Building a Better Business Card 

I like to consider business cards as each a 14 square inch piece of real estate (front and back combined). The question is how would you like to develop that space? Do you buy a half acre corner lot and toss a trailer onto it with your name painted on it?

When I get asked about what works and doesn’t work with business cards, there are three key points that have worked for me, as well as many of my colleagues

1. Don’t print your cards on your home computer

It may initially seem like the fastest and cheapest way to go, but that’s exactly the message they end up sending to potential clients – fast and cheap. There’s nothing that says “unprofessional” quite like a card with perforated edges and ink that smears in your wallet. Quite frankly, you might be better off writing your contact information on a scrap of paper and saying you forgot your card holder at home instead of handing one of these out.

2. Don’t use an online “free” card offer.

There are a handful of printers online offering deals where all a customer pays for is the shipping. The catch is that the printer will put their own company logo on the backside of the cards, turning you unwittingly into a sales rep handing out their product samples. Who are you trying to promote, you or them? To be perfectly honest, almost every time I receive a card with the printer’s logo on it, it goes on a one-way trip to the circular file. If you are willing to make the effort to go online and design and order your cards, go the extra step and actually pay for it. You easily can get a run of 1000 cards for under hundred bucks.

3. Put your picture on the card

This is no time to be camera shy; a photograph of yourself is much more effective than just your printed name alone, especially in a networking function with a hundred people. Your picture needs to be clear, tastefully posed, and current. Unless you have a friend with an above-average proficiency at digital photography, I highly recommend booking an appointment with a pro. It probably is not a good idea to scan your senior yearbook picture from a decade ago because you were twenty pounds lighter. People need to accurately associate your name with your face, and if the one on your card looks nothing like the person they just met, then what’s the point?

Ultimately, be sure to keep your cards clean and simple. Don’t use wacky fonts or too many graphics and remember to include your name, title, company, address, phone numbers, and email. You don’t have to be a genius at design to get a great looking card, a little common sense and restraint can go a long way.