Are you a business card apologists?

Do you hand over your business card with trepidation as you got it from an email offer but were less then dazzled when it arrived?

I’ve seen it many times while networking, someone handing over their card and shrugging with an apologetic look on their face, is this the face you want to pull with potential customers?

One thing i find with new businesses is that they overlook the brand of their business at the start, which is understandable if you’re setting up on a shoestring and it’s more important to invest in the things that can make you do your core business to the best of your ability.

This in itself is no bad thing, but what if you look like several other businesses when you’re presenting yourself, this is one thing that i have seen on a number of occasions, how do you stand out from those other businesses?

One way to stand out is with a good quality business card, not a flimsy card and certainly not with an advert for the company who did them on the back.

I have had people say that it’s too expensive to get a good quality card, but is it really? if you were to go for a comparable quality of card from one of the many online producers with ‘free’ offers are you getting a good deal?

In my experience, and I’ve sent quite a few business card to print in my time, you get something comparable to going through a designer if you choose your options wisely, but it does rely on you having your artwork ready to go and knowing what you want (which if you’ve not had experience of it before, you night not know what to expect).

Where a designer will help is in advising what the best option for you is, they will show you samples of previous work, so you know what to expect, they will also make sure that what is going to print is suitable and if they are handling the print for you they will be able to sort out any problems on your behalf (i once had a job go back 6 times and had a personal call from the MD apologizing and promising to get it sorted).

Yes, you’ll also have the costs of the designer, but what you’ll be paying for is their expertise, their experience and for them to make you stand out from the crowd.

So, don’t be a business card apologist, get a card that you’re proud to hand out that truly reflects your business.

 

(N.B. there is a place for those flimsy cards, a local business entrepreneur has them for a charity he is part of, totally unapologetic when handing them over, for him the cost was an important part, because it was a charity and it was less of an overhead, which is hard to argue with).