Business Card Mistakes

This is not the business card blog, but Seth Godin recently had some thoughts on business cards in his blog. The subject is worth revisting.

Seth cautions:

"Don't buy those color business cards with your face on them."

As stated in an earlier post, I disagree. I believe your should have your picture on the card. I think Seth is trying to avoid the "cheese" factor, and you should too. After all we put our picture on the website (Seth has a picture of the top half of his bald head) why would we want to avoid putting a picture on a business card.

Just have your picture professionally done and avoice the cheese factor.

For a free marketing idea for your business, fill out this form at our website: Idea Request
For more small business marketing advice check out our other blog: The Marketing Spot

More on Business Cards

Then of course, there is the contrarian approach to business cards, where you do none of what is described in our previous entry on business cards, yet you achieve greater impact.

Exhibit A: John Moore, Brand Autopsy









Know of any other great business cards? Send them to us.

Business Cards

Marketing Idea: Maximize the marketing potential of your business cards.

Here is some useful advice from Karen Saunders' blog about business cards.

1. Choose some cover stock with some meat (thickness).
2. Create a focal point to attract the reader's eye.
3. Have a strong, clear logo.
4. Don't include too much text, use white space for balance.
5. Use a highlight color sparingly, don't overdo it.
6. Make sure the color is appropriate for your business type.
7. Don't use more than two different fonts on your card.
Thanks Karen!

More Tips: Business cards are a great way to market your small business and an inexpensive way to gain a competitive advantage. Your business card says a lot about you to potential customers. It's the first message that communicates how you take care of your business.

8. Put your picture on the card, don't be a faceless company.
9. Use both sides of the card so you can say more about your business.
10. Print your mission on the card, or say something important about what you do.

Sounds like a lot to fit on a little business card, which is why you should use both sides of the card. This can get expensive if you are using a local printer, so consider using an online printer.

Two printers that offer reasonably priced, quality business cards are:
VistaPrint
48 Hour Print

With each of these you can upload your logo and picture and create a card. You can also use PhotoShop or another graphics program that allows you create a pdf file of your card to upload. You can get 500 quality business cards printed on both sides for under $60.

Now that's cheap marketing!

To get your free marketing idea, fill out this form and submit.
For small business marketing advice and musings, see our other blog: The Marketing Spot

To contact us, see our website: www.themarketingspot.com