CmykCards Blog

The great thing about computers and printing is that you can do a lot of printing yourself. There are, however, some jobs better left to the pros. Your business card printing is one of those. It is painfully obvious if you designed and printed your own business cards on your own printer at home. The little perforated edges, the pixilated ink, the un-sophisticated design. It all says “This is my business card for my side business.” You want your business card to say “This is my Business: Hire Me!” Here is how to get from “Yes, I work out of the corner of my dining room” to “I am a professional that can take your business to the next level.”

Things to Avoid: Business Card Design
Maybe you are a graphic artist and you are good at design. That doesn’t necessarily mean you are good at business! Maybe you are a phenomenal business person, but you aren’t good at graphic design. Whichever your situation, avoid these scenarios with your business card design.

• A template that does not match your business character. If you are a cutting edge architect, or a big-city hair salon, don’t choose a flowery, baroque template or design. Use clean lines and mono-chromatic colors to communicate your style. If, on the other hand, you specialize in heirloom seed production or detailed art restoration, you need a business card design that communicates a sense of classic history.
• Too many fonts. A general rule of print work is that you can use one Serif font (like Times New Roman) and one sans-serif font (Like Arial or Calibri). Period. Too many fonts, and too many treatments (bold, italics, underline, size changes, etc.) make a card busy and hard to read.
• Overly large logo. It is important to have a logo. A business logo communicates seriousness of endeavor. However, a logo that overpowers all other elements of the business card could hide your contact information, which is the point of a business card. Don’t make it hard for people to find you. Keep your logo in proportion to the rest of the design.
• Inappropriate gimmicks. We’ve seen an example where someone printed their business card information on a rubber band. You have to keep the rubber band expanded to read the information. That is certainly an attention-grabbing design. It is not, however, practical if the person handing out the “business card” wants people to actually contact him.

glass business cards

Good Attention Grabbers: Business Card Design
For as many “don’t try this at home” design flaws, there are great attention-grabbers for business card design. Here are a few of those.

• Be funny. Not inappropriately funny, but witty. Making your design a play on words or a visual representation of your business name is a fun way to get attention, and may result in your card being passed around.
• Try a plastic card. These are still just enough different to catch people’s attention. Frosted plastic is good for businesses that help people “see clearly” there is opportunity for a fun play on words.
• Use cutting edge design. Not strange design-but design that reflects your style and is different than the ordinary.
• Add a personal touch. Let CmykCards print your basic business card, and add your artistic personalization. This is great for artists and designers.

Spotlight on Plastic Business Cards

CMYK Cards offers three varieties of business cards made from either 0.50 or 0.76 mm plastic. These cards double as business cards and miniature references. They can also serve as membership cards or discount cards. The sky is really the limit on how to use these cards. With plastic business cards, you can still communicate the important information about your business-contact details, web address, etc.-and you can provide a durable reference for customers that carry your card. Sure, it is great to add a quotation, tip calculator or reference phone numbers to the back of one of our traditional business cards, but it is even better when you use the back of a plastic card to print that information. These credit-card style plastic cards will fit in every wallet, and will hold up much better than traditional card-stock.

Brand-New Frosted Plastic Cards add Another Dimension

New this spring are the Frosted Plastic Cards from CMYK Cards. You have all of the advantages of full colour CMYK printing, but with added depth. You can create artwork for both sides, with best viewing from the front, and knock out the competition with your innovative thinking. For instance, if you are a landscape design firm, consider a landscape printed on the back, that barely shows through as a muted backdrop for the front of the card, where your contact information is printed. Taking advantage of both sides in this manner gives your business message more heft.

Highlight your Partners and Sponsors

Plastic business cards provide wonderful avenues for thanking sponsors and partners in your business venture. The front of the card can contain your company information, while the back of the card can list area businesses with whom you partner to offer special discounts. The best part about these cards is that once the discounts expire, they can be recycled. They use less paper than printing an entire brochure, and their durability and portability ensures they won’t be lost.

