As a small business owner, you might have often wondered what is the right business card, which will impress your clients and customers. While a great design always attracts people, a business card goes beyond that. It must tell people where you live, what you do and how they must contact you. A business card is not rocket science and is just a simple and uncomplicated method of people to get in touch with you when they need your services.
A great business card should have all the information that is important and must exclude everything that is unimportant. It is common to come across business cards that have a number of details and also ornate designs. Such business cards are not really warranted and people do not care whether a business card looks like a piece of art.
Of course, it helps that it looks like a piece of art but if it does not contain the most important information such as where you live, how to contact you and what your job title is, a business card is almost useless. In this article, let us take a look at all the important building blocks of a successful business card.
1. Your name: This is obviously the most important part of your business card. Make sure you have spelled your name right. Do not include titles such as “Mr”, Mrs.”, etc. We see a lot of people still doing that. IT is not required and makes you look unprofessional.
2. Company name: Ensure that your company name is spelled right. Also, do not abbreviate your company name unless it is required. Use the full name of your company.
3. Address: Your address must be accurate. If you are the kind of businessman who does not step out of New York City, do not include “U.S.A.” in the address. It is redundant and looks awkward. Just the city and the state where you practice should be enough. However, if you tend to meet clients who visit the city from where you operate, you probably would want to mention your country as well.
4. Phone number: Write your telephone number accurately. Mention the country code as well. Most of the times, it is important to do so. The correct format for a number is country code-area code-your telephone number. A telephone number that is not properly printed may cause a lot of confusion.
5. Email address: It is no longer possible to not include your email address. Everyone sends emails and thanks to smartphones, emails are the next big thing, though they have been around for ages. Do not make the mistake of not including your email address. And do check your inbox often.
6. Website URL: If you have a website to flaunt, mention it. Do not provide links to websites that are incomplete or have no content. You obviously do not want to surprise your clients or customers.
7. Your job title: Your job title is very important too. You could mention what your job title is, such as, Graphic Designer, Chemical Engineer, etc.
8. Description of your business: This is something that is not really required. If you must, try to finish the description in less the 3-4 words. Your job description should be enough. If you choose to write company description, then try not to include your job description.
9. Logo: This is one of the most important parts of a business card. Make sure that your logo is placed in a place that is recognizable but is not tawdry to look at.
10. Decorative graphic images: Avoid decorative graphic images. They are not interesting and distract the person who is holding your card. Your business card should only contain what is necessary.
11. Your products and services: It is not necessary to mention your products ad services on your business card. We have come across business cards that list all the categories of products offered by the company. Such business cards look very unprofessional.
Whatever you do, just ensure that your name, telephone number, email address, logo, job title and postal address are mentioned. These are the only important information that are required in a business card.
