January 10, 2008

Cheap and Effective Marketing with Business Cards

Guest Article By Anne Casanova, PsPrint

What is a business card? For some, it’s the very first thing that’s asked of you when you meet new people. For others, it’s the first reflection on your company. For me, its one of the least expensive forms of advertising possible.

Your business card is your introduction to potential clients and prospects. It’s your opportunity to let others know what you have to offer them—in writing, and your unique opportunity to make a positive first impression. But what does your business card really say about you?

When deciding what to include on your business card, remember that you want to entice people, not bore them. People want to know how to contact you, so your name, company name, address, phone, fax and website are a necessity. I would also recommend a single line that describes what your business does. For instance, at PsPrint, our tagline is “Create. Print. Mail. Faster”. It immediately helps potential customers or prospects know what to expect from PsPrint. Make your tagline a selling point.

What should you avoid on your business cards? Fancy print that’s hard to read or very small print that’s equally hard to read. You want people to be able to read and recognize your company and your business quickly and easily.

When ordering your business cards, it’s natural to think that you’ll never need 1000 business cards. But consider all the places around your community where you could leave your business card and increase awareness of your business. The goal is to get your business card into as many hands as possible.
  1. Tell your friends and relatives about your business and give them a small stack of business cards to hand out to their friends.
  2. Place your business cards on bulletin boards in stores and restaurants.
  3. Hand out your card to anyone you meet during your day. If you are at the grocery store and strike up a conversation with another shopper, hand them a business card. If you’re at the park with your kids, hand out business cards to the other parents.
  4. When you mail your bills, always include a business card with your payment.
  5. When you write thank you notes or correspond with clients or potential clients, add two business cards; one for them to keep and one for a friend. Make sure that your stationery and envelopes match your business card in print type and quality.
  6. Give all of the vendors from whom you buy products or services your business card and ask if they can use your product or services. If they have stores or areas where business cards are displayed, ask if your can be added to the board.
  7. Send out sales letters to everyone you think might be able to use your product or service. And be sure you include several business cards in each letter.
  8. Give people a reason to hold onto your card. Print something important on the back of it—a calendar, a list of your services, something relevant to your industry. Or you could print a coupon on the back of the card that they have to return with their order.
  9. As a business owner or manager, have business cards printed for all staff members. The novelty of the cards for those who usually don’t have them will entice employees to hand them out. At the same time, you’ll make them feel appreciated.
  10. Use your cards as scrap paper when you need to jot down a note. Instead of a napkin, use the back of your business card to write down a cell phone number.

Above all, store your cards in a nice holder so they don’t get bent. Keeping your cards in a stylish business card case make for a better presentation when you hand your cards out.

For related articles, visit www.PsPrint.com

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Super cool article on business cards and their use! I am leaving for a seminar on Monday equipped with 1000 brand new business cards...that I paid too much for in my opinion. Anyways, after reading your article, I am taking the act of handing out business cards more seriously and using it as a great medium for networking. Thanks! - Fawnzy.com

TrishaLyn said...

Great, glad it's doing some good. There are more articles like it at http://www.psprint.com/smallbusiness/index.asp. Try us out next time you need new cards... for less money!

Anonymous said...

Found you through Marketo's blog today. I think people have an idea that print is dying, and it's great to see clear thought on why it is as relevant as ever.

One point that could really have enhanced this post: link once, maybe link twice, to your business card page. I even thought of clicking (and I probably will in a moment), but the many, many links made the post seem a little desperate. Please don't take this the wrong way, as there was good content—I hope this might help your readers!

Links to other things that were only mentioned once are also fine. It became a real readability issue having to wade through all the blue underlined words. Valuing print as you do, I think if you take a look you'll see it, too.

Now I haven't read the rest of your blog entries so I'm going to go look around!

Regards,

Kelly
If you get a chance, check out the Maximum Customer Experience Blog!

TrishaLyn said...

@Kelly... thanks for the comments and feedback, I really appreciate it. Truth be told, we also used this article on our website and I didn't edit it before putting it into the blog. I'll be keen to curb the desperation next time ;)

Anonymous said...

Great article on business cards... hey have you seen these? www.cardcues.com - business card holders built for bulletin boards... very kewl.

Will said...

Thanks for all the good tips. If you're looking for a good online source for cards I would definitely recommend MONDO Print They are dirt cheap, but the quality is great. Check them out!

Waseem said...

very cool idea on business cards and their use..Do you wish to share online source for Metal business cards.