If you’ve worn out your welcome with traditional card-stock business cards, try plastic cards to give your message a fresh look. You might be surprised-add a neat little tool on the back, and people will be asking you for your cards.

You do not have to personalize every card, especially if someone is in an extreme hurry—it is better to just get your card out there. However, if you do have time, write a note about your conversation with the person, and how you plan on following up. Or, if you have discussed a specific project write a short note about the project. Examples include “Will touch base in March re: contract templates” or “Will call to discuss printing options.” Anything that will jog the person’s memory about your conversation.
Now is the time to plan for your spring trade show success! Ensure that you have plenty of accurate business cards to hand out to all potential clients—with accurate information. Then, when you return home, always follow-up with those from whom you have collected cards with a phone call, email or letter. Follow those instructions and you will be well on your way to trade show success in the new year!

Your elevator speech is as important to trade show networking as your business card. At a tradeshow, nobody is ever paying complete attention to the person with whom they are talking. They are frequently half-listening, half-scanning the room to see with whom they should talk next. You need to be able to convey your business ideas to your potential customers in thirty seconds or less, about the amount of time it takes to ride an elevator between a couple of floors.

Update your business cards now. If you don’t have a professionally designed logo for your business, consider having a logo designed to go on your new business card. Use the time before the trade show to update the information on your cards. Make sure that your cards reflect your organization’s website, correct address, email, phone and fax information. Take the time now to also add something to the back of your business card. As discussed in previous posts, a useful bit of information on the back of your business cards can make the difference between the cards being kept handy in someone’s wallet, or tossed out when the recipient reaches home.

It’s time for trade shows! The all-day, all-night marathon of meet and greets, networking, selling, schmoozing, attending sessions, buying, selling and running up your expense account. Prepare yourself for a successful trade show outing but getting your business cards ready and practicing your “elevator speech.” Follow these steps to get the most out of your trade show networking.

Do Strange Business Cards Get More Attention?
Your business cards are one of the least expensive, easiest ways to market your business. CmykCards offers some of the most affordable business card printing options in Australia. You can be creative with your business card design, and still have a useful piece to hand out to prospective customers. A quick Google search for “business card ideas” results in many returns with flashy pictures of very interesting ideas. A personal trainer’s business card is on heavy-duty rubber bands that you have to stretch to read. Fun, but how can you effectively get the information if you have to keep trying to stretch the rubber band and dial the phone at the same time? Another interesting card had a lotto-ticket, scratch-off decal that the person would have to scratch in order to get the information. If you didn’t tell someone that, how would your potential customer know that? Yes, there is value in a business card that is so distinctive in its attributes that it stands out from the rest. On the other hand, if your business card is printed on a piece of broken pottery, do you think someone is going to hang on to it? Maybe, maybe not, but do you want to take that chance?

Are Services like LinkedIn the end of Business Cards?
With the rise of smartphones, like the iPhone and the new “knockoff” by BlackBerry, some people are chatting about the potential “end of the business card.” Yes, that could happen, eventually, but probably will not until more people have these smartphones and are very comfortable using them. The great thing about a business card is that if you are casually talking with someone and want to make a connection, extend the offer of business, or provide a resource, unless you are extremely handy with your PDA, pressing a business card into somebody’s hand is much less intrusive and more “suave.” If you whip out a phone and start pecking at the tiny keyboard, while asking the person in front of you for all of their life details, you are not being very personal or personable. Technology, as much as it extends connections between people, can also raise barriers. Technology is great for keeping in touch. As a way to initially connect, if you are standing right next to someone, not so much. The business card is a non-aggressive way to make the connection. If the person to whom you give your business card does not want it, they can dispose of it at a later date. You are more likely to stay in touch with someone if you do not force yourself upon that person. Hence, the business card.

Business Cards as Gift Tags?
‘Tis the season for holiday giving. In December, corporations and businesses give gifts to their clients to show appreciation for business throughout the year. If you are able to send your own corporate gifts, consider adding a business card or two as the gift tag with your gift. You could even use your business card as the gift tag. Write a personal note on the back. Or, write a note in the card that you are enclosing some of your cards for the new staff in the office so they will be able to contact you for services without searching for contact information. Your business cards are inexpensive—use them!

