Personal Business Cards » Business Marketing

Article Business Marketing – Boost Sale With Article Business Marketing Online

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:35:47 +0000

If you’d spend up to 6 months trying to know how to succeed in the affiliate marketing online industry, one of the success strategies you should have come across is the fact that web content is KING! And the reason is that if you incorporate article business marketing into your business you will move forward in leaps and bound.

The principle of article business marketing simple entails having site filled with quality, informative and educative content can make or mar your online business. In fact it is a major determinant how long an individual will stay on your site – will it be for few seconds or minutes or hours or bookmark to come to it later or recommend it others!

Will it encourage warm reception and click through to the merchant’s site or induce hatred and disappointment? But if you cannot write your own content, here few ways to overcome it below:

Search the public domain

There are millions of articles that are currently in the public domain that you can use on your web site free of charge. A simple web search can bring up hundreds of these kinds of articles. And the best part is you can edit them, change them, alter them or do whatever you want to them so that they sound exactly like you want them to. You don’t have to worry about paying any authors or stepping on any toes.

Pay others to write for you

And in most cases, it’s cheaper than you think. When you consider how important good web content is, paying someone a few dollars to write exactly what you need isn’t such a bad idea. Of course, some companies charge more than others and it always pays to shop around, but don’t shut yourself off to the idea of paying for content.

Employing the tactics of article business marketing can’t be overemphasized because you’ll never have a really thriving affiliate site unless you have good and solid contents. If you can’t write it yourself, you do have other options, but the best thing you can do is to learn how to write in your own style.

By: Patrick Uban

With the Current Credit Crunch Ensure You Have Quality Business Cards

admin — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 17:51:41 +0000

Business cards are a traditional yet effective tool used to provide the contact details of a person to possible customers or prospective partners. The importance of business cards has been recognised by most companies, and they provide business cards to all their employees. Even though business cards have always been important, their use and value has increased in this age where sophisticated marketing is in vouge.

Business cards are not just logos and names printed on a piece of paper. They are your contact point with people, both inside and outside the company. Today, many companies consider business cards an effective marketing tool, which not only communicates a person’s contact details but also reflects the type of company the person is working in. A glossy card normally reflects that the company in which the person is working values individualism and creativity. On the other hand, a simple traditional-looking card shows that people in the company work in a conservative environment. It is therefore important that your business card should reflect the type of company that you work for. In business, the first impression is made when a business card is given.

With the current credit crunch, ensure you have quality business cards – one which is glossy, made of hard paper and has good quality of printing, preferably colour printed. To get good quality business cards you need to sit with a graphic artist so you can create a card which can be distinguished from millions of other cards. Traditional companies, in an attempt to reduce the cost of cards, will give the responsibility of getting the cards printed to the purchasing department. This department, in an attempt to reduce costs, will try to come out with cards at the minimal possible price. In this period of economic slow down and credit crunch, a substandard card could set a bad impression of the company. Therefore it is advisable to give the responsibility of getting the cards printed to the marketing department. People in the marketing department will come out with cards that reflect the company’s mission and outlook.

Business cards are your first point of contact with potential customers. Today in most fairs and trade shows people prefer giving their business cards to potential customers visiting their stalls. This helps with better networking, as business cards are easier to keep when compared to pamphlets and brochures. It is common knowledge that when people browse through the cards that they have, they tend to select the card that has a nicer look. People usually associate nicer cards with a company that can spend money. Companies that can spend money are those that have a stable and prosperous business. In fact if the company does not have finances to spend on low ticket items, how can they afford to purchase items of higher value, or run their business?

In today’s competitive world, it is important that you have a quality business card. Imagine losing even a single client because you did not spend money on getting a good quality card. A good quality business card is not ‘expenditure’ but an ‘investment’ that you make for the growth of the company. A business card is similar to a lottery – the more you give the better are the chances of winning a customer.

By: Bella Harris

5 Tips On Making Your Business Card A Powerful Marketing Tool

admin — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 08:25:50 +0000

When used effectively business cards can be a great marketing tool. In this article we will discuss 5 of the most effective ways that you can use your business cards everyday.

1. Be Creative.

Be creative in the design of your business cards. Business cards do not just need to be bits of paper with your contact details on them. Be creative and give your business cards a use and purpose. Make them a powerful marketing tool in the promotion of your business.

Your aim is to make your business card something that the receiver will want to keep and make use of. This is the difference between a well thought out and designed business card and a piece of paper with your contact details on it that will probably be thrown into the trash.

