If you think business card marketing purely requires you to keep a card in your wallet and hand it out when asked, you’re very much mistaken. Business cards can be a powerful marketing tool, but only if you are direct and creative with your distribution. Well designed, personalised business cards can create lots of leads for your business, and you really would be amazed at how large the return on a few cheap business cards can be.
In this article, we’re going to provide you with a few tips that will have you handing out business cards like a pro.
1. Make Sure They’re Well Designed
Before you can start marketing, you need to get some business cards printed. You can order business cards online from Print24 and have them completely personalised. You can even choose from two different sizes, so no need to go for the standard size if you want something that will stand out a bit more. At the very least, you need to include your name and contact details. However, it’s also wise to include your website address and job description. Make sure to include your company branding as well!
2. Don’t Leave Home Without Them
You went to the effort to print business cards, so why would you leave them at home? Tip number one is to make sure you are always carrying a few business cards on your person; you never know when an impromptu business situation may arrive that could lead to a new potential client. This may sound obvious, but you’d be surprised by how many people leave their cards at home or in the office.
3. Be Creative
The next tip and perhaps the most important one is to be creative with your distribution. Below are some of the ways that you can do this.
· Find local businesses that are related to your business and ask if you can leave some cards at the reception.
· Pay college students to hand your cards out on campus.
· Include a business card with every customer order you send out (it’s worth sending a flyer as well if you can).
· When handing a business card to a new client, hand them more than one so they can hand them out as appropriate.
· Staple a business card to any estimates or invoices you send out.
· Any time you attend business or community events, take a stash of business cards with you to hand out.
· Leave your business card on the table when you pay a restaurant bill.
· Give them to family and friends and ask them to hand them out to anyone who may be interested in your products or services.
· Add them to bulletin boards in your local community.
· “Accidentally” leave them on public transport or in taxis. You never know who may be sitting in your seat after you.
· Head to the local library and leave your business cards inside books related to your niche.
4. Keep Business Card Etiquette in Mind
Finally, you’ll want to keep business card etiquette in mind. You didn’t spend time and money on having business cards made only for them to end up in the bin because of the way you handed them out. So, consider the following:
· Don’t interrupt people – Business conferences may be a great place to network with people and get your name out, but it’s a poor idea to pass them out to everyone you meet without making a conversation. It’s also a bad idea to interrupt people who are already in a conversation to hand them your business card. Don’t do this unless you want to make a poor impression.
· Ask for other people’s business cards too – If someone you are speaking to is interested in finding out more about your services, they will ask for your business card. In order to make a positive impression, you should ask for their card in return. Not only does this portray you in a good light, and show that you found the conversation interesting, you can also use their contact details to follow up with them at a later date.
· Keep your business cards up to date – It is very unprofessional to hand over a business card that contains out of date information. Business card printing is inexpensive, so if any of your details change, take the time to get your cards updated. Whatever you do, don’t cross off incorrect details and add the new ones with pen. If you are too cheap to buy new business cards, your contacts may start to wonder what other areas of your business you are cutting corners in.
Business card marketing can be very profitable if you do it right. Use the creative ideas we’ve explained above. Also, keep business card etiquette in mind and you should see a lot of success.
