1 - IMPORTANCE OF A BUSINESS NAME CARD
a) Information card - A business name card holds important information pertinent to the business,and by incorporating the information onto the card,this makes it easier for the prospect to 'keep' the information until they need it.This increases the chance of reference to the information and therefore promotes the service that the prospect may be interested in.It helps focus on the important aspects on yourself
b) Referral card - If you are working for a club,church, modeling agency,or an organization who needs to recruit members all the time,it is a referral card that makes it easy to introduce the organization and invite a prospect to your next meeting. On the front there's a place to fill in the date, time and location of the next meeting, the address, your name and phone number. On the back, include a brief overview of the organization and any necessary details. Give each member a handful and encourage them to distribute them when they see an opportunity.
c) Image projector - A business card should project the image that you want for yourself and for your industry, company, product or service. If you work in a field where tradition, regulation and a conservative philosophy are mainstays of the corporate culture, then a conservative card-black lettering printed or engraved on a heavy, white card stock-will help you to reinforce that image. If art, design or cutting-edge technology is your #1 product, the use of color, graphics or die-cut shapes may help you to get your message across.
2 - INFORMATION ON A BUSINESS NAME CARD
PEOPLE - Name of person(Nickname), Title, Affiliations, Professional/academic designations
PLACE - Department/division name, Organization street address,Floor/suite, City/state/postal code/country/home street address
COMMUNICATION - Mobile, Fax, home phone, email, website address
ORIENTATION - Name of organisation, mission statement, product/service, resource info, special offer, illustration, logo, organisational affliations
DETAILS - Office hours, time zone, appointment fill-in, map/directions
3 - APPEARANCE OF BUSINESS NAME CARD
Picture cards - Having your face on your card-whether it's a photograph, a drawing or a caricature-helps a contact remember you the next time he or she sees you. Images representing a product or service, or a benefit your business provides, can help you communicate your business better than dozens of words. A splash of color (rather than just black and white) is often helpful on a picture card, too.
Tactile card - Some cards are distinguished not so much by how they look as by how they feel. They may use nonstandard materials, such as metal or wood, or have unusual shapes, edges, folds or embossing. Tactile cards tend to be considerably more expensive than regular cards because they use nonstandard production processes such as die cuts. But for some businesses, this more unusual card may be worth the price.
Multipurpose cards - A card can do more than promote your name and business-it can also serve as a discount coupon, an appointment reminder or some other function. It may also provide valuable information that the average person may need. For example, a hotel may include a map on the back of its card for any guests who are walking around the local area. A card of any type can be made multipurpose by adding any of these types of features.
Outside-the-box cards - A wildly original, fanciful or extravagant presentation can draw extra attention. Creativity knows no bounds-except the amount of money you wish to spend. Some examples are cards made of chocolate or that folded out into a miniature box to keep small items in.
4 - TECHNIQUES TO GIVE YOUR BUSINESS NAME CARD
- Present your business card with the text facing the recipient.
- Present a card to a receptionist when you visit an office.
- In most instances, you should allow a superior to initiate the exchange of business cards. When one person clearly outranks another, the junior should not extend a card until the senior has done so. Also, the junior should not ask the senior for a business card, but should wait until it is offered.
- Look at a business card when it is presented to you, thank the presenter and carefully put the card away. Write pertinent notes on it later, not in the presence of the card's owner.
- Show respect for your own card. If you follow some of the rituals in presenting your card, others will treat it with respect.
- Ask before taking a card from someone?s desk during or after a meeting or interview.
- Establish rapport before presenting a card or asking for a card. In most cases, it is not the first thing you do when meeting others.
- Stop, look and listen to what is happening around you. In some industries, the exchange is at the beginning of a meeting with many people participating. When this happens and you have collected several cards, you may want to arrange them in front of you on the conference table in the order that people are seated, as a handy reference to names, titles and responsibilities.
- Never present a business card in a receiving line.
- Don't present a business card at a social function, unless it is the only method for conveying your contact information when it is requested. You may want to have a social card printed to use in non-business-related occasions and functions.
5 - BUSINESS NAME CARD DESIGN TIPS
CONTRAST - Contrast is an important visual element on a business card.The simples contrast is black on white and otherwise.Use opposite colours from the colour wheel to make the designs stand out.Typeface can be contrasted as well. You may use a strong bold typeface for your company name contrasted with a lighter type for the rest of the text on your Business Card.
REPETITION - You can repeat colours, shapes, typefaces, textures, sizes, images on your Business Cards. How many typefaces have you used? Have you kept the sizes similar throughout the card? How many colours are used over the card? Do all the text and images have a consistent look and feel to them?By limiting your Business Card to one typeface family you will see a professional difference. Keep the size of the type on your Business Card consistent throughout. You can effectively repeat a single image on your card rather than clutter it up with multiple images.
ALIGNMENT - Our eyes find aligned text and objects pleasing. This is a very common mistake when designing Business Cards. Text on your Business Card may be aligned left or right or centred. As long as it is consistent over your Business Card. If you are using an image, find an element within it to align your text with on your Business Card. If you use rules (lines), they should begin and end in alignment with something else, like the text edge or text bottom. If your image hangs outside the alignment, crop it.
PROXIMITY - The last thing that ensures great Business Card design is proximity. How close is information related to each other? Items related to each other should be grouped close together. For example you don't want your name to be a long way from your title as these are related information. Your contact details should be grouped together on your Business Card. Is your company name positioned prominently on your Business Card? Keep text at least 3mm from the edge of the card to avoid text looking like it is falling off the edge of your Business Card.
