something on the card before giving it to him/her.
John Tokash
· 3 years ago
On the topic of typos, if you are printing your own cards, be careful with the software you are using. Avery DesignPro, for instance, always seems to stretch graphics. Print one card at a time until everything is just right.
Also, self printed cards and cards at Kinkos look and feel like crap, so avoid them unless you are in a rush.
Anthony Caruana
· 3 years ago
I've taken to scanning cards as a standard practice. I store the images on my iPaq and iPod as I always have one of those devices with me so i can look at the cards whereever I am.
i agree that the tactile aspects of a card are important. Glad you reminded me as I'm in the process of designing new cards for my business (www.gestaltcommunications.com - gratuitous self-promotion). I hadn't considered Braille - great idea.
Michiel
· 3 years ago
"If you’re a geek and you don’t think networking is important then you probably are making about 60% of what you could make if you were a little more skilled at networking."
Ah, the dollar at the bottom line again? I earn more than I can spend doing a job I like doing. I work to live, not the other way around.
You are right, if I flexed my networking muscles I'd probably be able to make more, work longer hours, have more stress. Money isn't everything; in fact, it s not even in my top 5. Hell, if computers weren't so damned pervasive these days I'd have a serious problem on my hands. What DID geeks do before there were computers? (serious question)
Robert Scoble
· 3 years ago
Matt: geeks before computers? How far back before? There have been computing machines in our society for hundreds of years.
I disagree that you'd work more and longer hours too.
If you are so good that you can earn a decent living now working 40 hours a week, maybe with a bit of marketing skills you could find a job that'd pay the same but would let you work only 30 for the same compensation.
But, if you don't care about furthering your career I ain't gonna do it for you.
David Dalka
· 3 years ago
Michiel - It's not just about money, it's about information exchange and learning new things. People are interesting and you get exposed to new points of view. That is always a good thing! Also making a career change is not about money. You need cotacts to do that too.
Robert - great tips - it would be neat if you could put up some pictures or scans of some great examples in seperat post. I'm having trouble picturing some of them in my mind.
/pd
· 3 years ago
Hey Robert, heres a tip for you too.. I am doin some eval on RCards. I wanted to do some other stuff with it , but it will make an ideal Placer for scan image into it :)-
check it out.. let me know what you think
range
· 3 years ago
I went from being a programmer to working in finance. Its a change that taught me a lot of things, including on having my cards on me at all times, even if I wasn't in a suit.
Of all the blogs out there, there is a small fraction that can actually monetize themselves and turn into careers. Why? Maybe I'm tired of working for money, maybe I want to write for a living, maybe I'm tired of the rat race I put myself in for the sake of my family.
There are a lot of reasons, but one that comes to mind is freedom. Being able to do what you want to do and be free.
David
· 3 years ago
One piece of advice (which I guess is true for all design): know when to stop. A business card I have in front of me right now has:
A full-colour image on the reverse side.
A layer of clear transparent text embossed over the image.
A patch of heat-sensitive liquid crystal ink which displays the company logo when you handle it.
"Cute" joke job titles.
The company logo used as a faded-out background image behind the text.
Any of those might work, used alone. But it also has:
Light-grey text on a white background.
A typo.
It certainly starts conversations, but not in a good way.
James Curran
· 3 years ago
Many year ago, I worked for Ticketron -- in fact, I had three complete Ticketron outlet in my office! So, one day, I printed up a bunch of business cards on ticket stock. The looked impressive, and were definitely a conversation starter. They also followed most of your rules, with the biggest exception being it's size (about 6" x 1"). I gave one to Charles Petzold, and he carried it in his wallets for a couple years.....
@7 So, can we assume given this advice, that you WERE making what you could make when you were at MS? I mean,you did follow you own advice, right? So, there was no need to whine about your less than $100K salary as if you were properly networking then you were making what you were worth, right?
Robert Scoble
· 3 years ago
Dmad: huh? I got my new job by being visible and networking. Where did I meet John? At a conference. I've helped many developers get hired too.
