Make Your
Business Card
Work for You

by

Flora M. Brown, Ph.D.

Copyright 2005
All rights reserved

During one of my seminars I collected business cards from the attendees with the promise to mail bonus tips. When I returned to my studio, I began copying the addresses from the cards into my database. One card had no address or phone number, so I tossed it in the trash.

A year later while presenting another seminar, the same business owner whose card I had discarded a year earlier (I remembered her name,) had the audacity to approach me and complain that I had never sent the bonus material I promised. Her face fell, however, when I pointed out that there was no address or phone number on her business card.

A business card without all your contact information is a worthless piece of paper. These are busy times and there is a lot competing for our attention, time and business. When a potential client is finally ready for your service, you must make it convenient and easy for them or they will move on.

Include all the possible ways to reach you. I prefer contacting folks by email, for example, so someone with an email address is likely to hear from me quicker and more frequently. If you have a website, don’t keep it secret. Put your URL on your card.

Your street address, city and zip are essential on a business card. Besides enabling folks to send mail and shipment to you, a street address also lends credibility. If you have a homebased business, don’t list the address of your home. You don’t want customers showing up at your house unannounced. Rent a box at a private mail center, not at the Post Office. The post office box is okay for personal use, but for business use a post office box is problematic. UPS and manufacturers will not deliver or ship to a P.O. Box.

My next favorite feature on a business card is an 800 number, especially from manufacturers and wholesalers since I’m about to fork over some money to them when I place my order. If you don’t have an 800 number, however, list your phone and fax number. Then be sure your phone has voice mail for those times when you can’t answer your phone.

List a byline, slogan or brief list of your services, especially if your business name doesn’t tell what you do. Jim’s Residential Plumbing Service, for example, is a little clearer than Jim Smith and Associates. Jill’s Creative Services is too broad. You don’t really want us to guess what creative services you provide, do you?

Use both sides of your business card, even if you just jot a note in your own handwriting on the back offering a special.

People are attracted to color and images, so use a little of both on your card.

Finally, don’t just hand your business cards out indiscriminately, or leave a pile of them on a table hoping a buying client will pick one up. Exchange business cards with colleagues at networking meetings or conventions. The sales representatives at trade shows will ask for your business card before giving you a catalog or written material.

Your business card is the most affordable and powerful networking tool. Be sure it includes the ways to contact you so it can work for you.

About the Author

Flora Morris Brown, Ph.D. is a Professor Emeritus at Fullerton College, educational consultant, gift basket expert, writer and professional motivational speaker. From her websites, blogs and newsletters she motivates small business owners and gift retailers with sales-generating ideas, marketing tips, design ideas and business success strategies. She is mother of four and grandmother of three. When she's not traveling she enjoys her home in Anaheim, CA.