Business Cards People Will Save and Remember

Do you have piles of business cards you've picked up, but no idea why they seemed important at the time? Have you ever wanted to get in touch with someone and started digging through a wad of cards, only to find that you can't tell one from another?

Has it ever occurred to you that your business cards might be in a similar pile? That someone may be looking at your card, scratching their head and wondering "Who was that person? What do they do? Why did I think I might want to get in touch with them?"

If so, that's a problem. Because if no one can remember why they grabbed your card, then really, they're not very likely to call. And if they don't call, well, hey, what's the point of giving them a card in the first place? You might as well write your number on their hand with a ballpoint pen… it's cheaper, and it'll hold their attention just as long (maybe longer).

So what do you want your card to do? At a minimum, it should do the following:

1. A card should entice people to pick it up even if you're not present.

The best way to do this is to make it interesting. That doesn't mean that it needs to be die cut, or a funny size or a bright color. Sometimes the most interesting thing is something that clearly solves a problem. Especially if you leave your cards in places where people whose problems you can solve will find it.

2. It should give people a reason to hang onto it, aside from the obvious.

The best way to do this is to make your card beautiful or remarkable in some way. It could be a sticker, or translucent or printed on wood. But whatever you do in terms of design should reinforce what you actually do. If it doesn't look like it came from you, it doesn't help people remember you.

3. It should remind people what they found interesting about you or your business.

Why you, over all the other choices in the yellow pages? What makes you special? If you can get that across in a 2" x 3.5" space, do it. Hugh MacLeod does it a few times a day usually, but then, that is what he does. It doesn't matter how many cards you give out… it matters how many people remember why they took them, and eventually call you.

4. A card should provide several ways to reach you and a way to learn more about you.

A blog or web site can go a long way towards helping people remember what they found interesting about you. In the process, they may find other things that interest them about your business.

5. There's no reason a card can't include a call to action, such as "present this card for a special gift."

That can get tricky depending on what you do, but it can also work well if it suits your business. A free cup of coffee would be bad for a cafe, because it's hard to tell if someone has already been in for their free cup. But say you run a deli… your card could offer people a free taste of something from the deli case. Every day, you let them try something new. It's a great reason to come back, and the more they try, the more things they might learn to want.

Here's how I make sure that my cards will be saved, remembered and used.

First off, I print my own cards. I make them in limited numbers… Say, 100 or so at a time. If I'm doing a large show or art fair I might print as many as 1000, but generally I find it best to keep the number down. There's a reason for that. I have a template that lets me lay out ten standard size business cards on an 8.5" x 11" page. It looks like this (click it to see it lifesize in another window):

The text stays the same for each card, but I change the images every time I print a new batch. When I do an art show, I have cards with the image of every piece in the show. When I make new work, I make new cards. I keep some images in constant circulation, either of custom work I've done or of my "greatest hits," but basically, they're always new.

This system works for me on several levels

The most important is that when someone is interested in a particular piece or style of work, I can give them the card that features that item. That way, they always remember why they wanted it.

The side bonus, is that everywhere I go, I always have a mini-portfolio of my most recent work. When someone asks me what I do, I can show them. And then I get to let them pick their favorite card.

This approach might not be perfect for everyone, but if you're an artist or designer I strongly recommend it.

Tags: art, business, design, marketing, purplecow, advertising, sales

Comments

[mad]

Hi John-
Thanks for this about the business cards. I used this idea over the weekend for my trunk show (check out today's post) to much success. Very cool idea. Hey, you got a shopping cart up on yur blog!!!! Cool!!
Hope all is well in Ungerland--
:)

[John T unger]

MAD,

Glad it was useful for you! I've always felt that this was one of my best business and marketing hacks.

[Celeste]

Hi John

I've only graduated recently and I'm doing an internship for three months at a bank. I have no set job description so this makes it a bit difficult for me to make a business card once I have finished with my internship. I need this business card to be able to network and sell myself and also maybe to better my chances of getting a permanent position at the bank.

I just need some ideas for a business card. I studied International Relations and I'm interested in combining this experience with the corporate world.

Great blog by the way

Celeste

[John T unger]

Hi Celeste,

In your case, I would really just suggest something simple for now.

What makes the example above effective is that it is very specifically targeted… In order to make it work for you, you need to be promoting yourself with a focused offering of an established personal brand. When you're working in a corporate setting, it's much harder to do this because the business isn't about *you*… instead, you're representing a larger entity that offers services independant of the individual.

Now, if you were in the mortgage dept. I could see printing cards with houses that bank was ready to finance *now*. Or if you were selling used cars, I could see putting this week's jalopies on cards. The banking industry seems to me to be one that is based not so much on offering unique opportunities as it is on standardizing transactions to create a feeling of security.

I guess what I'm saying is that this style of marketing works best when you have very clearly defined exactly who you are, what you have to offer and why that's important to your customer. You have to stand out from the crowd before you can call attention to your unique qualities.

[Alyson B. Stanfield]

John,

Terrific idea!

And thank you for illustrating it so well.

[John T unger]

Thanks for sharing this post with your readers, Alyson!

[Aaron Cox]

Great tips, I have to say all these ideas work very well. Since I am in the arts and I paint, I like to include my latest painting on a new batch of cards. Since most of my work is fairly large and time consuming, by the time I run out of cards I have a new painting finished and ready to print. Among artist this is a good habit to get into because everyone likes trading cards. Before you know it you have a mini private collection of work from a variety of artists. In addition to all the good marketing and feedback, it's just fun.

[Joe]

Great tips, John. What paper stock do you print your cards on? I've printed mine on Avery "Ink Jet Clean Edge Business Card" paper, which is okay, but I'm looking for something better - something heftier and less likely to curl.

[John T unger]

Hi Joe,

I just buy 65 lb brite white cardstock at any office supply place. I don't like the pre-cut cardstocks, because you can never be sure it will line up properly in your printer.

[Tina Cremer]

Thank you for the idea. I'm going to try it for my art business, CremerFineArt.com. Next Friday I have a show in Sunset Beach, CA, where I will hand out cards with my show's work on them, Thanks to you.

[Nerissa]

Hi John
I found your blog via Alison Stanfield's email. I'm just starting out and I love this idea.
Thanks
Nerissa

[Star Hargrove]

Thanks so much for the great ideas. We just started doing this in the past two weeks but upon finding and reading your blog today via Alyson's site, have decided to make an image for each of the pieces in his exhibit. I love the idea of letting the person pick their favorite. I have Jason sign each card which adds another special touch, and we laminate them for durability. I hope the cards make jason-hargrove.com stand out and be remembered! By the way, I love your work! Jason used to be a blacksmith before joining the Air Force, I miss it!
Thanks Again!
Star Hargrove

[Royce]

I'm a graphic designer turned fiber artist and the graphic designer in me is always wanting to change my business card, not good if you're having them printed out of house. So this is a wonderful idea. So glad to have this new information, thanks so much.