Networking helps you ensure you are paid what you're worth, not what your present employer is willing to pay. It's hard to get hired if no one knows who you are.
Chris
· 3 years ago
On the subject of scanning cards: I have a book called "The Best of Business Card Design". We use it at scanR for testing the MOST difficult to scan designs for our camera phone business card scanner. Many of the designs in this book are visually interesting but the designers forgot that legibility is most important attribute. After all, the purpose of a business card is to communicate your contact information.
Justin
· 3 years ago
Scoble, do not waste anymore time on Michiel. He clearly does not "get it", like a lot of other people in the industry. Perhaps he's so blinded by the so called "core values" of his lifestyle, it inhibits him to work smarter and enjoy the things he would rather be doing in the first place. The initial comment of not understanding the concept of networking is unfortunate, but maybe he's just anti-social and prefers not to interact because he doesn't have anything to contribute.
Another good rule is to print all the information (name, tel, mobile, address, email, etc) on ONE SIDE of the card. Some namecards come "creatively" with the person's name on one side and the company name+address on the other. So they expect you to use a namecard scanner twice to capture their info. Some namecards are foldable but twice the size of the standard cards. Certainly not effective planning...
Randy Weber
· 3 years ago
I put my nickname on my card – World Wide Weber. Everyone comments on it. People remember me because of it. Working at a Fortune 20 company, it took an act of congress to get my cards printed like that, but it was definitely worth it.
Ross Hill
· 3 years ago
"Triple check for typos. Have someone else triple check for typos. Wait overnight and then check for typos again in the morning."
Then rinse and repeat, twice. Bad experience..
shawn
· 3 years ago
I've heard it said that content is king, and this should hold true for business cards as well. I think the people you give your card to should be a factor in determining the content of your card. My cards have my name, contact info, website and logo on one side and a tag cloud I created on the other side. I usually give my cards to people who don't know what a tag cloud is and so that generates conversation. People who don't know what a tag cloud is might not be clued in to everything that is happening on the Internet. These are the people I'm looking for.
realestateceo
· 3 years ago
This is the best blog on business cards. T bad I just spent $400 on my companys business cards three days ago:(
Phil
tom gordon
· 3 years ago
My old business cards had a rocketship on them, along with my name & contact details. The rocketship was my company logo though, so I guess that's kinda cheating :)
The new ones... well, I ran out a couple of years ago and never bothered having more made even though my company is still going strong. I've actually found more often than not that giving business cards isn't much use. I grab those of the people I meet, write my name & number on the back, and give them back, or keep them and email the person that evening to say hello and introduce myself. Helps that my company name is particularly memorable though. :)
Oh, and on the subject of plastic cards - I had some of those made about 5 years ago, and people used to ask for 2 or 3 of those to show around...
ryan
· 3 years ago
Does anyone know where I could buy some rubber business cards?
Hope you don't mind me stealing your thunder Robert :)
Peat
· 3 years ago
Best cards I ever had were printed on semi-transparent paper vellum and laminated with shiny plastic. Had to make 'em myself, and I think they cost $0.20 a pop, but I got more calls from those then anything before or after!
lb
· 3 years ago
write something extra on the card, in front of the person. something relevant and important of course. then give it to them.
they will be far less likely to throw it away and more likely to remember you.
Jeff Barr
· 3 years ago
Best practices? Here are some of mine:
1 - Never leave home without a couple of business cards in an accessible pocket. Use this as your conversation starter, and spread it around as a good idea.
2 - If you keep your wallet in a rear pocket, don't keep your business cards there. Who wants a card that's been next to your butt? I certainly don't.
3 - If you write notes on the back of your cards, scribble out your name on the front as you do so, otherwise someone else will end up with your notes.
4 - If you find a card with notes on the back, track down the owner (using the info on the card :-) and get it back to them.
