Our Favorite Tips for Business Cards & Marketing
We’ve just uploaded a new product our our site, plastic cards.
The cards are 20 pt stock with rounded edges, so comparable to a credit card. I’m excited to see how our customers will take advantage of this new medium. It’s ideal for a card that you want to have kept in every person’s wallet or purse, like a V.I.P. or loyalty card for your business. And since it’s plastic, you won’t have to worry about it getting destroyed when a drink spills or it gets left in the laundry.
We have three options, white plastic, so you can print on both sides, frosted and clear transparent. With some creative use of opacity, there should be some unique applications.
In launching this product, we are offering a 50 for 50 special. Use coupon code PBC50 and for the first fifty customers ordering plastic cards, we will take $50 off your order!
Choosing the colors that will identify your business, on your website, business cards, and products should be considered a business decision just as much as it is a design decision. Visually, it’s the initial point that we interact with and can evoke an emotional response.
This is something that I’m sure we’ve all heard at some point. The “power tie” being red, the inherent honesty of blue, the daring of yellow, etc… Ronald Reagan owed his homespun character largely due to the fact that he wore brown suits evoking a sense of reliability and approachability.
To help put it all together, here are some great info graphics to help you put it all together.
Given, this is more focused for the retail segment, but it gives great insight into the meaning of the different colors as well as help re-iterate their importance when considering your brand.
What really helps drive this home, is then comparing it to how current companies land on the color spectrum with this logos.
First do some research and find out where your competitors lie on this spectrum. Determine the message that they are trying to tell and question if that works for your brand. Your customers will key into the authenticity of the message, so don’t try to force it. Don’t forget you aren’t beholden with colors, especially at startup, but it can become a vitally important aspect your brand.
UPS is a great example of how a color (Pullman Brown) has become synonymous with the company. It’s the color equivalent of a tissue being called Kleenex. Going back to the earlier Reagan example, and the emotional response to brown being reliability and approachability, it makes incredible business sense to think deeply about color. [VIA]
Choosing Your Title For Credibility on Your Business Card
I saw an old episode of Arrested Development and it reminded me of one of the funniest business cards that I have ever scene. Namely, the character Tobias Fünke name card and his awkwardly logical title. Spoiler Alert: He merges his two titles of Analyst and Therapist into one.
Which segued nicely into the topic of choosing the right title. In some cases, it’s a no brainer, in a structured environment, be it corporate, military or law enforcement. But, what if you are more than your job or position at a company, or in Tobias’ case a multiple threat of skillsets and naïveté . Here are a few tips to help you decide, keep in mind how it will affect your credibility.
Know Your Company
Is your company corporate or boutique? Hip or buttoned down? Your business culture has to be reflected. If the culture is hip and tongue in cheek, let your title be creatively tongue in cheek as well. It will add to your credibility. Likewise, if you are business is strictly professional, your whimsy will be your downfall.
Know Yourself
Knowing your role in the company and what you bring to the table should be reflected in your title. You don’t want to overstate your value an be proven wrong. Of course, if you undervalue yourself, you run the risk of being ignored.
Know Your Audience
Once you have an idea of your role, and corporate style, you need to get a grip on the audience. What industries are you targeting, what will the culture allow?
Be Clear And Concise
Three words or less. Keep it focused and strong.
Avoid “Small” Words
The word owner is a great example. It parochial and gives a sense of being a big fish…small pond.
Do you need or want a title
Last but not least, after considering everything else, ultimately you might not consider a title at all. Have too much to say or not enough. Sometimes, you might just need to leave it at the strength of your word.
Business cards, as a marketing and networking tool, are about marketing yourself. It’s a reflection of rank, status and experience. Don’t be afraid to be creative. Be the Marketing Guru, the Product Evangelist or Code Monkey. Just don’t do this.
