How Professional is Your Business Card?

DO YOU REALISE that the smallest marketing tool in your business is your most important one? Yes, you've guessed it – your business card! So why scrimp and save with a cheap, crap business card. So I ask the question; How professional is your business card?

Your card reflects you as a person and your business. Make sure it looks good, feels good and is good at the job of promoting you and your business! Being a graphic designer and running DC-Graphics Design and Print Specialists, I probably notice this sort of thing more than most.

7 Reasons Why Most Business Cards are Rubbish!

1: Ever been given a card that's obviously printed out on a home computer? Why do people do that? Is it for some sort of kiddies club at the local school? It costs very little to get a professionally designed and printed card, even in full colour. If you can't be bothered to do that, just how professional are you, really?

2: I hate business cards that are probably free or purchased for under £10, printed on what can only be described as ‘thick toilet paper’ and on the back it will have the cheap printer’s name and website on it. (No wonder they’re free or laughably cheap)! These are the ones that have a stock background image. I’ve been at a networking event and have been given 2 cards from 2 different people from different trades no less, and yes, you guessed it, they BOTH had the same background image!

3: Business cards that are logo farms. By that I mean that they have more than one logo on them. Do I really need to see any secondary logos of groups that the business is associated with? Sometimes I get a card crammed with logos and I have to wonder if this is their only form of advertising?

4: Business cards that have a change of phone number or address label stuck on them. I mean how tight and makeshift is that? It looks as if they just can’t be bothered to gain more business with that approach. That’s just sloppy, and gives a sloppy image to anyone the card is handed to. Are they really going to give you a good service if they can’t even project a professional image of themselves?

5: How annoying is it when someone has to cross out an old phone number or email and write in a new one just before they hand their card to you. Get yourself organised and make getting new cards a top priority!

6: Absolutely nothing printed on the reverse side. It’s dead space that could be working for you, but keep it simple, just a few bullet points about you and/or your business, short, sweet and to the point. If not, a graphic image or a strong colour from your logo so that if it’s left anywhere upside down, curiosity will make people pick it up and turn it over.

7: Another bugbear is when a ‘so called’ professional person in business has a website but the email address on their card is a bog standard ‘joe public’ domestic one, like BT, hotmail, yahoo, aol or gmail. Nothing screams “amateur” more than this. Get an email address that matches your website for goodness sake! And, what’s possibly worse is no email address at all. Come on, it’s 2016; get with the 21st century if you want business!

5 Tips on Getting a Professional Looking Business Card

TIP 1: Get a professional graphic designer to design your card: Click here and you can hire me!

TIP 2: Insist on at least 400gsm thickness of board

TIP 3: Have it matt laminated to give it a quality feel

TIP 4: Make sure you have plenty printed to make it worthwhile

TIP 5: Consider a spot UV gloss varnish over your logo or an image to give your card an ‘edge’ over your competitors for quality

Check a recent case study of mine. This was a logo I designed, together with matching corporate stationery set of a business card, letterhead and compliment slip. See them here.

What about my own business card I hear you ask? Well being a design and print specialists I had to have something a bit different. In fact, you can see it right now here!

But… be careful, quality print finishes of business cards could turn into an obsession of ‘one-upmanship’ in this short video clip from the Hollywood movie ‘American Psycho’ –

 

Check out my full list of design and print services by going here.