Give the recipient of your business cards a special offer. For example if you are a school/training centre you may offer ‘first lesson for free with this card’ or if you run a shop maybe you will offer ‘10% of any purchase over $50′.

Whatever your business, there is a creative way to give your business card real value to the receiver. If you can think and implement these new creative ways before your business does, you will have an instant advantage in that area of business, and should definitely see a rise in business if you have promoted you cards correctly.

2. The 1 minute rule

The 1 minute rule basically says, if you talk to a person for longer than 1 minute they should already have one of your business cards in their hand.

This means in conversations you need to find a way to talk about what you do, and be in the position to be able to offer one of your business cards to the person you are talking to in the first minute of conversation. This can be likened to a conversation you may have with someone at the bus stop or on the elevator. The conversation will end in a very short time and you only have a very short time to get your message across, or in this case get your business card to the recipient.

The 1 minute rule is basically just practice to get your business card out there as much as you can. Many people go through all the trouble of ordering business cards just to let them sit in a corner of their office. To use business cards effectively you must be giving them out at every opportunity that you have.

3. Make them keepers

Once you have given your business card to someone what is going to keep it from being thrown in the trash or forgotten about. Unless you are selling necessities it is probably fair to say that most likely they do not need the product/services you are offering at the present moment. Hopefully though in the future will come a time when they are looking for that product/service and that is when your business card still needs to be in the hands of the person.

Why does someone want your business card? If you cannot answer that easily, maybe it is time to think about a new business card design.

Does your business card have valuable information on it? By valuable I mean a map, discount, calendar, measurements, charts or anything relevant to your industry? If it doesn’t, you may want to think about adding a value feature to your business card.

4. Leave them everywhere you go

During a number of trips around a number of businesses in my local area I have noticed piles of business cards on the counters of various businesses. For example a recent trip to my accountant I noticed they had a few piles of business cards on the counter for mortgage lenders, home loans, etc.

This can be likened very much to link swapping that goes on with webmasters looking for business referrals from similar businesses.

Every place that you frequent, you should ask if they mind you leaving a stack of you business card there for their customers. You could try this at your doctors office, your dentist, accountant, lawyer, beauty saloon or hairdresser.

For similar businesses (e.g. accountant > lawyer or money lender) maybe you can arrange to have a stack of their business cards displayed at your business when they offer your business cards at theirs. This can be a very effective way to use you business cards and can have great returns.

5. Ask for an opinion

‘Do you mind if I ask you a quick question? I’m looking for opinions on my new business card’. After asking the question and bringing the topic up hand them a business card. Make sure that they keep it, even if they try to hand it back to you tell them that you have thousands printed already.

Thank the person for their time, and if they ever need the product or service that you are offer that your contact information is on the business card. Even if that person may not directly contact your business, there is always a chance that they may pass your card or business name onto another party.

Even in the worse case they may go home and tell their friend how a nut just came and talked at the bus stop and handed them a business card for his lawn mowing service. That friend may say, ‘I’ve been looking for a good lawn mower’. ‘Here’s the business card I got’. And there is a situation where you may still even get business out of handing your business card to a stranger and even a disinterested stranger.

By following just one of the above five ideas each day, you can turn your business card into a great marketing tool, and see an almost instant increases in business.

By: John Harley

Understanding Business Card Networking as a Marketing Strategy

admin — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:51:22 +0000

Normally, business cards are given at the end of the appointments or conversation about the business that you offer. Most of the time, it is the closing part of the prospect conversation. However, do you know that you can use business cards even before you actually think of any prospect? You can actually use it as a starting point to create prospect. This is what is called a business card networking. By using your business cards for impact, you create a network of contacts who may be interested with your business.

A business card networking is not really new. It is a simple marketing strategy that has been applied even before it was not really broadcasted as such. It’s a matter of giving out business cards for impact to a prospect client or partners who in turn use those cards as basis of referrals to those who are interested. At least with a business card on hand, the person who is being referred to knows that a person really exist because the name and the contact details are reflected in the business card.

Guide To Business Card Networking

A business card networking is one of the most effective marketing strategies that can reach out to prospective customers or partners. One good thing about it is that it is easy. You don’t have to make too much effort convincing and prospecting people to talk to you. If you follow these steps, you are already good as using business cards for impact. Here’s how you can make business card networking work for you.

If you already have an existing prospect, you can give one or two business cards and ask for referrals. You can request them to give your business card to the person that they are referring to. Most probably, the person that they want to refer to you has high chance of interest so giving your business card will give the interested person an opportunity to contact you immediately.

