Avoid These Business Card Don’ts
By Adir Le
In the earliest stages of your business, you will enjoy the task of designing your own personalized business cards. Although this will likely be a relief from the endless other office tasks involved, do not take it lightly. This will be the first impression your potential clients will get of your business. You don’t want to make the mistake of projecting the wrong image. On that note, I have compiled a short list of things to avoid when designing your business card.
1. Don’t make your business card the wrong size: In this case, size does matter. There have been too many occasions when a company’s business card simply did not fit in my wallet because it was a millimeter too long. The most common size is 3.5 by 2 inches. Use it.
2. Don’t make your business card too busy: Regardless if you are using a color card, or a black and white card, it is important not to overload your business card. Keep it on the simple side. If there are two partners to one company, do not put both names on one card. Instead, split the cards evenly so they each display one name.
3. Don’t just use the default template: This is your chance to get a little creative. Your business card should stand out from the rest, so don’t just select the same common template everyone else is going to use. The default, boring, card is likely going to be the that’s going to get trashed. Don’t let this happen to you.
4. Don’t use the cheap paper: Your business card says a lot about your business, as it should. If the paper you select is cheap, people will assume the quality of work you provide is cheap as well. Go ahead and splurge for the expensive paper. A flimsy card is like a flimsy handshake, you want them to know you mean business.
5. Don’t create the anti-card: Look at your card. If you can’t tell what kind of business is being advertised, then you have created the anti-card. I call this the anti-card because it does the opposite of what a business card should do. It’s going to get you less business, instead of more.
6. Don’t forget an outlet of communication: Your card should include every possible way a potential client can contact you. This includes address, email address, phone number, fax number, and the website. You can never tell who is going to be a technophobe, or who is going to have a phobia of speaking on the phone.
These are often the most overlooked, and unintended, mistakes business owners make when designing their business cards. Avoidance of them is easy, so long as you pay attention to detail. Running a business takes a lot of multi-tasking and hard work, so don’t let one of the simplest factors (your cards) bring you the most problems.
Adir Le writes for Printrunner on topics relevant to small businesses. Most recently he has written articles such as brochures and business cards.