5 - Learn and respect the business card customs of the places that you visit. In Japan and Korea, make sure that you take care to do the little bit of gesturing and examination that takes place as cards are exchanged.
emma
· 3 years ago
if you want to leave a totally unique and lasting first professional impression you should be using capture business cards. The addition of removable labels to the back of the card allows you to distribute appointment reminders or rolodex information without loosing the regular business card functions. Check them out at www.capturecard.com
kelly
· 3 years ago
Thanks for the business card mention Robert! Funny - but we're in the process of redoing our collateral and cards now and these comments will be very helpful. They are very 'right on' - however I've found in the 'design' community nearly anything goes!
I have a pile of cards from when I was 10 (I had my first business card at a pretty early age... used them for affirmations!) and can be viewed here: http://www.gotomedia.com/goto/timeline
Pradeep
· 3 years ago
Scoble, it was nice to meet you at the ValleySchwag HoeDown party. Having read your business card practices, I was quite curious to check out your business card, but you were out of the same. Hope to check out your business card next time.
Anyway, thanks for the pleasure of meeting & chatting with you.
Stephanie Ciccarelli
· 3 years ago
Hi Robert,
Thanks for such a great post! Before I found your article, I wrote a post in our blog today about business cards.
I've just added a post script to your blog post about the best practices.
Very thought provoking - the company I work for has some of our key messages on the back which is nice - we had a major brand overhaul in 2003 which meant much better brand visibilty and continuity, including business cards!
adam
· 3 years ago
hi i have just finished counting my business cards and the final figure was 1660 cards collected from 2001
I noticed out of my five, I have one common item. That is, to actually explain clearly what it is you do! Critical!
Fotoblog
· 3 years ago
Great List - especially the idea to use Braille since everybody talks about Accesibiltiy ...
John Puckett
· 3 years ago
Im a B/C collecter as well. Do you belong to any club?
PH#352-339-1734 or 378-4519
Flobabdob
· 2 years ago
Hey Guys,
What do you think about including post nominals on a business card ?
Rgds
Flobadob
John Puckett
· 2 years ago
I collect business cards. So if you have a card and are willing to send it to me. Please do John Puckett 2841 N.E 13th. Dr. Gainesville FL. 32609
Woody Plowman
· 2 years ago
Business Cards....the price points now allow people to have cards for different audiences, messages and themes. Some with cell phone, some with out, some that emphasize certain services,...the key is to target your message/card to a particular audience. A business card is marketing and targeting your message is effective marketing.
hi Robert. perhabs it's an idea to do a "Signatures best practices"? html or ascii? commercial profit versus irritation.
Masha
· 2 years ago
very nice blog
directtv
· 2 years ago
Blog of directtv
dean
· 2 years ago
Business Cards should be looked at like mini billboards. One common mistake that alot of people make is putting their business name at the top of their card! EG. If you fix broken TV's...rather then put "John's TV Repairs" at the top, you would be better off putting "Your TV Fixed in 2 Days or You Don't Pay!"
Putting an eye-catching headline is key...just like when you read a newspaper, you look for the headline that interests you and read the article...a business card is the same.
There are also ways to get your business card handed out for all over town to your target audience without you even lifting a finger....and it goes directly to your target market. I have a huge blog dedicated to the topic of generating cash flow out of your business cards. If you have cards sitting around that you don't use, feel free to take a look at www.businesscarddisplays.info .
Dean
Giò
· 2 years ago
Great List - especially the idea to use Braille since everybody talks about Accesibiltiy
escottw850
· 2 years ago
You are completely right on. I have thousands of business cards laying around and none of them stand out. I also keep very clever cards in my wallet for some odd reason. Have you seen these online business cards?
dtninternet
· 2 years ago
Thanks you for the great tips. Have you seen lyro.com. They have online business cards?
idbusinesscard team
· 2 years ago
Nice article.. Did you know? Now you can make your own business card more easy with business card generator. All you need is only enter your personal information and click generate. Interested?? please visit: http://generator.idbusinesscard.com
Natalie
· 2 years ago
Another affordable place to order business cards is www.bizcard.com. Bizcard offers a wide variety of designs. You can also upload your own image or logo to a business card template for no additional charge. Questions? Send an e-mail to info@bizcard.com.