You can place your business cards in restaurants or canteens. It can be placed on the table or at the counter wherever the owner of the place allows you to do so. The idea is to expose your business to places where people meet and hang out.

You can also put your business card in invoices, proposals and brochures. When you give the proposals or distribute brochures with your business card on it, you are providing opportunity for an interested person to contact you right way if they find your offer interesting.

When you are sending business cards without a person on sight, you should place a small note at the back of the card. The note should carry a marketing message for the receiver to be interested. This is important because people who see a card alone will not find it interesting if they do not know what the card is for in the first place. At least by placing a small note at the back, you can also customize the message to the people that you are expecting to get your card from the place.

Finally, be sure to respond when someone contacts you for an inquiry or question. You never know when the person who contacted you is interested even though, at first contact, the sender of the message or the caller may not be interested. Its important that when you do business card networking, you are prepared of what may come if you expose your business cards for impact.

By: Vikram Kumar

Business Cards – Effective Means of Marketing

admin — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 20:20:13 +0000

A good marketing strategy is essential for the growth and success of any company or profession. Business cards have proved to be one of the most effective means of business marketing at a personal level. Usually business cards are considered as printed pieces of introduction, but this is just a superficial feature of business cards. Business card holders generally tend to ignore one of the hidden complementary components of these cards; which is the fact that business cards can also be used for the advertisement of their business or profession. Company logo or tag line should be printed on the business cards for the effective business promotion; as the best strategy for marketing a business is to utilize every single opportunity for the promotion of the company.

Business cards can be formed out of different kinds of material and moreover, these cards can be of various shapes, sizes and formats. A person should choose business cards, in-accordance with the requirement of his or her business or profession. But one should not compromise with the quality and content of the business cards; as the businesses are generally judged by the quality of their marketing instruments. A good quality business card with well formulated content and design would certainly reflect professional demeanor of a person and would also help in promoting the business or profession with which he is associated. Thus, along with personal and professional introduction, the marketing factor associated with business cards should also be kept in mind while designing these cards.

In-addition to business cards, there are other printed items such as letterhead, brochures etc, which can also be used as effective marketing instruments. A well designed letterhead with personal or professional introduction and the company’s logo in it can be a very strong mode of advertisement. A good letterhead would reflect a positive professional image of a company. Similarly, brochures with the description of the products or the schemes of a company are essential means of business promotion. These designer brochures serve dual purpose, as they not only convey the desired information to the customers, but also act as instruments of business advertisement.

Business cards, along with letterhead and brochures serve as significant marketing tools, as they provide substantial contribution in the promotion of any business. These printed items not only help in communicating the requisite information to the current or potential clients, but they also offers to be some of the essential components of the marketing strategy of a particular company. Thus, business cards and other related accessories can be regarded as some of the most effective marketing methods for the realistic promotion of any business.

By: Sanjeev Kumar Singh

The Unique Uses of Business Cards

admin — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 02:13:43 +0000

When you think about business cards what image immediately comes to mind? For me, it’s a basic small piece of paper with a person’s name, company name and a couple of addresses and numbers on the front. This is true for most standard business cards.

In actuality, business cards can be a lot more diverse than you might think. A lot of people don’t realize how many different ways business cards can be utilized to market their brand because they’re stuck with the conception of what a standard business card is.

Have you ever gotten a punch card for someplace where they punch off a number each time you shop there until you get something for free? This is an example of a unique business card. I didn’t realize these could be considered business cards at first because I just wasn’t connecting the dots.

The great thing about the punch card system is that you can hand it to a person, they can easily carry it in their pocket, and it encourages them to continue shopping at your store. It is also an example of effective business card marketing. After all, that punch card has the companies name prominently displayed on it as a constant reminder to the person to come in and shop. They’re carrying around that company name in their wallet everyday.

While this is one unique use of business cards it certainly isn’t the only. You can use a business card as a small coupon or other kind of discount card. The greatest strength of the business card is that most wallets are designed to easily carry them. Unlike coupons you have to clip out of newspapers, or flyers which have to be folded up, a business card can conveniently be slipped into a pocket the second you hand it to a person.

This is why having business cards double as discounts or coupons is a great way of ensuring the person will keep it with them.

Different kinds of businesses are going to be able to find different uses for them. Why not have stacks of business cards printed out with a greetings message on it you can place on your desk for whenever someone comes to see you? Or maybe have a thank you card with your company name and contact information on it?

For those with a lot of different services, print off business cards that list all of the services you have. Handing them a list like this increases the odds of getting a sale because they know everything you can do.

