Remember, Recommend, Refer: Everything You Need to Know About Business Cards

 If you want to be taken seriously in the business world, you have to be professional in every aspect of your job. One of the many ways that you can show that you mean business is to produce and hand out quality business cards. Yet, what do business cards really do for an individual or company?

Why You Need a Business Card

Business cards are excellent for keeping in touch with people that can benefit your business. For example, you can hand business cards to clients and partners that want to keep in touch or people that want to give your information to someone else.

If you choose to do business without a business card, you can miss out on a lot of great opportunities. However, by giving people a professional card, you can help them to remember, recommend, and refer your business at a later date.

8 Tips for Making Your Business Card More Attractive

1. Make it memorable. If you choose a simple white card with very little personality, it’s very likely that you will be overlooked. Whenever possible, choose colours and designs that will stand out in people’s minds. However, you may want to have your card professionally designed to avoid an amateurish appearance and feel.

2. Use quality cards. Some people choose thin and cheap cards to limit expenses. However, the practice can make you seem more amateurish to potential clients and partners. By choosing a professional weight card, people will see that you are serious about your work.

3. Use the space wisely. When designing your business card, avoid squeezing so much information onto it that people can’t read the text. Also be sure to leave enough space that people can jot down a note if needed.

4. Limit the phone numbers. On your business card, you should only have one mobile number and one landline number.

5. Get a dedicated email address. If you have an email address with Gmail or Yahoo, you risk appearing more amateurish to potential clients or partners. To be taken seriously, get your own dedicated email address (even if you don’t have your own website) and include your name instead of the generic “info” contact.

6. Include your job title and position. A lot of businesses think that people will recognise their name or company logo. If you hold a specific job title and position, be sure to include it on your card.

7. Don’t hand out your cards to strangers. Many businesses make the mistake of handing out their cards to random strangers at events or during everyday life. Unfortunately, if the people that received the cards didn’t want them in the first place, your efforts will be in vain. Instead, always be aware of and practice business card etiquette.

8. Avoid printing too many cards at once. To avoid unnecessary expenses, you may only want to get your cards printed in batches of 100 or 200. By carrying just a few with you, it will be much easier to hand out the cards to people that are interested. Fortunately, there are many different business card printing services to work with to find the right products for your needs.

Having a professional business card shows that you are the right person for the job, so always make sure that it best reflects who you are and what you can do for others.