Is Your Business Card Doing The Best Job For You?
by Leni Chauvin, The Client Attraction Coach
Business cards are powerful marketing tools -- if
they are used properly.
Is your card bringing you the business you had hoped
it would? Is it making you memorable in the eyes of the beholder?
Does it need a makeover?
Take out your card and lookat it carefully. If it's
not doing what you want ot to do, you might want to consider some
some or all of the following:
• Honor the "law of contactability.".
Okay, so I probably made that word up, but you know what I'm getting
at. How can I get in touch with you other than by phone?
A lot of people make the huge mistake of leaving their
addressees off their business cards. Yes, I understand that many people
work from home and don't want the public to know where they live.
In that case, I urge you to get a post office box.
One of the things I want to know about people when
I meet them is where they're located. Why? First , it may give me
a starting point for a conversation.
"Oh, 123 Main Street? I have a client who also
works in that building. Do you happen to know Mack Jones from the
ABC Company?"
"Oh, 123 Main Street? I passed there the other
day and saw they were filming a movie in that area. Has that affected
your business in any way?"
Second, one of the best ways to nurture your network
is to stay in touch with people when you don't want anything from
them.
One of the best ways to do that is to send them things
via snail mail: newspaper clippings, appointment notices, magazine
articles of interest to them, etc. How can you do that when you don't
know where to find the person?
You definitely create a disadvantage for yourself
when you don't give people your complete contact information, and
I would encourage you think about this the next time you have cards
printed.
• Take advantage of valuable real estate.
Every card has two sides, yet most people only use the front. You
have great marketing space on the back of your card.
Use it to promote your newsletter, to tell of a discount
you're offering, to market an upcoming program or whatever else you
can think of. One or two lines on the back of your card will get people's
attention and they will contact you to learn more.
Print more than a couple of lines and you're printing
a mini-catalog, leaving the reader with no need to contact you at
all. This is one of those places to remember that "less is more."
• Have a professional logo designed.
Your business card says a lot about you; Make it look
first class and you will make your business look first class, too.
But how can you do that when you're working on a shoestring
budget? Easy.
Here are just a few ways:
- Barter with a graphic designer
- Hire a talented student
- Offer your business as a class project to a design course at a
community college
- Visit http://www.gotlogos.com where you can get a professional
logo designed for only $25
- Check to see if your local Kinko's has a graphic designer. I spoke
to one who said she could give the client several choices of logos
within 24 hours for about $29.
• Make sure your card clearly indicates
what you and your company do.
I saw one card recently that said something like "ABC
Company" and listed the person's name without any title. I haven't
got a clue what the company does nor what he does for the company.
How can I either give him business or send him business
if I don't know what he does? Don't put yourself in that position.
• Have a slogan or tag line on your
card to make you and your business memorable.
My company name is Superstar Success. That name means
absolutely nothing unless I somehow tell the reader why s/he would
want to find out more about me.
The name, coupled with the slogan "Helping Professionals
Attract More Clients Since 1993" speaks volumes about how I can
help them and why they would want to get to know me better. They can
see right on the front of the card that I have a solution for them,
and I am always invited to tell people more about how I can help them.
• Make sure your slogan or tag line answers
the WIIFM question (What's In It For Me?) we all have and you'll have
a captive audience.
• Be sure the credentials you stress
are relevant.
We all have former business lives. Often what we did
in the past is very relevant to the niche we are targeting and our
credentials can help us gain entree to our target market.
If, however, your credentials have nothing to do with
what you are doing now or the market you are targeting, leave them
off. They'll only make you look as if you're "stretching"
or "padding."
For example, if you're a former massage therapist
who is now a chiropractor, it makes sense to put your massage credentials
after your name.
If you're a former massage therapist who is now an
electrician, it does not, unless you are an electrician who primarily
serves massage therapists.
• Don't leave home without them!
Have you ever been to a business or social function
and asked someone for their card only to find they don't have one
on them? I know I have, and all I can do is wonder why.
Why would anyone go someplace hoping to connect with
people who might give them some business (or lead them to others who
might give them some business) and then not be able to provide the
people they meet with a means to remember and/or contact them?
It just doesn't make any sense to me, but sadly I
see this happen over and over again and it makes me wonder what important
details these folks might overlook if I decided to do business with
them.
Bottom Line: Want to grow a thriving business?
It's all in the details.
Copyright Leni Chauvin
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Leni Chauvin has been helping ordinary people build
and market extraordinary businesses since 1993. The strategies in
her Attract Clients Galore Marketing System(tm) have helped thousands
of solo professionals get more (and better) clients without having
to spend a fortune to do it. Subscribe to Leni's newsletter for tips
to help YOU grow YOUR business. http://www.SuperstarNetworking.com
