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Personal Business Cards – The Way to Stand Out From the Crowd!

admin — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 16:55:58 +0000

Are you looking for a way to stand out from all the other businesses you are competing with? Do you have a creative mind, but you are just struggling to connect the dots to get that edge you want? There is a way to use personal business cards to help you stand out from the crowds of other business people and make sure that you are remembered. Here is what you should know.

You have to start by understanding that most people have stacks or books of business cards that they have received. This means that you have a lot of competition to make sure you are remembered. The problem with business cards is that when you give them to someone they usually end up in the back pocket or in their purse unless you are someone they know they are going to do business with. This means they become forgotten and when they really do need your services they don’t even remember they have your card, if they still do.

Next, you need to know how to get an edge in this game and make sure that your personal business cards stand out from your competitor. There are many ways to do this and it all depends on your type of business and what you provide for your clients. For example, if you are a photographer, then take one of your best pictures and have it put on your business cards. This will personalize them and it will help you stand out from those that just have plain cards.

Last, with personal business cards you have to understand that there is more than just design that goes into them. You could have them made on plastic, into magnets, or out of any material you want. If you really want to get creative, then you could make them double as a coupon and as a sample of your work. This, of course, does not apply to all businesses, but the point is that you have to stand out from all the other businesses out there.

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

Seal that deal with impressive business cards

admin — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 18:02:45 +0000

Business cards are like specialized mini-brochure that captures who you are and the business you are trying to sell. They are an important tool to widening your market base and strengthening your foothold. As the market becomes more and more competitive, the need to have a catchy and outstanding business card is as important as the product you are tying to sell.

A lot of thought and brainstorming goes into how a business card is designed with the view of incurring as little cost as possible. A business deal could be lost or gained because of the impression created by a business card. There are even ISO and country standards that business cards are examined by many business entities worldwide which are instrumental in how they deal or whether they would deal with certain companies.

For instance, the English language is still the internationally accepted standard language in business. However, if you are giving your business card to businesses that do not understand the English language or are biased to their country’s language, you should have the specific regional language in order to look good.

Having this important detail in your business card may not cost so much as the benefit that it can bring. In fact could help win approval in that particular country or region and resulting in bringing forth potentially profitable business opportunities. Striking the right impression the first time they see your card may just be the thing that makes them want to contact you.

If you are looking for an effective way to communicate with more clients and gain positive results, then you have to know how to create them using the business cards. It is still one of the most powerful and cost-effective marketing tools that literally within your fingertips. The information and anything else that you put into your business cards must be carefully thought of.

By: Geraldine Anderson

Personal Business Cards

admin — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:42:41 +0000

Personal business cards offer the first impression of your company and business and should therefore be designed and printed carefully. Before you decide on a design for your business card, take some time not only to research on the available printing options but to also decide on what kind of impression you would like to leave on people through these cards.

Personal Cards: Purpose

Business cards have emerged as an essential means of communicating with one’s clients, associates and customers. Since these cards provide the basic information about a business or the services being offered by a person, they have increasingly being used as a promotional tool. Designing and printing of personal cards should be such that the final product is not only impressive but easy to store.

Things to Consider While Selecting Personal Cards

Personal cards need to be attractive and informative enough to serve the information needs of potential customers. Several points should be kept in mind while selecting these type of cards, such as:

* The quality of paper being used should be good and durable.

* The ink being used to print the paper should also be of high quality.

* Cards should use a mix and match of colors that are neither too bright nor too dull.

* They should clearly display the contact information and the nature of one’s business.

* Select from the various printing options available according to your requirements.

* Choose from various options, such as magnetic tapes or full colored or black and white cards.

* Cost of printing is reasonable.

* Check if the printing techniques being used are environmental friendly.

To get the best personal cards for your business, contact Printeca.com. The company not only offers thousands of personal card designs, it also allows its customers to design their own cards. Printeca.com uses 100% carbon neutral printing to provide you with the most environmental friendly product.

Personal Business Cards – The Way to Stand Out From the Crowd!

admin — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:41:23 +0000

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

Credit Cards for Small Business

admin — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:43:41 +0000

When you decide to start a small business, you find out pretty quickly that it takes more than skills and dedication in your respective area of work. Besides being good at what you want to do, you also need to known your accounting and financing issues, no matter how annoying and boring these may be. And the credit card problem for small businesses needs careful handling, just like that of a regular, personal credit card.

Choosing the right type of credit card is vital for the success of a small business. Even if you don’t have access to a corporate credit card, a small business card can be a major tool on the path to success. When you apply for a small business credit card, lenders will analyze your request from a variety of points of views. While their evaluation of the risk may vary according to various local factors, they will all take into account the “five Cs”: capital, capacity to make the payments, collateral, conditions and character.

Capital, meaning your personal investment in the business, outlines not only the size of the business, but also how much risk you are willing to take. Balance risks carefully – too much means you will be rated reckless, too little, and the lenders may think you are not serious about this. The capacity to repay the loan is, of course, critical for the lender and will be carefully analyzed. The collateral or the guarantees will show that you have a backup plan for returning the loan, in case things go wrong. The conditions represent the general situation in your geographical area and your respective line of business – mostly things that you cannot control (but you can make them look better in carefully planned business plan). Last but not least, character is the impression you make on the lenders – how trustworthy and business-oriented you appear to them.

