“7 Common Business Card Sins”
by Wells & Drew
Blake Houser
#1. You have too much going on. In an effort to say everything on your card, the card is overloaded with information, making it appear messy and hard to read. When you say too much you end up saying nothing. Keep it simple.
#2. Your card is hard to read. The fonts used on the card are too small. Clients don’t want to work to read your card. Use simple and effective fonts.
#3. Your business card is on flimsy paper. Clients and colleagues often correlate flimsy with cheap. Thicker paper costs pennies more. It’s worth it.
#4. Your design doesn’t work. Nothing pops out at you. Two things should pop out at you when looking at a card, one is the logo and the second is the person’s name.
#5. Your over-sized card does not fit into business card holders. Although a nice talking point for an interior designer’s card, odd size cards rarely work in the professional arena.
#6. You card has a Hotmail or Yahoo address. This is something clients don’t want to see. It reads to them “I’m not serious about what I do”. Get an email with your domain address in it. It costs next to nothing on a yearly basis.
#7. Your card is out of date. You may even cross out and write over something on your card. This says to your client and colleagues “we don’t have many clients and we can’t afford new cards”. Clients want to deal with successful firms. Spend the money and get the updated card.
In closing, the one key element to a great card, is simplicity. Nothing says professionalism, credibility and class like simplicity. Remember, your business card is used for two things. One, to convey your contact information. Second, to accurately represent you and your firm’s professionalism and credibility.
Ask yourself these two questions:
1.) Does my card accurately represent my firm’s professionalism?
2.) Is this the best our firm can do with their business card?
You only have to design a good card once and it will serve you for many years. We work with thousands of professionals every year designing and printing effective cards that accurately represent their professionalism.
Contact us for more information at 800-342-8636.
