Keep these design ideas in mind when creating a business card that converts prospects to customers.

1. Shock value gets you noticed, the sales pitch gets you a customer.

If you have a great and unique business card, prepare your elevator pitch well in advance.  Make sure you use that 30 second pitch to land that prospect because you’ll likely only have one chance.

2. Designs can change.

If you try a new design and you notice that you’re not getting the results you expected, ditch that design and move in a new direction.  Business cards are extremely inexpensive marketing tools.  For $30 you can get 500 business cards.  If they don’t work, you can get another 500 and so on.

3. Stay current.

There is nothing worse (in my opinion) than a business card that was designed 10 years ago.  Design changes and style change.  Stay current or risk losing customers that see you as old and plain.  Keep in mind that a business card text and pitch doesn’t have to change, but the brown and off white business cards of the 1980’s aren’t going to cut it any more.  Today’s executives were only 10 years old when you had those business cards designed in 1985!

Photo by absurdity.

With that in mind, business cards are a great place to start with your marketing strategy.  Making your business cards convert those prospects into paying customers is totally different.

Business cards should be designed with one idea in mind, generate revenue.  Sometimes that revenue is generated through brand recognition and therefore a big logo should be used.  Other times you’re trying to generate revenue by using your business cards to let the world know what you do.  In that case a tagline is crucial.

Most of the time you want to receive more calls and generate interest in your product or service.  This is the most common use for business cards.  Here are some tips on how to make your business cards convert!

Idea One - I want my one man business to look like there are other employees and not to look like I’m running my business out of my bedroom.

Idea Two - I want people to know that I’m the boss and they’ll always deal directly with me.  I don’t mind meeting my clients at Starbucks.

If you’re in the first group of self employed people and want your business cards to look like you have two hundred lackey’s working for you then make sure that your self employed business card is designed professionally.  That word “professional” doesn’t mean the local printer.  They usually prefer pre-made templates and don’t do much logo design.  You should plan to pay a decent amount of money to have a logo and busines card professionally designed.  Prices range from $200-800 for a good design.

If you’re in the second group and want people to know that you’re self employed and happy about not telling anyone what to do, consider a simpler approach to business card design.  You can experiment with creativity and humor.  Colors and styles are at your disposal.  Maybe you should even hand write your business cards.

Whichever group you fall in, when designing self employed business cards, plan the card and draft your ideas.  Work on them for a few days before you get them printed.  Make sure they have all of the information you want on the business cards and that they sell you and your product above all else.

Pinoy money talk wrote:
What software are easy to use in making business card? Is Photoshop? Corel Draw? Is there any other software in designing business card?

Thanks for the question PMT! As for the answer, yes. Personally I’ve only used Photoshop to design my business cards. You can see a lot of my examples from my business card template site. Every template on that site was designed in Photoshop CS2 and CS3.

Personally I like Photoshop because of the flexibility. If you want to use another graphics editing program to design business cards you could probably achieve the same types of designs. Photoshop is what I’m comfortable using.

As for specific software for designing business cards, you’re on your own. I’ve used Business Card Designer Plus by CamDevelopment and it worked really well.

Business Card Designer Plus a Windows program that only designs business cards. Then again it doesn’t cost $1,000 like Adobe Photoshop does, so maybe a smaller business card design software program is what you’re looking for. You can also browse a few of my favorite business card websites and get some design ideas.

So in conclusion, business card design is only as good as your designer. If you’re not a great designer, you might be better off with using business card software that will provide you with a template, or having your business cards professionally designed.

If you still want to print business cards at home, there are many resources, but be careful that your business cards still look professional.

How often should I update the graphics or images on my business cards?

Thanks for the business card question Tristan! In terms of updating, you can check out this post about wasting business cards. Check out the last section on design.

Personally I update my business cards every time I go through my box of 1,000. In my current business, 1000 business cards last about 6 months to a year. Before I order new business cards I try to spend a little time looking through unique business cards.

If I see a style, font, color scheme or something that I think I would like to incorporate I send it to a designer and tell him I want my business cards updated.

Then, when I get my new design I choose from the new design or my current design. The last two orders have been exact duplicates since I liked my current design more than the new business card design.

That’s how I do it, maybe you’ll find a different way, but the point needs to be made, don’t keep your business cards for 5 years and expect them to be current!

