What makes a good business card?
Take a look at your business card, it's probably a bit of white card measuring 2 inches by 3 1/2 inches with print on one side maybe with a colour logo on it. What does it say about you and the way you handle your business? Is it something that makes you think that this is a good business card?
Forget those flimsy black-and-white cards of the past. The current crop of cards shows amazing diversity in paper stock (thickness and colour), dye cuts, design techniques, illustrations and are even sometimes cut from metal, made as a CD-Rom or cast in plastic.
In today's business world, business cards are no longer used just for contacting potential clients. Other uses include updating information with long-time friends and even for exchanging contact information with potential dates.
Your business card is an integral part of a business' identity, often being the first impression that a new client gets of a business, and remember that first impressions count. This means that it should reflect the image that you want to present to clients. For you would want to present trust and professionalism from a stockbroker, and show creativity and clear communication if you are a graphic designer.
Remember that the look of the logo, the style of the typeface, the colour, and even the way that the information is laid out can all contribute to what that business card says. A professional such as a lawyer or architect should probably have a full set of contact details - landline, mobile phone and fax numbers, office address, Web site, e-mail, name and title. A freelance graphic designer working on their own may only need a mobile phone number (although remember that people often look for a degree of reassurance that a landline and office address gives.
Computer software and high quality printers have made it easier for people outside of the design professions to make their own cards, many people should seek a professional to make a lasting impression. After all, just because we can do something doesn't mean we should. Most of us don't cut our own hair or do our own end of year accounts. We hire professionals who know what they're doing. A professional graphic designer is going to be able to take what they've learned in their training and experience and apply it to make sure that your business card reflects the image that your business wants. By the same token, a professional business card printer will make sure that the final product is of the quality that you need and that the business card is not printed on flimsy paper with low quality images.
So, remember before you rush out and buy that pack of blank business card paper from the local stationery shop that your business image can depend on having a good business card - it may be the thing that gets your foot in the door for that new piece of business.