Sondra
· 2 years ago
Great information about business cards. If you are a small biz looking to order cards for yourself, check out www.giggleprint.com. They are offering 250 free cards.
If you want to take Scobleizer's advice, they offer image uploads for cards as well. You can create your cards online and have them shipped to you in three days.
It's a new company, check them out!
Custom Business Cards
· 1 year ago
I can't agree with the 4th point, because if you put all of the basic stuff on your card like everybody else does, then you'll just look like everybody else.
Also I think it's better to filter the information that you put on your business card just because every unnecessary piece of info makes important things harder to notice and loses interest in a person.
Business Card Opinions
· 1 year ago
Good tips here. I notice that magnet business cards really stand out. You can place them on your refridgerator, and it's easy to gather someone's information.
Chinese Business Cards
· 1 year ago
I have also found when traveling to foreign countries, such as China, that is very important to have business cards in the native language. Maybe even dual language business cards.
DNA
· 1 year ago
I definitely agree with Scobleizer that besides using color background rather just color and/or add a picture, the texture is pretty important. Business cards stands that feels different DOES stand out much more because not most people are aware of it. Unless you can afford metal business cards (like Steve Wozniak) that can cut steak, there are special effects that you can do to add texture to your card. One of the things I've tried was put 'Island gloss,' which is a gloss on a particular picture or item on your card, on my logo with matte background. My glossy logo and design pops out from the plain matte background. You can really see and feel the contrast. It was lovely. :)
Larry
· 1 year ago
Hi DNA...
Couldn't find anything on island gloss on google, where did you get yours printed?
I found many designs and styles at bizcardcreator.com I made my own cards there and I printed them instantly with no waiting.
Chinese business cards
· 1 year ago
This blog has some very good information. Chinese business cards are essential for anyone ding business in a China. In case anyone reading this is interested, I know of a very good source called Japan Printing and Graphics that does business card translation. They did a very good job with my cards and you can find them at www.japanprint.com .
m.clark
· 1 year ago
I agree that a line or a few words about your job, what you DO, is important. Why not make your business cards high-tech and include a tag cloud? www.ooprint.com Check out their "blogger cards" . . . great designs and I think the tag cloud is just a great idea to get more information about yourself and your job on your business card.
ABD
· 1 year ago
FYI:
http://www.cards2asia.com is a good source for English to Chinese, Japanese, and Korean business card translation, typesetting, digital artwork, and 2-sided bilingual business card printing.
dr dental
· 1 year ago
I have bought my share of business cards but if you are any medical profession visit americanbusinesscard.com for by far the most elegant classiest business cards.
aa!2on
· 1 year ago
My current cards have my title listed as: Professional Person. People always notice and remember it... also I noticed that darrenbarefoot.com just made some new business cards and didn't include a phone number on them...he says he did it intentionally so he could write the phone number on the card. He feels (and I agree) it "makes them feel special and can't hurt"
Business Card Translation
· 1 year ago
In china, many people have dual sided business cards, one side in Chinese and one side in English.
Niel McAvery
· 1 year ago
ABD Inc. (Asian business Development) in San Francisco did an excellent job on my Simplified Chinese cards for a trip to China. They do Chinese, Japanese, and Korean business card translation and typesetting.
They are design oriented and have a designer match your layout. Others I went to in the past didn't take as much care in the layout and just gave me crudely placed characters without much aesthetic sensitivity.
They can either provide you with the digital art for you to take to your own local printer or print the cards for you. I chose to get the files emailed to me since I lived in a different city and took them to my local print shop.
I was introduced to ABD from a friend and he tells me they've been doing this since the early 1970's.
Totally agree with #1. Moo Cards were geniuses in making their cards a different size, to stick out like a sore thumb and then now have standard sizes.
I love what you said about Matt Mullenweg’s business card. That is great and I know that I would remember a card like that!
sports
· 1 year ago
The gameplay was drastically different from the successful incarnations of the 1970s and the 1980s. Four players competed, two at a time. They played in a best-two-out-of-three match, each playing a common row of seven high-low cards.
