Image of business card ideas

We spend most of our time on the 60 Second Marketer talking about digital marketing. Whether is a post about 50 Indispensable Facts About Social Media or 50 Insanely Easy Ways to Get Started With Mobile Marketing, we’ve got you covered.

But every so often we like to zig instead of zag. After all, if 100% of our posts were about digital marketing, you might get bored, right?

So, with that in mind, let’s talk about something you haven’t been focusing enough attention on lately — your business cards.

And by business card, I’m not talking about cheesy, flimsy, cheap business cards. Instead, I’m talking about business cards that help you stand out and make an impact.

How to Put a New Twist on an Old Tool

According to my friend Sarah Zimmerman at Plastic Printers, there are approximately 28,000,000 business cards printed every single day.

Seriously?

But wait, it gets even crazier — there are over 10 billion printed every year!

Business cards are an important part of your brand identity, but its one that’s often overlooked.

With that in mind, I jumped at the opportunity to have Plastic Printers make some fun, engaging business cards for my company. Here’s what they look like.

Image of sample business card idea

As you can tell, I didn’t shy away from doing something fun and interesting. But what you can’t see in the image above is that business card is clear. In other words, when you hold the business card up to someone, it looks as though they are wearing glasses and have a mustache.

My thinking was that if I can get someone to spend a few minutes with me interacting with my business card, it will create a memory about the event in their brain. And when a memory is created, I know they’ll remember me when I send them something via email a few days later.

Here’s how the business card looks when it’s used at a trade show or business meeting.

Image of fun business card idea

See how that works? By doing something a little different and a little outrageous, I’m able to stand out from all the other people in the crowd.

Doing something slightly outrageous has worked for GeekSquad, ToysRUs and Virgin, right? Why shouldn’t it work for your company, too?

How to Make Your Business Card Stand Out

Here are some tips and techniques you can use to make your business card stand out.

  • Keep it simple
    • Although it is tempting to include every mode of communication, including lots of information will overwhelm the card.
  • Include bold design
    • Bold designs and colors will help gain interest
  • Brand it with your colors
    • Don’t have brand colors – find yours here
  • Include your logo
    • This is important for brand recognition (although my logo isn’t included above, but hey, I’m a rule breaker)
  • Don’t forget the details
    • Full Name
    • Business Name and Title
    • Direct Phone Number
    • Email Address
    • Physical Address
  • Make it clear
    • A great way to stand out from stacks of old fashioned paper cards is to use a medium that most people have not seen such as clear plastic business cards
  • Make it multipurpose
    • Give your potential client a reason to keep your card. Think rulers, Membership/VIP card, discount card and more.
  • Don’t skimp on quality
    • When looking at business cards and the amount that you will spend on them it is easy to choose a lower priced card that will ‘fit in your budget.’ When you are considering your business card as just a way to relay your contact information you are really missing out on a large opportunity. For instance, let’s say that you invest in a high quality card that is a little pricier than one of those 500 cards for $10 places. When you hand that card to a potential, they are going to remember it and even better they will hang onto it

Those are just some of the tips on creating fun, engaging and memorable business cards. I’m sure you have a few tips of your own. If so, feel free to share them in our comments section below.

See you next time!

 

Jamie Turner is the CEO of the 60 Second Marketer and 60 Second Communications, a marketing communications agency that works with national and international brands. He is the co-author of “How to Make Money with Social Media” and “Go Mobile” and is a popular marketing speaker at events, trade shows and corporations around the globe.

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