4 Tips To Be Creative With Your Business Cards

Every business owner should have business cards for their business. It amazes me how many people show up to a Chamber mixer or other networking event and don't have business cards. Business cards are a critical piece of your marketing mix and should never be overlooked.

Your business card is one of the most cost effective marketing you can do in your business yet too many people either don't have business cards or have a business card that is plain and boring. You need to make your business card stand out from the stack of business cards that everyone collects every day in their own networking.

Using a little creativity in the design of your business card can really make you stand out form the crowd and make people remember who you are when they get back tot he office with their stack of cards.

It's not uncommon for me to collect 20 -30 new business cards when I go to an event and even after years of networking my businesses, I still have a hard time remembering someone after the event if their card doesn't have something that makes them stand out.

Here's a few tips you can use in the design of your business cards that will help you stand out from the crowd and get you remembered after your next networking event or trade show.

1. Really promote your company branding. Your logo and colors are part of your branding for your business. If you have a company color that is a major part of your branding, be sure that that is included on your card. I've seen too many people that just go to the local copy shop and but plain cheap business cards that are black and white. No style whatsoever.
   
   Full color business cards are very inexpensive any more. Make use of that and spend a little extra to really make an impression with your business cards. Make the colors and logo stand out so you are remembered.


2. Use photos in your business card. Adding you photos to your business card is a great way to help other people remember who you are after the event. Adding your photos is a great way ensure that people can put a name to a face after they meet you.


3. Odd shaped cards. Odd shaped business cards are a great way to set yourself apart from everyone else in the room. I personally like the simple rounded corners instead of square corners on business cards. It's not extreme but it does stand out from the stack.
   
   Another thing you can do is use fold over cards. These cards are great to stand out but are actually double the size of a normal business card. This gives you the ability yo have a lot more space on your business card to promote your business and add more information.
   
   With odd shaped business cards, you do need to be careful though. It's great to go with odd shaped cards that will stand out but be sure that you keep your cards so they will still fit in a standard business card holder. This one tends to be an ofter overlooked annoyance to a lot of people. A large amount of people use business card holders to keep all their contacts together. If your card doesn't fit in the little slot, it's not going in their holder and they may end up just tossing it in the trash because it doesn't fit anywhere. Just be careful about this one. Odd shapes are great but just make sure it fits right in a holder. You don't want someone just throwing it away. That won't do you any good.
   


4. Use the back for your card for more information. One of the best ways to make use of the back of your business card is to offer a free report, free consultation of some other lead generation gift that sends them to your website or to call you for more information. This is a great way to get additional leads as people will see that offer and be interested in getting their free gift.

Don't make it too busy though. People do like to be able to write on the back of business cards and you do want to make sure they can still do this if they want.

So there you have it. 4 tips on making your business cards more creative so they will stand out from the crowd. Business cards are the most cost effective form of marketing your business you have. You should be making the best of them in all you marketing and they should are a critical piece of any business's marketing mix.