How To Separate Yourself Using Business Cards

One of the cheapest and most effective impact tools you can use to put your name out there is a business card. Marketing your name and business using this tool is probably the easiest thing you’ll do as a sales professional. Every business, from the largest corporation in the world to the local bakery, uses the exact same materials in creating a card. You’ll need to be very creative to break through the clutter, though, you need to distinguish yourself and your business from the rest.

At a minimum, your card should include your name, company, address, phone, email, and website. Some people think it’s necessary to include your tittle or slogan, but it’s not really a must. People will always remember you as the “Sales Associate” which will automatically be turned into “Sales Ahole” when you start calling them. I recommend you leave tittles for your desk.

A rule of thumb is to NEVER cut corners when making your card. Use the best quality paper and have a professional designer make it for you. If you want to be shortsighted, go to your local printer and have them throw on a cheap graphic with some lines. Please, invest a few hundred dollars on a beautiful design, you’ll only need to do it once!

We are lucky enough to have so many choices when it comes to dressing up our business cards, since the goal is to stand out and be memorable or create an impact. One of the things I like to do is using the back of the card, have something there that communicates who YOU are. Conveying yourself to your prospects in a manner which will create friendships should be your number one goal.

What can you include in your business card?

Here are some ideas:

• Include a map of your area to make your business easy to find.
• Write a testimonial of an actual client on the back.
• Feature your employees and their bios, let the prospect get to know your company.
• Add quotes, jokes, or something that might make your client think of you.
• Make them out of metal. Yes, I said metal.

The idea here is to think of your business card as a small billboard. The goal of a billboard is to grab your attention and make an impression, right? So think of your business card in that same context and you’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish.

Once you sit down with a designer (or if you have some design skills) you can gather a few samples of other business cards that made an impact on you. I like to visit the Flickr Business Card Pool, where hundreds of people show off their creative and unique business cards.

Below are some examples of what impressed me. Click to enlarge!