If you take all these into account, your application is more likely to be successful right from the start. Of course, you also need to consider, carefully, which type of business card suits your needs.

Many small businesses rely on cash flow to pay for suppliers or contractors, because they need to purchase materials and services before their own clients pay up. You need to calculate the difference between the date when you purchase the materials and the date when the clients pay you back. If this is shorter than 30 days, go for a card that doesn’t charge you interest for the respective period. If it is two, three months or longer, go for a low interest card.

Also, you should think of how often you will have to travel for business-related purposes, and how a special type of credit card can help you with this, or how you will handle unprepared emergency situations that hustle small businesses constantly.

Some of the offers for credit cards for small business include Blue for Business Card – no annual fee, 0% intro APR for the first 9 months, credit line of up to $50,000 or Blue Cash for Business Credit Card – up to 5% cash rebate, no annual fee, 0% APR for up to 15 months. Advanta Platinum with Rewards, featuring cash back bonus, offers 0% intro APR for balance transfers, up to 50,000 credit line and various types of rewards for the things you buy most often (gas, office supplies and so on), bonus miles or cash back.

The CitiBusiness card has 0% APR for purchases for the first 6 months, no annual fee, a generous credit line and additional cards for the employees, with a credit limit set by you. The Platinum Business Credit Card from American Express has no annual fee and 0% APR for the first nine months on purchases and balance transfers.

Other options include Business Green Rewards Cash – no fees for the first year and no pre-set spending limit, and the Business Cash Rebate from OPEN: the Small Business Network, with up to 5% cash rebate, no annual fee, 0% APR for the first six months, no limit for cash back and no minimum spending requirements.

By: Jeremy Zongker

Do it Yourself – Business Cards

admin — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 10:14:04 +0000

As technology marches forward people are given a greater freedom in what they’re able to achieve on their own computers. There are all kinds of different graphic design programs out there that give people the ability to design some outstanding looking advertisements whenever they want to.

It used to be that if you wanted to get anything done in regards to graphic design you needed to hire someone else out to do it for you before putting in your color printing order. This led to potential issues with when the project would actually be completed, and forced people to pair up various schedules to make sure things could be done on time.

My point here is that while it may not be your normal thing, there’s no reason not to try your hand at some basic design work. The business card is one of the best forms of advertising to start out on.

There are plenty of programs for you to choose from, such as InDesign or Adobe Photoshop. Take a look at the features all of the different programs offer and try to find one that works best for you.

Once you have that out of the way the time comes to start designing.

But the real question that still needs to be answered is why should you bother to design it yourself? I’ve mentioned the issue with conflicting schedules and other potential problems, but that’s not the really important reason to design your own business cards.

A business card is one of the most personal forms of advertising you will ever create. This isn’t the same as a poster or a brochure. Other forms of advertising are going to be more about the company and less about an individual person. But when you hand someone a business card, quite often you are there in person doing it. The way they view you is going to impact how they view that business card and vise versa.

You want there to be a strong bond between you and the card you’re handing out, because the more unique business cards are going to be the ones people notice, and quite often the unique ones are also the personal business cards. Someone took the time to say, “This is what I want with my card and I’m going to make sure I get it,” and people can tell when looking at the card.

You need to take pride in your business card, and it’s always easier to take pride in something you made yourself. A lot of business cards don’t need to be the most advanced forms of graphic designing. While a lot of other forms of color printing might be beyond your expertise, that doesn’t mean you can’t design a great business card.

The next time you hand someone a card, make sure you’re handing them something that means a lot to you.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit: Color Printing

By: Charen Smith

Small Businesses Don’t Need a Business Credit Card Do They?

admin — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:43:56 +0000

Many a small business owner won’t bother to get a credit card for his or her business. Why bother, after all? Checks work, and do you really want to risk getting a credit card for your business? Just one more thing to keep track of.

A business credit card is useful for just about any business. It’s good for your business to have a credit history in its own name. And there are other advantages as well.

Expense Tracking

Having a separate business credit card means you can more easily keep your personal and business expenses separate. This is great come tax time, when you need to be splitting out the deductible versus nondeductible items. It’s also just good bookkeeping.

Lots of Options

Just as with personal cards, a business credit card comes with plenty of options. You can find low rate cards, rewards cards and so forth. You can authorize various people to use the account, so that if you have a trusted employee, they can easily make business purchases without you having to reimburse them. It can make life much easier.

Easier Purchases

You know how much of a pain it can be going out to buy supplies for your business. If you don’t have a credit card, that means using your personal card, a check, or cash. None of these is as convenient as the business credit card, and they add to the challenge of keeping your books in order.

And just like any other credit card, if you really need to carry a balance you can. No need to ask the bank for a loan or carry the debt on your personal card. This allows you to keep the amount you are paying in interest due to your card separate from any interest you may pay on your personal credit.

There’s nothing like a credit card for smoothing out your cash flow as a small business. It can help to keep you from falling behind on bills, although you do not want to rely on debt to keep up with all your bills for too long. That’s just not healthy for individuals or for businesses. But for getting past short term cash flow issues, there are few easier ways.

Take the time to explore your options. A wisely used credit card can help your business grow more quickly and is a wonderful tool. Don’t skip it just because you don’t think you need credit for your business. Better to have the credit there for when you do, especially if it doesn’t cost you anything to have it there.

By: Stephanie Foster