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Most often simple things tend to be the most difficult.  Designing a professional quality business card is a perfect example.  People rarely read articles titled How to Design a Business Card, because they assume that it’s easy to figure out.  Unfortunately, this is why we come across so many poorly designed cards.

The general layout of a business card is usually well know and easy to duplicate.  Your business card could be compared to a miniature billboard that potential customers see as they “drive by”. A solid design will generate more traffic for your business. Design it poorly and you’re really just wasting trees.

So without futher ado, BIZBuzz gives you the ins and outs of designing the perfect business card.

1.  Make Your Business Card Easy to Read

You need to ensure that your business card prominently and clearly displays your business name.  Imagine being handed a business card and actually having to search just to find the business name. Frankly, some people just aren’t willing to make the effort. If there is no immediate impact, most people will ignore the card forever.

Remember that your business card has about a three second window. That’s about as much time as most people are willing to take to find the information they’re looking for.  If the recipient can’t find what they’re looking for in a matter of seconds, then odds are they will simply move along.

Think of your card as a flashing here I am sign rather than a long protfolio. If the recipient can’t get what they are looking for as they go by, then it’s highly unlikely that they will swing back around for a closer look.

Avoid cluttering your card with any unnecessary information. Too much information will increase the prospects chance of missing the key information. The key parts are:

• The name of your business
• Your Name
• Your Position
• Company Location
• Phone (in bold print)
• Email Address
• Domain

If your company has a tagline, it is usually customary to include this under the company name as well. Once all of this information in on your card, be extremely careful about adding anything else. Any further information is probably unnecessary and will only clutter your card, making it harder to find the important stuff.

Create a Sense of Urgency with a Call to Action

Depending on the nature of your business, there may be one more thing that you might consider including: a call to action. This would usually sound something like “Bring the business card to any location to receive a free…” Make sure your offer is immediately visible, recall that the prospect will only look at the card for 3 seconds. The other alternative is to place the offer on the back of the card, so as to not delineate from your key points.

So should you include a call to action or not?  It really just depends on whom you will be handing the cards out to. Will you be giving your cards out to new prospects, or are you more likely to give them to existing customers. Immediate offers tend to work best on new prospects, rather than a continuous customer. Many small business people will keep a supply of two different business cards, one for existing customers and one for new ones.

When you hand your card out to a current customer, the primary reason is usually to communicate important contact info.  Your current customers - and all prospective ones for that matter – need to have the ability to instantly locate your phone number, location and web address.  Make sure that the above points are not covered up in the multitude of other data.

Use Headshots with Discretion

Some people have a desire to place their own photo in the business card, the idea is to create a personal relationship with their client. While these people have their heart in the right place, using a “headshot” often damages the quality of your card, as well as the image you are creating of yourself and your business.

When someone puts a headshot on their business card, they are counting on that photo eliciting a positive response from the recipient. The inherent problem lies in the fact that you can’t always control how people will respond to things. An image might generate a good reaction, but it might also elicit a negative response.

However, this is sort of a moot point. The bottom line is that there is no specific reason to use a headshot.  If it serves no purpose, they why have it take up valuable real estate? Every element of your business card should serve a specific purpose, such as giving contact info or conveying a positive point about your company. When you give out a business card, the recipient knows exactly why your contact information is there. However, the might be left wondering what exactly is accomplished by the picture. This variability opens your business to negative interpretation by the customers. It is best not to leave anything that the recipient has to interpret or discern.

Your Business Identity

One graphic that you do want to include on your business card is your company’s logo. Choosing a logo is key step that a company must make early on.

Too many businesses fail to understand why their logo is important and this often leads to corporate logos that don’t mean anything or are difficult to understand. At best, this is likely to confuse people.  At worst, it will communicate a lack of seriousness or a sense of instability while also drawing attention away from the more important parts of your card.

The purpose of your logo is to build your brand image. Branding has become an indispensable part of marketing because your brand is what people remember when they think of your company. A badly thought out logo is the wrong way to start your company branding endeavors.

Obsolete or amateurish graphics and images sometimes create a lack of credibility in your company, Customers may question your company’s stability or seriousness when confronted with inexpensive, low quality or outdated artwork and design. Your best bet is to get yourself an experienced graphic designer, or at least professional quality template from a well-known retailer.

Paper Type and Color

The look and feel of your card can leave a lasting impression with your prospective customers, but that impression can be either positive or negative. Shabby printing and poor quality paper is all but guaranteed to push things to the bad side. This would not be a problem if your business cards were the only business cards in the world. Unfortunately, the recipient has probably seen a good business card previously, so you can imagine how it looks to the customer if your card fails to stack up.  Most professional business cards are printed on Premium Quality 80 to 110 lb white stock. Heavier paper looks and feels thicker, stronger and more ridged than lower quality substitutes, evoking a sense of quality that sends a subliminal message to the recipient.

Printing at Home

The frugal nature of many small companies has led many people to try to save money by designing and printing business cards on their computer. Quality business cards have become so cheap that it is better to spend your time on more productive tasks.

Some vendors produce specialized papers exactly for this purpose. Avery being the top most company spends millions of dollars trying hard to get customers to print on their inkjet desktop printers. In some instances home printers do produce the quality of printing that professional printing companies produce, however in most cases the difference is very distinct. Producing your business card at home can make it worse but will never make it better.

Cost savings as a justification to print at home is not a viable reason to print at home. When considering the cost of paper, ink it is usually more expensive to print at home than at a printing company. There are numerous online vendors that offer prices that are the same or less than you would spend printing your cards at home.

Ok, are you ready to create your business card yet?  Visit Bizcard.com to get started.  We hope this tutorial has been helpful.

Happy Bizcarding!