- What is your target audience? For example, if you are an interior designer, you would be shouldn’t have a florist type business information printed on the cards.
As an example, if your website is that of a web designer it would be OK to have pictures on your cards. However, if you are the floral designer you would use pictures of flowers if you ran your business locally.
In deciding how much information you want to put on your card; Google is not that much of a “turn on” for some people – because it is geared more towards marketing purposes. If you are not getting the kind of traffic that a blog does (and should have) your site is in “cellent shape” and not in “great shape”. - Do you have a business mission? If it is not obvious – then most likely there is a gap in your business that you could fill from your cards. Or you would be a good fit for a local event company. Or you have a great way to market your business or product that you want to release product – or you are spending too much time on social media on the internet.
You want to be clear with your target audience, what you do and what services you offer. - Do you have a system of marketing? If not, you would need some resources in getting the word out to your target audience. This could be in the experience you have, your services and products or your contacts.
You will also need clients! - Do you have an eye catching website? If not then that could be a very wasted resource.
Think outside the box! What do people want to see on your business card? Do they want to read or listen to a voice over a commercial? This is a tricky area – but there is a back up plan.
I have the same number of kids, my lapak303, PowerPoint presentations and my Facebook page all that have a link to a version of me that they can read! From there they can get to your website or start to get personal with you and then eventually call you. You are the “expert” right? - Do you want to convey many things on your business card? This requires MASSIVE amount of information. Think like a reporter!
With this in mind you want to include the most important information. This will make a powerful impression and allow the card to move along easier and faster (the journalist will find out more quickly where you are and about your business). - Do you want to create a plan with which you can measure your response? Or do you want to do this without measuring anything? If you can measure your traffic and conversions it would be a lot easier for anyone to put a number on how valuable the presentation/cards are. (I love to do, I act it out, plan it out and then compare this for the same month, YAY!!!! I give this a 10 on a percentage of overall gross profit line up! I am also a bit of a perfectionist!)
- Are you a new business? This is another area that I hear a lot of “new” potential clients say.
Your business card can become an asset. If you use it correctly! You can use it to promote your business – use it to invite people to meet you to hear your story.
Think about this, something as simple as business cards can allow you and your team to be noticed, helps with networking and helps people identify you right away. Isn’t that what you want your business card to do? - Have you invested much money in your cards (if you are running an online business)? This is an important investment.
There are a number of ways to skin this big cat. Here are a few of the most common (not all!) methods for producing business cards for your own small business.
Handing them out on the street.Can be great for you physically doing this, but you always want to remember A) Not everyone is your target market and/or/or B) People are literally handing you “out” business cards. Unless you can call these people when you manage to actually talk to them, that means you are facing based on other resources will definitely appreciate your card, but it’s not going to be getting results.
Printing. This can be a great option to use because the cost is typically very substantial and this can be one of the more effective advertising tools you utilise, but you have to keep in mind that print advertising is an overall marketing goal – like anything else – and it should be working for you by the worst of possible scenarios.