Chinese Business Cards
· 1 year ago
Excellent information. For our trip to Shanghai, we used a company called Luna Concepts to translate and typeset our team's Simplified Chinese cards. Results were EXCELLENT!
They also do Japanese and Korean business cards too, but we didn't use their service for these languages.
workforce8
· 1 year ago
This article is so true. For people that are confused about where to go, you should check out the site I used. It's a company called mind2print.com and they actually did a really good job on my design and print. They were pretty cheap too. I used to have cards from a free print company but I'm actually proud to hand these out now. You get what you pay for, and the quality shows that. Hope it helps!
It seems like the interesting business cards cost a lot of money to print. Magnets, plastic, and rice paper are all very interesting, but not conducive to the tight budget for many small companies like the one I own. I have been searching for ways to make my business cards for my freelance company be conversation starters but also have a low cost. I have a few ideas but am not sure which one to go with.
My 1st idea is to design a vertical layout. This might work best for my logo, which is a ballpoint pen standing on its tip. My only dilemma is how to fit my rather lengthy company name. I could possibly place the company name vertically but this might create too much emphasis on the vertical layout.
My 2nd idea involves using the second side for a special offer. I know that some printing companies will print full color on the second side for hardly any extra cost. The free offer would help to drive traffic to my web site and build my client base. Plus, I could also list benefits of my company on the second side as well.
The 3rd idea is to create an unusual design. I have seen very few interesting business cards. Most simply include the necessary information and a logo, so if I can design mine completely different from the other cards, my business card just might stand out. I am thinking about trying either a utilitarian design or a historical document style.
Business Insites
· 1 year ago
Some great ideas - One thing often neglected is the reverse of the business card - a great space for a special offer - link to useful marketing information or just a scribbled personal message at times.
Creative Ape
· 1 year ago
Take a look at the cards on this site http://www.premiumcards.net They are so cool. They even have the low profile card like moo. I like the Gemini Card.
Most people have one business card that they use all the time. It's likely to be a horizontal design on a flimsy 10 to 12pt card stock. It would take a seriously inventive design to make it stand out from the rest and be noticed.
I am the type of person that likes to customize my approach when meeting a client for the 1st time. Let me explain, whenever you meet with someone for the 1st time you normally shake hands and swap business cards. The cards are looked at for a brief, few seconds and then put into your shirt or coat pocket. At this point, the meeting is what will make or break the deal.
Not many of us are great with words or closing deals, like me. One thing I am good at is being creative and maybe that is being good at closing deals. Here's what I mean, premiumcards.net has these really cool specialty, custom shaped cards. One is called The Cocktail Card. This card is one of the coolest ideas since barstools. When having a meeting in a cocktail lounge, bar or restaurant, the cocktail card won't be passed up very easily, it's an eyecatcher and will be handled for a while leaving a lasting impression. Now, I don't expect that everyone should do this, but I am a design creative and these fit right in for me, along with a few other sizes I chose to print. Thinking out of the box can make a difference in your closing.
Normal business cards get normal responses. Unique business cards get great responses. See them for yourself.
PaperDirect
· 1 year ago
"Make sure the basics are on there. You know, your name, title, company, address, phone and fax numbers, email, URL of both your company’s Web site and your blog. A logo."
You would be surprised how many people don't do this properly. I've seen quite a few.
Making sure your card is visually impacting and not having the valuable info on the card is not good practice. Working the design around the information is the best way to assure you're not just passing around, "cool cards."
Blair
· 1 year ago
Definitely make sure your business card is original and personal to you. So many companies still want to consider themselves "professional" and stick to traditional simple business cards. I get all mine at www.vistaprint.com. They have hundreds of unique colorful designs to chose from. You can even upload your own design if you have one. They are really good quality, and not expensive either!
Blair
re:Business Card Best Practice
· 1 year ago
Well written article. Business cards are the best print marketing products. It is also important to choose the proper paper. Some business cards feel too light and they do not convey the proper message.
