How to get the most out of your business card
How to get the most out of your business card
In the age of email and instant messaging, the business card remains a key feature of every executive's arsenal. Aside from basic contact details, they can impress recipients, give an image about a company and be useful information tools. If you're in charge of a business, then good-looking business cards will give your workers a sense of pride and investment in the company, and make them more likely to get passed out.
Since most business cards look alike, there is a growing need to make yours stand out and to work for you. Extra features can help save the recipient's time. Quick Response (QR) codes are a good example; these let the holder instantly access your contact details and add them to their records, or link to a website for further information.
When you've got a stack of business cards, there's more you can do than just hand them out one-by-one, you can also add them to media packs, invoices and proposals to give the recipient something to keep, alongside the paperwork that will likely just get filed. You can also leave stacks of them with friendly businesses who use your services, to help spread the word.
When out on the job, at most business gatherings, such as a symposium, training or networking event, you need to pass on your details to make contacts, expand your network and win business. However, not everyone has the time to tap details into a smartphone, so the good old business card remains vital. As enterprises provide vanilla-looking cards, a little customization will go a long way to help yours stick out from that stack of cards in a fellow executive's wallet or card holder. From spot gloss effects and embossing (or debossing), from decorative foils to thick layer cards, your unique custom design can easily and professionally have an impact on first impression, and again when the recipient is looking through a stack of cards later on.
International travelers should make sure that their cards are double sided, with the same information on the flip side in a second language to ease translation making introductions easier and to help forge new relationships. Always take advantage of the second side, even if it only has the word "Notes" on it, your card will come to mind and be useful when someone has to scribble something down. Being creative with the design and use of your business card can help improve your prospects, network and business opportunities.