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In our Business Card Design Infographic we guided you through the steps and special considerations of designing your business card. But we recognize that not every small business is going to have the time or resources to work with a graphic designer on branding their business. Keeping these thoughts in mind we’ve worked with our own graphic designer to create these 5 business card templates designed for in demand freelancing careers (like business consulting, real estate, interior design and blogging). All the design files are available in .PSD format. Since we believe Photoshop is the image editing software that most business owners would be the most comfortable using.
To download the templates just click on the template image of your choice and sharing these goodies (via the embed code) with your friends is highly encouraged.
The card material is one area where you can really get creative when it comes to designing your business card. The list of materials in which you can decide to create your business card out of, or have it printed on, is much larger than just the standard matte or glossy choices.
If you wanted to go in a more non-traditional route, you could select to have your cards made out of wood, metal, or plastic. This works particularly well if you have a home improvement or construction business. These cards also tend to be much more durable than paper ones. But on the flip side the material cost of your card will be higher and it might take more effort to find a printing service willing to take your custom order.
If you envision your card being something that a potential client will see or use every day, you can have your card made as a magnet, a USB stick, or a matchbox. We’ve seen realtors adopt magnet business cards in the last few years and achieve great success with them. Your client will think of you every time they visit the fridge!
And if you want something completely off the wall and “outside the box”, you can even have your card made out of meat or cookies. No, we’re not joking; this is a new option that’s quickly gaining a cult following among bakers that can include a cookie calling card with their customers orders. For more business card tips, check out our Ultimate Guide to Business Cards: Print and Design.
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One of the most important aspects to consider when creating a business card is the printing map, which is made up of the bleed, trim, and safe zones. If you aren’t careful when designing your card, some of your vital contact information may be cut off.
The “bleed” refers to the outer perimeter of the card. This area is trimmed away and will not be a part of the finished product. Make sure if you are printing a background image or color on your card, that it extends to the bleed area so that your design will go to the edge of the card and there will be no white space.
The “trim” refers to where the card will be cut and the “safe zone” is the majority of the surface area on your business card. You will want to make sure that no important information is placed in between the trim and the safe zone and that all important elements (like contact information) are placed inside the safe zone to avoid them being trimmed off during final printing. Nothing would be worse than paying for a hefty amount for an identity project and then realizing your printed business cards are missing your phone number or contact email address.
For more business card tips, check out our Ultimate Guide to Business Cards: Print and Design.
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Did you know that you actually have a say in the size and shape of your business card? You don’t necessarily have to conform to the old-fashioned standard rectangle, if you don’t want to. You can choose between rectangles, circles, and even die-cut shapes, if you want to get creative. However, the standard rectangular or vertical shapes and sizes are more convenient and affordable when it comes to the printing process.
Please keep in mind that if you have a unique shaped business card it might be harder for people to hold on to since it won’t fit in most business card holders that professionals carry around with them, which are designed for standard, rectangular cards.
Though there are standard card shapes and sizes for business cards, preferences tend to differ around the world. Keep in mind what country you plan to be doing a majority of your business in when selecting the size and shape of your card. The sizes preferred around the world aren’t drastically different, but if you want your clients to be able to carry your business card with all their others (and refer to them conveniently), then it is a good idea to keep their home countries standard card size in mind. Refer to our ‘standard sizes around the world’ illustration for more specific information on how business card dimensions vary around the world.
For more business card tips, check out our Ultimate Guide to Business Cards: Print and Design.
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It is very important for business owners to understand areas where possible color substitution can happen when they are preparing to print their business cards. CMYK mode is not necessarily something that business owners should need to talk about with their graphic designer (professionals should be aware of working in CMYK as a best practice), but it is something that is good for business owners to be aware of, nonetheless.
There are two different color modes to choose from when creating designs in Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator: CMYK (cyan-magenta-yellow-black), which is the color mode for print, and RGB (red-green-blue), which is the color mode for Web use. CMYK refers to the mixing of paints, dyes, inks, and natural colorants to create a full range of colors, each caused by subtracting (or absorbing) some wavelengths of light and reflecting the others. In other words, CMYK is a subtractive color mode whereas RGB is an additive color model.
