What Does Your Business Card Say About You?

Business cards remain to be an incredibly important and effective tool in networking, marketing your brand and getting your name out there. But just having a business card isn’t enough; you need to know the laws of the land if you want to make sure you’re sending the right message and first impression with yours…

Design

This one is an obvious one, but still people seem to get it wrong. If you’re not an expert in design, it’s well worth the investment or time to get someone in the know to have a look, but there are a few key things you can keep in mind to get you on the right track:

• Simplicity: Your business card isn’t the largest space in the world, but still some people fall into the trap of trying to cram an insane amount of information onto it. Keeping it simple with your logo on one side and basic contact information on the other is a great way of setting a great first impression.

Source: Design Bolts

• Colours: Do you always have to use colour, or can black and white be just as effective? Done well, either works just fine, but on the flip side both can be pretty disastrous as well. Researchers have found that certain colours evoke a particular emotion, so it’s important to make sure the colours you use are going to create the kind of response you want to.

Source: The Logo Company

Paper Thickness

It doesn’t sound like a major factor, but the thickness of paper you choose to print business cards can be equally important. If you have quite stringent budget constraints this may be a sore point, but printing quality, thick business cards doesn’t necessarily mean you have to spend a fortune.

The main thing is that you don’t want to be handing something out that feels flimsy and of poor quality, as that can reflect badly on the quality of your services or products.

Essential Elements

Finally, there are some essential elements that you should definitely include on your business card if you want to make the right impression. These vary depending on what industry you represent, but this guide should help you figure it out:

• Contact details: This seems obvious, but it’s still as important as ever to list your contact details as clearly and concisely as possible to make it easy for people to get in touch with you

• Social media and website links: if your business has an online presence – which, most do – then providing links to your social media platforms and website is highly beneficial. People are constantly using the web to connect and find out more about businesses they are interested in; it’s integral that you make it easy for people you’ve networked with to connect with you online after your initial meeting

• QR code: again, this one won’t be relevant to every business but it’s a great thing to include if you want to encourage people to visit your online platforms. A QR code is technology that allows people to use their smart phone to scan a pattern and be taken instantly to whatever web page you have directed them to

• A photo of you: if you’re connecting and networking with lots of people, it can be pretty easy to walk away from an interaction and forget what the person who gave you their business card even looks like. Most people are highly visual, and if they can be reminded of what you look like with a photo they are more likely to remember the conversation they had with you as well

Of course, you can always chat to the expert team at Discount Printing, too. We can assist with designing and mapping out your business card, plus provide incredibly cheap business card printing services to customers right around Australia.