The perfect business card design
The perfect business card design
Thought 1:
What are business cards for?
Thought 2:
Can the same thing be achieved in other ways? With modern technology.. oh yes! If someone asks me at a conference nowadays for my details I can instantly email them from my crackberry, ALL the miriad of ways of contacting me are then in my email signature. I could also SMS them my contact details direct from my mobile phone, I could give them my web address where once again the mirad of ways of contacting me are there... and failing all that, when they get home they can simply google my name and find me in 0.44 seconds.
Thought 4:
Can I still have that little bit of card that looks like a business card, but turn it something that DOES something!
Now you know the problem, what emotion does that evoke? Fear, worry, stress? Now you have the problems and a related emotion THIS IS what goes on one side of your business cards.
This way your cards instantly talk to the prospect, you instantly create a link in their mind to their problem. Now on the other side you put your name and contact details AND POINT THEM TO YOUR WEBSITE where they can download a free guide you have written that goes someway to solving their problem. Once on your website they will need to fill in their details, you will then email them their free help guide. Tell them to put the reference 'business card' in to the form. Now you can:
Market directly to these people as they have given you permission to by providing their details
AND
Measure the return on investment from your cards.
This is the perfect way of combining offline and online marketing and uses the benefits of each in a unique way.
There is of course a bit of work that need to be done. You need to write your free guide, and it has to be compeling enough to make the prospect want to provide their details. You also need a robust system of collecting the data from your website and a good follow up system to ensure the prospect is followed up and converted to business.
But on balance I have found this style of business card and excellent resource in my marketing armery and for a small entrepreneurial business it serves me very well... and I know it can for you too.
Mark
The perfect business card design - To learn more about this author, visit Mark Oborn's Website.
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t's strange how sometimes you make a quick comment without really thinking about it, and all of a sudden it turns in to something bigger.
Well that happened to me recently, I put on Twitter a
short little 140 character message about how I thought a business cards
should be designed... and all of a sudden I pick up a host of new
followers (10 today), it gets re-tweeted 3 times and I get a flurry of
direct messages giving me other ideas... so I thought I would elaborate about my thoughts on business cards.
Thought 1:
What are business cards for?
They
used to be a way of simply exchanging ones details with someone else.
I've always had business cards, because that's what one does! Mine were
always a bit boring, just Name, Address, Phone, Email etc... you get
the picture.
Thought 2:
Can the same thing be achieved in other ways? With modern technology.. oh yes! If someone asks me at a conference nowadays for my details I can instantly email them from my crackberry, ALL the miriad of ways of contacting me are then in my email signature. I could also SMS them my contact details direct from my mobile phone, I could give them my web address where once again the mirad of ways of contacting me are there... and failing all that, when they get home they can simply google my name and find me in 0.44 seconds.
The old classic business card is therefore dead in my opinion, it's function has been superceded by modern technology
Thought 3:
should we forget about business cards then?
No. People still ask for them and like to 'collect' them in their neat little holders.
Thought 3:
should we forget about business cards then?
Thought 4:
Can I still have that little bit of card that looks like a business card, but turn it something that DOES something!
aha,
what if we could give someone a little piece of card that they THINK is
a business card, but in actual fact is a robust way of marketing
directly to them, developing a relationship with them, gaining
permission to market to them with a measurable 'return on business card
investment'.
This is the way I think business cards should be designed.
You
need to understand your market and target customers, what problems are
your customers trying to solve by using your business? Think about your customers
now... what problems are they trying to solve?Now you know the problem, what emotion does that evoke? Fear, worry, stress? Now you have the problems and a related emotion THIS IS what goes on one side of your business cards.
A dentist might put "Do you fear your smile lets you down?"
A marketing consultant might put "Do you worry your marketing is haphazard and pot luck?"
A plumber might put "Do you worry about leaving your home in case a pipe bursts?"
This way your cards instantly talk to the prospect, you instantly create a link in their mind to their problem. Now on the other side you put your name and contact details AND POINT THEM TO YOUR WEBSITE where they can download a free guide you have written that goes someway to solving their problem. Once on your website they will need to fill in their details, you will then email them their free help guide. Tell them to put the reference 'business card' in to the form. Now you can:
Market directly to these people as they have given you permission to by providing their details
AND
Measure the return on investment from your cards.
This is the perfect way of combining offline and online marketing and uses the benefits of each in a unique way.
There is of course a bit of work that need to be done. You need to write your free guide, and it has to be compeling enough to make the prospect want to provide their details. You also need a robust system of collecting the data from your website and a good follow up system to ensure the prospect is followed up and converted to business.
But on balance I have found this style of business card and excellent resource in my marketing armery and for a small entrepreneurial business it serves me very well... and I know it can for you too.
Mark
The perfect business card design - To learn more about this author, visit Mark Oborn's Website.
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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