In the additive color model: red, green, and blue are added together by light for a broader range of colors. The most important thing to note here is that there is a smaller range of colors available in CMYK mode versus RGB mode. If a design were created in RGB mode then the design files would be automatically converted into CMYK format when the files were prepped for printing. Since there’s a wider amount of colors in RGB mode there would then be the chance that one of the colors used in the design didn’t have an exact color match in the CMYK range of colors. This is sometimes the reason why business owners will see discrepancy between the colors in their design and the business cards that they receive.
To avoid any color surprises or discrepancies when you print your own business cards, we recommend working in CMYK mode from start to finish in your design work. For more business card tips, check out our Ultimate Guide to Business Cards: Print and Design.
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When beginning a new business card (or most identity) projects, the most recommended starting point is deciding what you want your branded imagery to communicate to prospective business contacts. We’re sure you’re already thinking: “what font do I want?” But it’s actually simpler to start out by choosing the typeface that communicates what you want your card to say. Typeface is best defined as a family of fonts related by style; whereas a font is a particular member of that style family in a point size (ex- Arial pt. 10).
Start by choosing the Typeface that aligns with how you want your business contacts and customers to think of your brand. If you want customers to think of your company as being clear, simplistic and dependable then you might want to start by considering fonts that are in the Sans-Serif typeface family. Sans-Serif means that the legs of each letter don’t have tails on them. You can refer to the ‘Suggestions for You’ section of our Ultimate Guide to Business Cards Infographic and you’ll see a few font options in the Sans-Serif typeface family. When people think of Sans-Serif fonts they most often visualize Helvetica.
Now other business owners will be more concerned with making their business cards stand out and so they might want to go with a font in the Script or Display typeface family. There’s nothing wrong with using a more distinctive font. We just recommend keeping the maximum number of fonts used (per card design) to 2. Often times the fonts that make a card ‘pop’ can be harder to read. You can compensate for this by making sure that your second font choice is extremely legible ( ex- helvetica, rockwell, comic sans, museo). Make sure to choose something that is clear and easy to read that also conveys something about you or your business.
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It’s been said so many times it’s cliche, but even now with the digital revolution in full swing the business card is still an indispensable marketing tool for any professional. It’s amazing how a small, rectangular piece of paper showcasing your name and business information has been analyzed, fretted over and eventually found its way to being one of the the icons of American business culture.
While it seems that the hardest part about a business card should be getting the job that allows you to have the card in the first place, the stumbling American economy has sent many formerly employed professionals back to the drawing board to revamp their paper representation.
Our guide to business card print and design has already hit many of the major points when it comes to choosing a basic layout, however, we here at Business Cards thought we could go a little deeper and show off some highly unique designs that reflect the industry of the cardholder and create a memorable impact. While there are many professions (law, medicine, etc.) where utilizing a unique or creative card may not be as appreciated, we feel that the average person ought to opt for injecting a bit of personal flair into their cards.
Simple and sleek, this card says a great deal simply by taking the traditional rectangle design and rotating it to read vertically. The hole punches across the top and bottom create a nice visual that, when the recipient notices the owner works in film production and the card is intended to replicate a film strip, creates an “a-ha” moment that can almost guarantee it won’t just be tossed aside.
We love this card because it showcases a great trend in design that has come to be called the minimalist approach. By skewing the traditional, minimalist cards attempt to say everything with only a few words. In this case, “chef” is a personal dinner delivery service but the single bold proclamation across the face says that and much more. In addition, rather than taking the traditional rectangular design, this creative designer chose a medium that reflects his industry, the beverage coaster. This a great example of how thinking a little outside the box and using only 2 words (business name and location) can go a long way towards making a lasting impact.
These are only two interesting and creative ways to leave an impression on the recipient of your card so that they won’t just put it in the stack with the rest, or worse, toss it out without even taking the time to look at it. When planning your business card layout, sit back and think about more than just the typeface and font choice. You may be surprised how a little brainstorming might turn up something unique and unforgettable!
Images: ibrandstudio
