Business Cards - Front to Back

by BIG Mike McDaniel Small Business Advertising Expert

 

Business cards are the most underutilized and misunderstood
marketing tool in business. Many people spend the bucks for
cards and don't make an effort to get them into the hands of
those who can hire them or buy from them.

 

Everyday people throw away stacks of undelivered business
cards. Money down the dumper.

 

Your goal is to design and use a memorable card and get so
many delivered you have to re-order. Forget about those
clever articles about what to do with stacks of leftover
cards.

 

The only time you should have cards still in the box is when
something on the card becomes outdated or obsolete.

 

If you designed your cards as a marketing tool and planned
your distribution, tossing unused cards in the trash should
become the exception rather than the rule. If one item on
your card changes the cards are obsolete and should be
pitched.

 

Car dealers are famous for finding ways to save money on
business card expense. With the revolving door turnover of
salespeople, many dealers stopped ordering individual cards
for new hires. They print a master card with color dealer
logo and phone numbers and leave a big space in the middle
for the new salesperson's name to be penciled in. That way,
when the would-be fast talking, glad handing flannel mouth
doesn't work out, no new cards need be printed.

 

A swell image: handwritten business cards.

 

It would be interesting to run the numbers on how much money
was saved at the printers versus how much business went
somewhere where the salespeople appeared more professional.
With car dealer margins, one sale would buy a lot of
business cards.

 

Worse is using a business card with a black or blue marker
blotting out a line of type and a new name,address or phone
number written (or typed) above the black line. Ugh!

 

Some people painstakingly cut itty bitty strips of computer
labels printed with the new information and stick them over
the old just to save a few bucks. Calculate what your time
is worth and the savings turn into an expense, not to
mention what the "corrected" card does to future business.

 

Dig out that stack of business cards you have been
collecting for years and flip through them, you will see at
least one with a correction.

 

If you are in any business and venture outside your cubby-
hole for any reason, you should carry business cards at all
times. You should be able to "whip one out" without diggout
out your wallet and digging thru pics of the kids, or
plunging to the bottom of your purse past the hair spray.

 

You card says a lot about you. And you say even more about
you when you offer your card.

 

Say it in business-like, professional style.

 

About Author: BIG Mike McDaniel http://BigIdeasgroup.com
is the Small Business Advertising Expert and author of
"Business Cards - Front to Back". This book tells you how
to make your business card the most powerful tool in your
marketing arsenal. To learn more visit
http://tinyurl.com/j6ol3