Alan Saltz
· 11 months ago
Great post!
I love #1 on your list...
"A good business card STARTS A CONVERSATION!"
So true, and yet it's so rare that you find one that actually does. Most, in fact, leave very little impression at all.
If you want your business card to be more memorable here's something else you should definitely read. It's a great resource...
If you're in a creative position, flaunt it. Stay away from ordinary. Use a bit of drama. If you're just looking for attention, and want people to talk about you, design your card to look as crappy as you can. Seriously! A wise man in the art of marketing once said "talk about me good... talk about me bad... just talk about me!". A crappy card will always out perform a clean design. (though no one may take you seriously, you'll be the talk fo the town!)
Cards you've collected:
Sell them! There's people on ebay selling miscellaneous business cards right now at the tune of $25 or more per 300 different cards. That's more than it cost to print these days. These are leads, people, and businesses need all the leads they can get. Cheers!
Mark Cummuta
· 7 months ago
To expand on ur Biz Cards Best Practices #9, I redesigned my cards to replace all black (trendy) with very light gray specifically so recipients can write notes. I also keep 2 cards in my wallet for emergencies!
Mark Cummuta
· 7 months ago
To expand on ur Biz Cards Best Practices #9, I redesigned my cards to replace all black (trendy) with very light gray specifically so recipients can write notes. I also keep 2 cards in my wallet for emergencies!
Verona
· 6 months ago
Thank you for your helpful reminders. I found a design that's been very effective for me. It's everything we look for; it's alluring, it's seductive, it's persuasive. Check it out at www.mlmflyer.com. I hope your results are as good as mine
On-anong
· 6 months ago
#10. Cards in China are very often bilingual with one side in Chinese and one side in English. If you plan to do business in China, it's best to have such kind of card.
David S
· 5 months ago
When it comes to breaking the rules, printing your own cards provides a lot of freedom. Certainly the less you spend on paper, the more obvious your parsimony will be, but the ability to customize cards for different purposes, occasions and audiences is very amenable to design ingenuity.
erotik
· 2 months ago
I've heard it said that content is king, and this should hold true for business cards as well. I think the people you give your card to should be a factor in determining the content of your card. My cards have my name, contact info, website and logo http://www.tube34.net on one side and a tag cloud I created on the other side. I usually give my cards to people who don't know what a tag cloud is and so that generates conversation. People who don't know what a tag cloud is might not be clued in to everything that is happening on the Internet. These are the people I'm looking for.
All Comments
Nope, I've never had a typo on a business card. (Oops!)
The other thing I have noticed is to say something about the business card when you hand it to someone. This gets them to look at the card and while talking with you, it helps associate the person with the card.
If you're a geek and you don't think networking is important then you probably are making about 60% of what you could make if you were a little more skilled at networking.
Also, self printed cards and cards at Kinkos look and feel like crap, so avoid them unless you are in a rush.
i agree that the tactile aspects of a card are important. Glad you reminded me as I'm in the process of designing new cards for my business (www.gestaltcommunications.com - gratuitous self-promotion). I hadn't considered Braille - great idea.
Ah, the dollar at the bottom line again? I earn more than I can spend doing a job I like doing. I work to live, not the other way around.
You are right, if I flexed my networking muscles I'd probably be able to make more, work longer hours, have more stress. Money isn't everything; in fact, it s not even in my top 5. Hell, if computers weren't so damned pervasive these days I'd have a serious problem on my hands. What DID geeks do before there were computers? (serious question)
I disagree that you'd work more and longer hours too.
If you are so good that you can earn a decent living now working 40 hours a week, maybe with a bit of marketing skills you could find a job that'd pay the same but would let you work only 30 for the same compensation.
But, if you don't care about furthering your career I ain't gonna do it for you.
Robert - great tips - it would be neat if you could put up some pictures or scans of some great examples in seperat post. I'm having trouble picturing some of them in my mind.
check it out.. let me know what you think
Of all the blogs out there, there is a small fraction that can actually monetize themselves and turn into careers. Why? Maybe I'm tired of working for money, maybe I want to write for a living, maybe I'm tired of the rat race I put myself in for the sake of my family.