Order Business Cards Online: www.cmykcards.com.au

If you have a business – brick and mortar, storefront, online or freelance, you need business cards. A professionally printed business card sets you apart from everybody else hanging out their shingle for business. Because business card printing is so inexpensive, it is no longer OK to buy some perforated card sheets at your local office supply store and print them yourself. For prospective clients and customers, a professionally printed business card means, literally, that you are all business. By having business cards printed by a printing specialist, you show that you are serious enough about your business to invest in professionally crafted promotional materials.

How often do you meet a new person, and go to write down your email or phone number on the back of a stray receipt in your wallet? What are the chances that they will be able to find your contact information among all of their three month old receipts if you do that? If you answered yes to the first question and “I dunno” to the second, you need help with your business card distribution plan! You can literally give your business card to every new person you meet. If you hit it off with a new acquaintance, what better way to swap contact info than by swapping business cards? There is no awkward fumbling for pens, no digging for paper, no trying to find a surface to write on. A quick—email me, I’d love to send you the name of that great book/ get together for lunch/ take the dogs for a walk/ introduce our kids for a play date—hand over the card, and you’re all set. Your new friend might not need the services that you offer, but somebody they know might. Handing out business cards like they are about to expire is the best way to spread word of mouth about your business.

The most important thing about your business cards? Don’t hoard them! We aren’t just writing this because we sell business cards and stand to make money from liberal distribution of cards. We advocate frequent business card handouts because they are one of the least expensive, most effective ways to market your business. Whether you want glossy business cards, matte business cards, foil business cards or something else to serve as your business card (a swank post card, maybe?), they are inexpensive to design, print and order. Working with cutting-edge printers, and up to the minute designers at CmykCards is a great way to develop and acquire business cards that will help you make a name for yourself.

Order you business cards online quick and easy at www.cmykcards.com.au

The Back of Your Business Card

People spend a lot of time focusing on the front of their business cards. They make sure that their logo is eye-catching and all of their information is correct. Then they send the cards off to be printed with nary a thought for the back of the business card. Yikes! Business cards are one of the most inexpensive forms of marketing available. To get the most out of your business cards, and to make sure that new contacts actually KEEP your business cards, print on the front and the back sides of your business card.

The Most Interesting Business Card Back
Esquire magazine published an interesting article about the most creative and self-beneficial use of a business card I have ever seen. John Mariani, the author, likes to drink Daiquiris. The original Daiquiri, made with juice from one freshly squeezed lime, one teaspoon of sugar and two ounces of gold rum, shaken with ice and poured into a martini glass. In order to ensure that his drink is made and delivered correctly every time by bartenders that don’t know how to mix drinks, he had the recipe and a picture of the correct glass printed on the back of his business cards. He hasn’t had a bad drink since.

What You Should Put on the Back of Your Card
Not everyone will find it appropriate to print a drink recipe on the back of their business card. There are hundreds of other things you can put on your card. You can use your card to market your business by including a call to action. Example: For more information about [insert your service] visit [insert your web address] for a quote! You can give out helpful information. If you find yourself frequently hand-writing recommended websites for people, print your top five most useful websites on the back of your card. Like to read? Order business cards with different quotes from your favorite books. That will show that you like to take in information. If your business has something to do with holidays, print the day of the week, month and date of that year’s holidays. If you have to re-print halfway through the year, just adjust the dates to reflect the upcoming holidays. Other information that will ensure people will keep your card are: tip calculators, toll-free numbers for airlines and hotel chains, phone number prefixes and more.

How to Hand Out Your Business Cards
If you go to the trouble to include something on the back of your business card, you definitely want people to notice. Our recommendation? Hand out your card upside-down. That way, people will notice the useful information on the back, in addition to seeing the front. Also (and not just because we print business cards), hand out lots of cards—to everyone you meet. You never know when one will result in added business or a referral.

Order Business Cards Online: www.cmykcards.com.au