Business Cards are the most powerful and has the most impact on advertising

a business can use in their marketing efforts. They leave an impression about your business that can impact another company or person’s decision to do business with your company.

Many put very little thought into the design, colors and the paper in which the card is printed. However, you have one chance to make a great impression with your business card. Yes, that little standard sized piece of paper that is only 3.5” wide x 2” tall makes quite a statement.

The business card tells many things about your company.

1. It provides several different ways for you to be contacted, possibly by the office phone, cell phone, email address or just someone dropping by your office. This makes you completely accessible to that client and provides the client a comfort zone in which they want to establish business with you. Some clients only like to do business by talking on the phone or some like to correspond by email. Then you have the client who wants to access to you when you are out of the office, which is by cell phone. Therefore, as much contact information you can provide on the business card makes you more accessible to a client or potential client.

2. Exchanging business cards with potential clients helps to build new relationships and they are eagerly accepted by all. This also helps to ease the self promotion tension when meeting a potential client for the first time.

3. Another very important element to a business card is the website address. A website makes a further statement about your company by providing a wealth of information about your company to a potential client.

4. Design and color say a lot about your company and the impression. It is better to spend a little more to get a great design and put the company logo on the business card, while incorporating color that will be used in your company wide branding. Importantly, the business card should carry your company logo, which identifies your company immediately, even before they read the information on the card. The design should be a reflection of your company’s image, philosophies and credibility. A mistake often made is to fill every bit of space on a business card. This can be overwhelming to a potential client, as there is too much information and not enough time to absorb the true information trying to be conveyed about your company. This is why it is best to leave a little blank space on a business card. After all, you don’t want to look desperate for business, but you do want to convey a professional and knowledgeable image.

5. Optional, the card can be one or two sided. Customarily all of your contact information is placed on the front of the business card and on the back, can be services provided by your company, mission statement or other important information. Many leave the back blank for writing notes. Therefore, a one or a two sided card is personal preference.

Business cards have been around many centuries, as early as the 15^th century in China and the 17^th century in which the French monarchs referred to them as visiting cards. They would put the visiting guest’s information on them, but they were not called business cards. In England the merchants used them as a form of advertisement about their wares and referred to as “trade cards”. Today, they are used by many as a part of their company marketing efforts, networking, and personal uses.

You can see such a little piece of paper can leave quite the impression and impact your business. Spend a little more to make a lot of difference in your marketing.