Posts Tagged ‘card’

Relationship between You and Your Business Card

Sunday, January 10th, 2010

This connection between yourself & your business card is only made more significant by the fact that you are likely to actually be there when handing out your cards. You will be personally placing that card in to a person’s hand, & when they first see your card, it might even be after a conversation they had with you. This means your business card will be affected by what you have been saying & what impression a person has of you.

Business cards can be a personal kind of marketing, & can act as an extension of you in a way most other marketing is not capable of achieving. Even if you work for a giant company, you can still be designing your own business card, which means that your card is going to be a reflection of you & your tastes. With the rise in custom business cards, this becomes even more pressing of a concern & a bigger presence in the marketplace. The less personality your card contains the less personality people might start to attribute to you & that can kill many future sales.

If your business card is plain or uninteresting & they were expecting something a little more interesting, it might harm their impression of you.

On the reverse side of things if you hand them a interesting custom business card I can bet you the first thing they’ll do is look right back up at you, their view of you now altered by the card you gave them.

This is the power of strong color printing business cards when put to lovely use. You affect your card & your card affects you. Each can help make up for something lacking in the other, but only to an extent. If your card is poorly put together, you might well lose a sale no matter how lovely of an impression you made.

Your objective needs to be to make sure that both you & your full color business cards are up to the task & lovely at grabbing attention. You need to wow people with your first interaction & first impression on them, only to then surprise them again by giving them a distinctive business card they have never seen before.

This helps you to build on your first lovely impression & leave them running away impressed by what they saw. If you can accomplish that than you can be positive that they’re going to be that much more likely to call you up later.

If nothing else you have ensured that when they look at your card in the future, they will recall whom it gave it to them, which is a lovely thing. The first step towards accomplishing this understands how important the business card can be.

Exchanging Business Cards: Do’s and Dont’s of Business Introductions

Monday, October 26th, 2009

Exchanging business cards can be a smooth transaction, or it could be an awkward situation. Use this guide to plan ahead so that you are ready when someone asks for your business card.

Do be prepared

Always have a handful with you to present to potential clients or other business associates, even on the weekends. You’ll find that many important contacts and business card exchanges can take place in the most unlikely places.

Don’t hand out torn or worn business cards

Make sure they are clean and crisp with no frayed edges or pen marks. The best method of keeping your cards in neat form is a business card case. With designs ranging from techie to artsy to formal, you are bound to find one that fits your style and personality.

Do make it a point to hand out business cards

It doesn’t take a large convention to bring customers and business owners together. Informal meetings are one of the best times to network and exchange business cards. If the person you are speaking with seems interested in your product or service you represent, offer that person a business card.

Do receive a business card properly

When accepting a business card, have a good look at it for a few seconds. In your conversation, offer a compliment about the logo, design, etc.

Don’t hand out more than one card to a new contact

Only give one business card to your new contact. Leaving two or three may give the signal that you want them to make contacts for you which are tacky and unprofessional. Unless a prior agreement is made to exchange more than one card, keep the focus on person-to-person contact.

Do exchange business cards smoothly

When you first meet someone, it’s ok to request a business card from them. However, if the person is of a higher position than yourself, you should wait for them to offer their card to you first. Remember if they want you to have a card, they will give you one!

Don’t place it in a bag, pocket or wallet

Place the card you receive in a planner, notebook or business card case. Never place the card in a wallet that will be put in your back pocket. Doing so shows disrespect and an all around lack of organization on your part.

Do take advantage of free advertising

Local restaurants often hang a bulletin board near the front counter for business cards to be posted. You can also place your business card in the collection cups for drawings or mixers. They’re offering you free advertising, so be ready to take advantage.