Your Writing Dept Blog Creating quality user documentation and putting the “M” in RTFM.

Business Cards: Marketing tools with a huge ROI

Hand out your business card the way you would hand out candy on Halloween. Or at least that is what I have been told. Makes sense if you want people to know what your business does and if you want them to contact you. I think it’s good advice. Business cards are inexpensive marketing tools that can have a huge return on investment if you consider they cost a few cents each to produce and could bring you tens of thousands of dollars in business if they end up in the right hands. So hand them out freely.

Business Card Etiquette

As with everything in life–there’s a right way and a wrong way to go things. Are there certain ways to hand your business card out that are better than others? Yes, of course. If you are handing your card out to several people around a table, don’t just slide it across the table at them. That’s impersonal and does not give you a chance to connect personally with the person. Rather, make an effort to hand it to them, make eye contact and shake their hand.

Keep your cards in a case and keep them in good shape. No one is comfortable receiving a smudged or tattered card. It does not represent you well.

When receiving someone’s card. Treat it with respect. People are often proud of their cards and treating the card with respect is an extension of treating the actual person with respect.

Other countries have customs relating to handing out business cards. When I traveled through Brazil, the custom was to turn down an upper corner of the card slightly to indicate that the card was handed out in person. And in Japan, cards are received with two hands and are exchanged with great ceremony. It’s the little touches that make handing out cards that set you apart.

Designing and printing your cards

Online vendors such as VistaPrint give you options of creating your own designs or using hundreds templates available on their site. Their prices are pretty good as well. Local print shops can also include the design work into the price of printing and may be able to produce that one-of-a-kind card that will get you noticed. So shop around.

Inspiration for amazing designs

If you need inspiration when developing your card designs, take a look through these sites:

• 100 (Really) Creative Business Cards
• 50 Creative Business Cards of 50 Graphic Designers
• 51 Creative Business Cards That Will Make You Look Twice
• 400+ Creative Business Card Designs

So there is no excuse for not developing attention-getting card designs and handing them out to everyone you meet.

Your Writing Dept is a Sacramento-based writing firm that specializes in developing technical manuals and user guides. We’re the leaders in technical communications in Northern California. Email us for more information about our services at info@yourwritingdept.com.

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