There are a lot of reasons, but one that comes to mind is freedom. Being able to do what you want to do and be free.
A full-colour image on the reverse side.
A layer of clear transparent text embossed over the image.
A patch of heat-sensitive liquid crystal ink which displays the company logo when you handle it.
"Cute" joke job titles.
The company logo used as a faded-out background image behind the text.
Any of those might work, used alone. But it also has:
Light-grey text on a white background.
A typo.
It certainly starts conversations, but not in a good way.
I gave one to Charles Petzold, and he carried it in his wallets for a couple years.....
Networking helps you ensure you are paid what you're worth, not what your present employer is willing to pay. It's hard to get hired if no one knows who you are.
Mia
http://www.gapingvoid.com/Moveable_Type/archive...
Then rinse and repeat, twice. Bad experience..
Phil
The new ones... well, I ran out a couple of years ago and never bothered having more made even though my company is still going strong. I've actually found more often than not that giving business cards isn't much use. I grab those of the people I meet, write my name & number on the back, and give them back, or keep them and email the person that evening to say hello and introduce myself. Helps that my company name is particularly memorable though. :)
Oh, and on the subject of plastic cards - I had some of those made about 5 years ago, and people used to ask for 2 or 3 of those to show around...
Hope you don't mind me stealing your thunder Robert :)
they will be far less likely to throw it away and more likely to remember you.
1 - Never leave home without a couple of business cards in an accessible pocket. Use this as your conversation starter, and spread it around as a good idea.
2 - If you keep your wallet in a rear pocket, don't keep your business cards there. Who wants a card that's been next to your butt? I certainly don't.
3 - If you write notes on the back of your cards, scribble out your name on the front as you do so, otherwise someone else will end up with your notes.
4 - If you find a card with notes on the back, track down the owner (using the info on the card :-) and get it back to them.
5 - Learn and respect the business card customs of the places that you visit. In Japan and Korea, make sure that you take care to do the little bit of gesturing and examination that takes place as cards are exchanged.
I have a pile of cards from when I was 10 (I had my first business card at a pretty early age... used them for affirmations!) and can be viewed here: http://www.gotomedia.com/goto/timeline
Anyway, thanks for the pleasure of meeting & chatting with you.
Thanks for such a great post! Before I found your article, I wrote a post in our blog today about business cards.
I've just added a post script to your blog post about the best practices.
http://blogs.voices.com/voxdaily/2006/07/busine...
Great article :)
Stephanie Ciccarelli
I noticed out of my five, I have one common item. That is, to actually explain clearly what it is you do! Critical!
PH#352-339-1734 or 378-4519
What do you think about including post nominals on a business card ?
Rgds
Flobadob
Rob
http://www.staplemonkey.com
Putting an eye-catching headline is key...just like when you read a newspaper, you look for the headline that interests you and read the article...a business card is the same.
There are also ways to get your business card handed out for all over town to your target audience without you even lifting a finger....and it goes directly to your target market. I have a huge blog dedicated to the topic of generating cash flow out of your business cards. If you have cards sitting around that you don't use, feel free to take a look at www.businesscarddisplays.info .
Dean
If you want to take Scobleizer's advice, they offer image uploads for cards as well. You can create your cards online and have them shipped to you in three days.
It's a new company, check them out!
Also I think it's better to filter the information that you put on your business card just because every unnecessary piece of info makes important things harder to notice and loses interest in a person.
Couldn't find anything on island gloss on google, where did you get yours printed?
I made my own cards there and I printed them instantly with no waiting.
www.ooprint.com
Check out their "blogger cards" . . . great designs and I think the tag cloud is just a great idea to get more information about yourself and your job on your business card.
http://www.cards2asia.com is a good source for English to Chinese, Japanese, and Korean business card translation, typesetting, digital artwork, and 2-sided bilingual business card printing.
