The Ugly truth about business cards
How would you rate your business cards?
If I asked you to put yours into the category of Excellent, Okay or Very Poor, where would you rate your cards?
Would you be surprised if I told you that of the 117 business cards we were given at the Grow Your Business event a couple of weeks back, that 80% of them fell into the Very Poor or Okay category? Which means that just 20% of businesses at that event were handing out cards that they could be truly proud of (and I’ve put some of the great ones above – we’re not in the business of humiliation!).
What does that mean to you and why do you care? Well, let’s start with the premise that your business card is a fundamental part of your business brand identity. A well designed business card will engage and entice your target audience; communicate confidence and professionalism; and differentiate you from your competitors. A great business card will reinforce that positive impression you made when you met that contact, and it will form a lasting memory – positive or negative.
A “very poor” business card makes you look like you’re not serious about your business. A very poor business card betrays your passion and professionalism and can seriously damage your reputation. Subconsciously it makes your potential customers think “well if they’re not investing in their business, why should I?”. And worse still, it makes you look like you’re the cheapest on the market. And let’s face it, that’s not a nice place in the market to work in.
So what makes a great business card? And what makes a “very poor” one (actually I’ve modified the language I use for very poor as I didn’t feel it fit for polite conversation, but you get the idea)? What can you do to make sure that your business cards communicate the image your business deserves?
The “Excellent” business cards:
• Were well printed on decent quality card stock
• Had a great logo
• Contained a strapline, sentence or phrase which made it clear what the company did
• Were well designed – strong alignment, appropriate fonts and colours, easy to read and creative
The “Okay” business cards:
• Were poorly laid out
• Were badly printed
• Didn’t make it clear what they did or how they could help me
• Didn’t have a cohesive logo. They may have had an ‘icon’ but that usually bore no relation to the company name which went alongside it.
The “Very Poor” business cards:
• Were hard to read
• Were dated in their design
• Contained inaccurate information which was then covered over with a sticker or tip-exed out
• Were those ‘free’ business cards you find on the internet
• Had no defined brand (in fact, several times over I found multiple businesses with the same design selling completely different services)
Business cards aren’t expensive to get right, and yet they can cost you a LOT more in damaged reputation and confidence. If you’re wondering where your business cards fit into this why not book a free branding consultation with us? We promise we’ll be gentle!
