Recently I was featured in the Wall Street Journal about what to put on a business card.
It got me thinking about what can go wrong with a Business Card. Here are a few things that I see when it comes to Business Cards that cause me to scratch my head.
Email Address
- One of the most important things about having a business card is having your email address clearly legible. Please make your email address something an average person can see easily without trying to decipher if it is an s or a 5. One character off will throw off the entire address. Today you may want to include any social media links that you use.
No FAX Number
- A Fax number? Really? Will this document fax to 1993? Stop putting that on there. If someone really needs your fax number they will ask you at the time they need it. They will not go back to your business card to look it up. I Promise.
- IF you are a business person and want to be seen as legitimate, use your website address in your email. Go immediately to whoever hosts your website and get a FREE email address associated with your site. Don’t use @comcast, @gmail, or god-for-bid AOL!
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Can Easily be Scanned
- Make sure it can be easily scanned. Today most people are scanning cards into a smartphone or scanner and if your font is fancy and illegible, it will not scan well. Keep it clean.
No Cheap Paper
- Don’t buy the cheapest card you can find. No, the business card doesn’t sell for you but it will tell a story, and “I am really cheap so I use flimsy paper” is not the story you’re looking to tell. There are plenty of printers online and local, that touts a truly “cheap” business card. How?
They use that flimsy paper and often the letters are the card arent even crisp and clear. What does that say about you? Hmmm? Quality? Pride? Care? You decide.
Giving Cards Out to Everyone!
I wrote an article years ago called the 100 Dollar Business Card. The article was asking that you put a 100 dollar value on your card. If you do that, you will not just have it out to everyone you see. The idea here is when you meet someone, ask about them first, engage in conversation as opposed to shoving a card in their face!
Remember something else. Your Business Card is meant to give out information it’s not a tool for you to pass out for everyone in the room and get business. You still have to sell.