Business Card Warrant of Fitness:

Your business card is often the only tangible thing a prospect or new contact goes away with after having meet you. What is it going to tell them about you and your business long after the memory of your meeting has faded?

If you belong to a networking group or are an active networker yourself, you’ll understand the importance of your business card. Its a window into your business; a silent sales person when you are not around. Yet how many times have you been given a card by someone who wants to do business with you that looks like they are not serious about their own?

5 point check:

1. Does your card show a physical address?
   Many small homebased businesss will only advertise a PO Box number rather than a home address and risking customers turning up on their doorstep while they are still in their PJs. But think about it from the point of view of a prospect or customer.  Does it look like you are a solid business that will be around for the long haul, or is there a reason the person is hiding behind a PO Box number? How easy would it be for a customer to find you in person if they needed to?
2. Do you have a land line or just a cellphone number?
   Same deal as above. If you have only a cell phone number and a PO Box it is going to increase the impression that you are not a committed business.
3. Do you have your own business email address or are you using a free email service?
   These should be limited to personal use, it just doesn’t look professional for a business to be using a Hotmail or Gmail email. Combined with the two factors above, this screams ‘unprofessional’ at best and ‘dodgy’ at worst. Is this the impression you want for your business?
4. Is it clear from your card what it is your business does?
   This is very important if the name of your business is not a descriptive one. What does a company with a name like “Panocus Technologies Ltd” do? Unless there is a clear description on the card, no one will know.

   Even if your name is descriptive you shouldn’t ignore the opportunity to promote your USP – the aspects of your business, product and/or service that give you a positive difference from your competitors and are meaningful to your customers.  There are two sides to a business card, so don’t ignore the opportunity to use the space to tell your prospects more about what you can do for them.
   

5. Is it a quality produced card; well designed, visually appealing and good quality print? If your card looks cheap and nasty then so will your business!

Remember that when a person comes across your business card weeks or months later, it needs to persuade them to use it, rather than consign it to the recycling bin. When you are next presented with a card that would fail this 5 point check, refer them to Hot PJ. You’ll be doing their business a favour.

Posted on February 22nd, 2010 by Wendy Riley-Biddle
Filed under: Marketing