Some cards will a glossy finish look great, others seem ‘overdone’. Do you like
a glossy finish?

Thanks for the question MGH.  As for a glossy and shiny finish on your business cards, one of my favorite thing about shiny business cards is the fact that you can use them as a mirror in case of emergency!

In all seriousness, glossy finish business cards really add a great look that is unparalleled when compared to a matte finish on your business cards.  I would definitely suggest making the switch to a glossy finish if you haven’t yet.

One downside I’ve noticed is that the backside of a business card that is glossy tends to have a glossy texture to it and makes it hard to write on.  Since you know how much I like using the back of a business card, that is definitely a problem.

Is there a way to tell when a business card is going to waste? I’m
frequently asked if I have a business card, but the number of call backs is
no where near the amount of cards handed out. How can I tell if someone is
genuinely sincere or just blowing smoke? Is this a symptom of an entirely
different problem?

Great question from a new reader! Guy, unfortunately the answer is a resounding yes. Yes they are sincere. Yes they are blowing smoke. Yes there is an entirely different problem.

Sincere Customers

Here is the first principal. Business cards should be handed out at every opportunity, regardless of fact that only a small percentage will respond. Business cards are one of the cheapest ways of marketing you and your business and you never know when they’ll land in the hand of a buyer.

Are most people who you give a business card to interested? Probably not. However, that shouldn’t stop you from handing them out. Keep in mind that everyone has a sphere of influence and you don’t know who is inside their sphere.

If you own a high tech networking company and hand out a business card to a stay at home mother, the odds of getting a call from her are VERY low. However, maybe her husband is the night shift manager at a hotel. This hotel has networking problems and she gives your card to him. He gives your card to the general manager and two days later you have a contract to re-wire the entire hotel. All of that from a 10 cent business card. The reason it was so effective was because the business card came from a reliable source. You’ll never have perceived authenticity if you would have bought a billboard.

Non-Sincere Customers

While I sold cars, I worked with a guy who always told me that he could look at a customer and know instantly whether they were buyers. I never believed him and approached every customer as if they were ready to buy and had the money. Because of that I sold as many cars as he did my first month in the business, and half of his sales were from previous customers!

The fact that most of your customers aren’t actually “buyers” shouldn’t stop you from handing out a business card. Since they’re so inexpensive, hand them out as often as possible. One of my favorite techniques that I learned from Joe Girard was to stick a business card into every bill you pay. You never know who in the mail room has a brother who has a cousin that needs your service.

Other problems?

Since business cards are just one facet of an effective marketing strategy it is hard to gauge why they are not working as you have expected them to. Here are a few potential problems with your business cards:

1. High Expectations

Are you expecting 10% of your business cards to result in a sale? If so, good luck. Try to aim for less than 1 percent. That is where you’ll find your business.

2. Volume

How many business cards are you passing out? While I sold cards I would go through a box of 1,000 cards in about 30-45 days. That is an average of handing our 30+ business cards during a good time. I gave them to literally everyone I met. They weren’t all in the market for a car, but if only 1 percent knew someone, that was 10 extra leads per month just from my business cards.

3. Design

There is a chance that your business cards are so badly designed that people throw them away. If they’re hard to read, were designed in 1980 or they embarrass you, it’s time to get new business card templates. Professionally designed business cards can be had for less than $100. That is a small price to pay for an extra lead or two.

Given all of that information, many people ask for a business card just to end a conversation. I would recommend using the business card as an introduction tool, not a conversation stopper. Try to work handing the person your business card into the middle or beginning of a conversation. That way they already have your business card and you can focus on selling them your product or service.

Hope that helps!

What type of business card would you expect from a trend setting hardwood flooring company? Well, you’d be right, solid wood business cards!

These wooden business cards are a beautiful dark Brazilian Walnut wood. As you can see, there is nothing printed on the cards, but the information is actually printed into the wooden business card.

Brazilian Walnut is known for it’s durability which I’m sure is no accident, and says a lot about the durability and quality of a company. For more information you can contact the Lochert Company.

A design company called Little Jacket has some very unique business cards.  These business cards are shaped like luggage tags and even have a hole to tie them to your luggage.

It’s definitely fitting for a design company like Little Jacket to have such cool business cards since they need to appeal to such a diverse population of companies as is in the New York area.  For more information on these business cards you can contact Little Jacket.