The business card has been a mainstay of business professionals for years and despite its size and cost, it’s one of the most powerful marketing tools you can create. Many take the business card for granted and don’t take time to consider the effect it can have on their networking and sales success. Here are a few tips for making your card do more for you.
Get your prospect to move to action as a result of your business card message.
You are responsible for the effectiveness of your business card to communicate so it goes without saying that you must have a clear goal in mind to make the most effective use of your business card design. If you don’t create a business card with a clear idea of what you’re expecting as an outcome then you can’t expect to generate the desired response. Although goal may be to get someone to buy, buy again and then tell all their friends your first encounter will rarely result in an immediate transaction. Instead encourage your prospect to engage in a follow up meeting or request more information. This response will build the relationship and make your final goal easier to achieve.
Create curiosity and then follow it up with a specific action.
Get your prospect to visit your website and leave contact information by placing a free offer on the back of your card. Or have them call you by suggesting you have a useful report available and repeating your phone number nice and big on the back. Give them a password, code or phrase to say when they call in order to learn more. Above all, your business card design should work to build your credibility and your prospects level of trust. Your business card isn’t completely responsible for this process but if the design is poor you’ll be cause yourself unnecessary problems so plan carefully.
Remember, your business card can perform many different tasks all at the same time. All you need to do is be aware of what you want the end effect to be and then set your business card up to do the work for you.
Archive for the ‘carbon neutral’ Category
Business Cards can Improve Your Networking Power!
Saturday, July 31st, 2010Remember your business cards
Sunday, July 18th, 2010Sorry, I don’t seem to have one with me….”famous last words” of the forgetful entrepreneur.
Forgetting your business card can be a marketing mistake with huge implications. Every time you’re asked for a business card, and sheepishly reply that you don’t have one with you, you’re missing an honest-to-goodness invitation to market to someone. Worse still, not leaving your business card behind when you need to is a social faux pas as well. Understand that not having one with you at that critical moment is subtly offensive, it puts both you and the person requesting the card in an embarrassing situation and it tells your prospect that you’re not quite the business person they thought and you’re not really serious about your business, or too careless and forgetful to be entrusted with theirs.
So, if you don’t want to be caught “cardless” at a critical meeting again, here are some tips to help you remember:
Develop a strategy for using business cards to actively promote your business.
It may be as simple as deciding to give 5 or 10 cards away every day even pinning them to bulletin boards if need be. The point is that if you consciously figure out a way to use your business cards regularly, you’re much less likely to forget them.
Invest in new cards
If you haven’t ordered business cards within the past two years, there’s a good chance that the information is out of date by now and if your last order was for 1000 cards and there are still 990 cards left, ask yourself why you haven’t been passing them out. If you dislike your cards, toss them and get business cards you’re proud of!
Draft and practice a business card presentation
Unless you’re comfortable and confident when handing out your card, you won’t do it. Besides, the words and actions that accompany your business card when you give it to someone can really cement a positive first impression.
Place a few business cards everywhere
Your glove compartment, your computer case, your gym bag, your friend’s car, next to the front door on the table where you keep your keys, your desk top, the reception desk, the pocket of your notebook, your suitcase, the point is never leave without them!
Mini Cards from Printeca.com
Monday, June 21st, 2010There are so many uses for the mini card. We have been printing these for years and have seen so many variations from users we thought that we would share some.
- Gift tags personalized with exactly what you want on them.
- Sale tags with your company name and prices or other info you choose
- informal invites to parties or events
- discount cards to hand out at events or shows
- Band gigs, announce your next show without getting all formal with business card or larger cards
- social media site contact details
Get people’s attention with something unique. Business cards have their place for sure but mini cards from Printeca.com are so much fun and can be ordered and back in your hands in a matter of days.
Useful business card tips
Saturday, June 19th, 2010Whether you realize it or not, business cards do play a useful role in establishing your business profile and can become an effective communication tool if you know exactly what to do and what to avoid. Listed below are some of the do’s and don’ts for a successful business card.
List your email address, not having a website or an email address on your card today is just not acceptable, especially when everyone is accessible with the simple click of a mouse. If you don’t have your own website or email address, then its time to get one because including your email address will allow people to directly contact you with ease.
Use a large, easy to read font if you want your card to be effective. Your card should be designed so it can be read well both by a young person as well as by an old person. Try to highlight the most important information like address and phone number in your business card with larger text or color.
Keeping it simple is a great way to make your business card effective. Try not to use different fonts or put too much information in your card, include all the vital information and avoid adding any unnecessary information. Keeping it simple makes your card easy to read and remember.
Avoid buying free business cards, we are all tempted by the free word but most free business card offers include compromises that can ruin your customers’ perception of your business image. In most cases you usually get what you pay for so its best to deal with a quality printer.
Don’t use cards with old information as using business cards with outdated information can degrade your business reputation in a big way. For instance, cards with crossed out and over written information can indicate you don’t have enough cash flow to purchase new cards so avoid leaving your customer with a bad impression.