People always notice and remember it... also I noticed that darrenbarefoot.com just made some new business cards and didn't include a phone number on them...he says he did it intentionally so he could write the phone number on the card. He feels (and I agree) it "makes them feel special and can't hurt"
They are design oriented and have a designer match your layout. Others I went to in the past didn't take as much care in the layout and just gave me crudely placed characters without much aesthetic sensitivity.
They can either provide you with the digital art for you to take to your own local printer or print the cards for you. I chose to get the files emailed to me since I lived in a different city and took them to my local print shop.
I was introduced to ABD from a friend and he tells me they've been doing this since the early 1970's.
Anyway here's the link. http://www.cards2asia.com
In awe...
Dominic
LettucePrint.com
For our trip to Shanghai, we used a company called Luna Concepts to translate and typeset our team's Simplified Chinese cards. Results were EXCELLENT!
Here is their web site:
http://www.lunaconcepts.com/e/biz/index.html
They also do Japanese and Korean business cards too, but we didn't use their service for these languages.
the address is:
http://www.mind2print.com
My 1st idea is to design a vertical layout. This might work best for my logo, which is a ballpoint pen standing on its tip. My only dilemma is how to fit my rather lengthy company name. I could possibly place the company name vertically but this might create too much emphasis on the vertical layout.
My 2nd idea involves using the second side for a special offer. I know that some printing companies will print full color on the second side for hardly any extra cost. The free offer would help to drive traffic to my web site and build my client base. Plus, I could also list benefits of my company on the second side as well.
The 3rd idea is to create an unusual design. I have seen very few interesting business cards. Most simply include the necessary information and a logo, so if I can design mine completely different from the other cards, my business card just might stand out. I am thinking about trying either a utilitarian design or a historical document style.
Most people have one business card that they use all the time. It's likely to be a horizontal design on a flimsy 10 to 12pt card stock. It would take a seriously inventive design to make it stand out from the rest and be noticed.
I am the type of person that likes to customize my approach when meeting a client for the 1st time. Let me explain, whenever you meet with someone for the 1st time you normally shake hands and swap business cards. The cards are looked at for a brief, few seconds and then put into your shirt or coat pocket. At this point, the meeting is what will make or break the deal.
Not many of us are great with words or closing deals, like me. One thing I am good at is being creative and maybe that is being good at closing deals. Here's what I mean, premiumcards.net has these really cool specialty, custom shaped cards. One is called The Cocktail Card. This card is one of the coolest ideas since barstools. When having a meeting in a cocktail lounge, bar or restaurant, the cocktail card won't be passed up very easily, it's an eyecatcher and will be handled for a while leaving a lasting impression. Now, I don't expect that everyone should do this, but I am a design creative and these fit right in for me, along with a few other sizes I chose to print. Thinking out of the box can make a difference in your closing.
Normal business cards get normal responses. Unique business cards get great responses. See them for yourself.
You would be surprised how many people don't do this properly. I've seen quite a few.
Making sure your card is visually impacting and not having the valuable info on the card is not good practice. Working the design around the information is the best way to assure you're not just passing around, "cool cards."
Blair
I love #1 on your list...
"A good business card STARTS A CONVERSATION!"
So true, and yet it's so rare that you find one that actually does. Most, in fact, leave very little impression at all.
If you want your business card to be more memorable here's something else you should definitely read. It's a great resource...
http://www.BusinessCardProfits.com
Cards you plan to hand out:
If you're in a creative position, flaunt it. Stay away from ordinary. Use a bit of drama. If you're just looking for attention, and want people to talk about you, design your card to look as crappy as you can. Seriously! A wise man in the art of marketing once said "talk about me good... talk about me bad... just talk about me!". A crappy card will always out perform a clean design. (though no one may take you seriously, you'll be the talk fo the town!)
Cards you've collected:
Sell them! There's people on ebay selling miscellaneous business cards right now at the tune of $25 or more per 300 different cards. That's more than it cost to print these days. These are leads, people, and businesses need all the leads they can get. Cheers!