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Business cards. Can’t figure out what to put on ’em, can’t live without ’em.
Akin to the frustration some of us have when we’re asked to submit a bio, the details you include on your business cards suffer from the same frustration.
I’ve seen the impact a good one (and a really, really bad one if we’re being real) can have firsthand for me and the impression I make when meeting with brands or networking with peers at events, conferences or on an airplane to a funeral (true story).
I wanted to take a minute to share a few things I recommend you include on your business card as we venture into the 2020 conference season:
PUT YOUR FACE ON IT
Seriously. Think about the number of people you meet at a conference or mid-size event. It’s a lot of people. And unless you’re a cyborg super robot, you probably have a tricky time placing a face to a name when you’re back home and settling in to send out those follow up messages. Get a snapshot of your face that embodies the type of experience this new contact will have when they visit your outlets.
INCLUDE A PHONE NUMBER
Believe it or not, people still enjoy talking on the phone. I know, I KNOW, RIGHT?! Now notice that I didn’t say include your cell phone number. You don’t have to do that. I promise. For a long time I carried two versions of my business card around with me; one with + one without the phone number. Inevitably they were doled out to people who needed my phone number but didn’t get it and vice versa. I personally use a Google Voice number. You can forward the calls to your personal cell number to answer. There’s also a Google Voice app you can use to view voicemail transcripts and text messages (yep, they can text ya!).
ADD YOUR LOCATION
We don’t need your full mailing address, but it’s a smart idea to place your major metropolitan area or state, province, or country. This gives the new contact a gentle courtesy that an 8am call from the east coast to someone in LA is DEFINITELY going straight to voicemail to be answered after a cup, or two, of coffee.
KEEP IT CLEAN
A simple, clean design is always going to work. Always. You want the most important information front and center. The last thing you want to do is put too much style on it, losing your name, outlet links, etc in the shuffle of funkadelia. I highly recommend a white background and black for a majority of the text you choose to include. Spunk it up with maybe your name or your title in a color that fits the color scheme they’ll experience when they visit your site or social platforms.
My favorite place on the planet to get high-quality biz cards is MOO. If you’ve never used them before, click here to enjoy $15 off your first order of cards. They have loads of options on size, shape, finish + paper type.
Now get out there and ROCK your cards!
