Does Your Business Card Work For or Against You?

Thinking about ordering new business cards? You might want to spend a bit of time carefully considering want you want your card to communicate. After all, if you’re placing a bulk order you don’t want to be stuck with the wrong message for the next three hundred cards you hand out.

Must Haves

It goes without saying that your business card needs to include:

• your name
• your phone number
• your email address
• and almost certainly your company website.

If you don’t have a website, or you’re embarrassed by the site because it is in need of a major overhaul, I would still include the URL on your card. Why? Because people are going to Google you anyway. You’d be surprised how many people would rather just google your name and click on a html-linked email address than actually pick up your card, read your name and type your.name@yourCompanydotcom.

Social Media Profiles?

If you regularly engage in social media sites like Twitter or FriendFeed I would encourage you to include your username. But don’t overdo and list all of them. Select the major channels where you’re online: e.g. your blog & twitter.

Don’t worry if you hand your card to someone and they respond with a “Huh? What’s Twitter?” You’ve got a perfect opportunity to introduce them to this emerging channel and talk to them some more.

Qualifications

I wouldn’t stick “BA (hons)” BSc or MA on a business card although I still see people do this. As qualifications go, they’re two-a-penny these days and not likely to impress or even clarify what you do.

If, however, you have a professionial qualification like MD, Dr, FRICS, etc, that specifically relates to the work you do and clarifies your status, then I think it’s appropriate to include it on your business card.

Phone Numbers

Remember to include the country code. A good rule of thumb is to wrap the country code with brackets: e.g (+46) for calling to Sweden.

After juggling landlines and a mobile for several years, I finally just settled on putting my mobile phone number on my card. It’s the phone I always have with me and sticking to one number saves space on the card.

Tag line

Remember to include a title or key phrase that clarifies what you do on your card. After recently attending a networking event here in Stockholm I ended up with a stack of business cards. Surprisingly, 3 were just name + contact + website details, but didn’t say what the person did !

Don’t forget that business people collect stacks of cards and won’t necessarily always remember what you do or who you are. So tell them: E.g.

Simon Larson, Web Designer

Trude Båge, Freelance Journalist

The Cool, Creative, the Snazzy and the Downright Weird

Once you’ve covered the essential information, you’re free to make your card stand out. Obviously outstanding quality and design is a key factor, and it’s important to think carefully about what constitutes a gimmick.

As a rule of thumb, before hitting the order button for a particular design, imagine handing the card over to a prospective customer. How will they react if it’s bright orange? Or contains some gimmicky logo or phrase?

If you’re a graphic designer, say, you’ve more room for something snazzy than, say, an investment banker.

No matter what kind of text you’re creating, whether it’s a business card, white paper or email, you always have to think of how you’re target audience is going to respond.

Related posts:

1. How Not to Pitch for Work
2. Are Your Emails Being Read?
3. 5 Ways to Communicate Better at Work
4. Eggs, Baskets and the Google Wave
5. Basset Blogging: why-blogging-works