Try no to hand them out freely, in other words, don’t give over your business card to everyone you meet. Hand out your card only when someone asks for it or when you feel there is an opportunity for future business. Don’t attach your business card to bulletin boards and newspapers unless you plans and budget can afford to give plenty away.
It’s time to reinvent your business card
Saturday, June 5th, 2010Most of us use our business card more than any other single marketing item, yet our business card often contains the least marketing information. Most cards contain a logo and some standard information-the business name, the person’s name, title, phone numbers, and address. But the question needs to be asked, what can be done to make your business card generate business?
So it’s time to think outside the box and come up with why and how you can do something different with your business card instead of the usual 3 1/2 by 2 inches, printed on one side using a boilerplate layout and the usual information.
Here are a few ideas to get you started.
THE INFO CARD
One of the challenges of a business card is to get your prospect to keep it until they need it. One way to have it kept is to include something your prospect might refer to from time to time. While you could print something useful, such as a calendar on the back of their card, you might choose something that is specific to your business. For example, a grocery business might print cooking tips, a computer business could include a short list of internet resources, or a therapist might list the phone numbers of resource organizations.
THE NOTE CARD
Often we see others jotting notes on their business card, why not make yours note-worthy? On the reverse side include a lined section to accommodate notes you write before handing out your card. You might, for example, use it to write down a price and description, a date or time for a meeting, a product name, a contact name, or to jot down specifications. No matter what you or your prospect put there, there’s a better chance you prospect will keep your card.
And don’t forget to select a quality online printer to really make that card shine!
Green Printer helps to reduce waste and improve efficiency.
Saturday, May 29th, 2010Many business owners are often surprised at the amount of waste attributed to conventional literature production. Printing industry estimates show that for every dollar spent on conventional printing, an additional $5-8 is spent on related activities such as administrative costs, file preparation, internal and external design costs, storage, archiving, fulfillment, and shipping.
A large part of this extra expense is in the high cost of obsolescence as a recent study showed an estimated 31% of printed material becomes outdated and thrown out before it can be used.
By taking advantage of Printeca’s online easy print technology, business owners can maintain an effective marketing program on a slim budget. Our easy print technology allows you to order only what you need, reduce waste from obsolescence and get fast delivery while ordering small cost effective quantities.
As one of the internets premier provider of on-demand digital printing, our digital technology makes it possible for all businesses to obtain high quality brochures, business cards and promo cards eco friendly, carbon neutral and cost efficiently.
We’re a green printer and proud of it.
Saturday, May 22nd, 2010At Printeca our process of printing is naturally less stressful on the environment. Printing you business cards, brochures, postcards, buckslips, rack cards, pocket brochures, newsletters and promo cards with us means less waste due to reduced set up time so you only print what you need when you need it.
A wonderful byproduct or our printing process is less volatile organic compounds emission which means less pollution and our imaging oils, unlike toxic oils used in traditional offset printing, can be isolated, removed and recycled.
We use less natural resources because our workflow is done in a highly automated and isolated way, less printing is required to produce each order and less printing means a reduction in the use of precious resources such as petroleum and trees. When you online purchase business cards or custom printing from Printeca.com you’re automatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions because as part of our ongoing commitment to environmental sustainability, and to encourage taking responsibility for global warming in a simple and inexpensive way, we have created our own carbon neutral program and ship every online business card, brochure and printing order with zero carbon created.
Printeca.com Business Card of the Week!
Friday, May 21st, 2010The 3D glasses card! Order your cards at Printeca.com.
Print online and market you business with a zero carbon footprint.
Saturday, May 15th, 2010The difficult economic climate of today presents challenges never before faced by many small business owners. Less customer demand means more pressure to improve sales, often with a shrinking marketing budget. Fortunately at Printeca.com, new print online technologies enable us to bring a host of innovative new solutions for business owners to increase sales and reduce costs. Today a successful marketing strategy doesn’t rely on one media alone, but rather the combination of multiple media such as print, direct mail, and the internet. And that’s where our print online technology can make a great contribution. Long before the economic climate went sour and forced companies to rethink their marketing budgets we were offering innovative ways for our customers to do more with less.
We focus on providing easy to use accessible technologies to help our customers improve their bottom line by increasing sales and reducing expenses. We don’t just print business cards, brochures, postcards, buckslips, rack cards, pocket brochures, newsletters and promo cards, we provide high quality smart printing just in time that will give you better results with the satisfaction of knowing your order was shipped 100% carbon neutral.
Be Anonymous when you print online!
Thursday, May 13th, 2010We are proud to announce have just completed our anonymous checkout feature on Printeca.com.
If you are in a hurry or just have trouble remembering things like passwords you can now choose to checkout without creating an account. You will still receive a notification via email when your business card, post card, brochure or stationery order ships along with the statement and as always, we send tracking links to your order shipment in the email confirmation. And remember every order is shipped 100% carbon neutral!
If you do choose to create an account, Printeca.com will never sell your information to anyone and we limit our email promotions to only those who wish to participate.
Cheers!