It isn’t hard to carry around a stack of business cards with you at all times, and business card printing isn’t very expensive. Get unique, think of different ways you can utilize your business cards to draw in more prospects. You can have more than just a name on your cards. Make sure that whatever you hand a person, it’s distinctive enough that they’ll be glad to keep it with them.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit: Business Card Printing

By: karen grahams

From Playing Card to Business Card

admin — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:38:50 +0000

Without the development of the printing press in 1445 the Renaissance may never have happened, and Johann Gutenberg the inventor certainly did not know he was sowing the seeds of the business card entrepreneur’s bonanza we have today. What civilisation gained from Gutenberg’s invention is incalculable.

Visting Cards

Visiting cards (also known as calling cards) first appeared in China in the 15th century, and the earliest European form of visiting cards appeared in France in the 17th century during the reign of Louis XIV – “Le Roi Soleil”. They were normal playing cards on which visitors wrote their signatures, promissory notes and other messages. The cards were just a little smaller than the size of a man’s hand. As time went by, these visiting cards further developed into greeting and other cards.

The business card evolved from the Visiting card over time, but through it’s evolution it’s purpose remains the same.

Trade Cards

Trade cards, another early form of the Business card, existed in England around the same time. Trade cards were used as a form of advertising and sometimes contained a map directing potential customers to merchant stores, as there was no form of street numbering system at the time.

Other printing materials, such as newspapers, has not yet caught on as a vehicle for business marketing, so the earliest Trade cards were printed and issued using a letterpress method. However, copperplate engraving became the most popular method of producing the cards by the 18th century, and up to the 19th century, Trade cards were printed using a single colour (monotone). But as businesses thrived throughout the Industrial Revolution, so did the production and distribution of Trade cards.

Lithography

Around 1830, lithography using several colours became an established method in Europe and was the primary method for printing cards. As printing techniques became increasingly advanced, Trade cards became more elaborate, with pictures and full colour designs. Since colour images were not widely available, these cards became collector’s items, and as the hobby elevated, many tobacco companies put the sporting celebrities on one side and photos with text about their products on the reverse. This was the start of the modern day trading cards. Meanwhile, Visiting Cards arrived in Europe around the middle of the 1800’s.

Calling Cards arrived

Visiting Cards, or “Calling Cards” as they became known, were essential to the 19th century middle classes. The initial letters on personal Visiting “Calling Cards” denote French words:

p. f. – congratulations (pour feliciter) p. r. – expressing one’s thanks (pour remercier) – even if one is presented with flowers

p. c. – mourning expression (pour condolence) p. f. N. A – Happy New Year (pour feliciter Nouvel An) p. p. c. – meaning to take leave (pour prendre conge) p. p. – if you want to be introduced to anybody, send your visiting card (pour presenter)

Soon, the Business card evolved from a fusion of traditional trade cards and visiting cards. A distinction between “business” and “visiting” cards quickly developed with the ornate Visiting card serving social obligations only, whilst Business cards on the other hand, were used solely for promoting business. It was considered to be in very poor taste to use a Business card when making a social call.

These days, the modern business card is used primarily for the purpose of promoting a business, but it also serves as a calling card.

First Salesman’s Business card

Whilst Visiting Cards were at first the domain of the upper classes, and trade cards were made to advertise and promote particular firms, the salesman who did the footwork calling on prospective clients needed a means to exchange information in a simple, concise manner. To fill this void the Business card was introduced with address or telephone contact information in fancy printing and graphics.

Today, the salesman’s Business card takes on many forms, including custom die cut shapes and sizes, with glossy coatings and top quality photo graphics.

Business Card Printers Turn to Plastic

Known for their durability, plastic business cards were manufactured using a variety of plastic substrates, including but not limited to: Polystyrene, Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), Polyethylene, Polypropylene, Polycarbonate, Polyester and synthetic Papers.

20th century advances in printing technologies and synthetic materials made it possible to print liquid inks onto plastics. In addition to the wide range of commercial applications of this technology.

Today in the 21st century the more adventurous entrepreneur Business card printer has developed an array of sophisticated products. These include Silk art board, single and double sided Business cards, quality labels, complimentary slips, letterheads for all industries in superior quality papers, and laminated single and double sided Postcards for all occasions. All of which can be designed on line and uploaded to your personal computer. A boon to the busy firm requiring special needs.

For the rest of the world, the exchange of business cards has become common even for social introductions. Even today, some people still carry “personal” Business cards which contain only personal contact information and have no relation to their employer or business.

By: Geo’ W Smith