1. Make a good first impression.
Your business card is often the first impression branding-wise that you give your potential customers. That’s why you need a card that is designed to reflect your business style and stand out from the rest of your competition. Imagine if your potential customer was to line up five or six business cards from you and your closest competitors–how would they separate yours from everyone else’s? If you have a unique, professional card, you’ll be establishing a solid foundation for future business.
2. Provide just the right amount of information.
A common mistake with business cards is to put up too little or too much information. The perfect amount of text will give the name of your business, a tagline or short (less than 20 words) sentence about what your business does, your name and title, a phone number and address, email address and your website. For all other details, you want to direct people to your website where you have more available space to sell your products and services.
3. Make sure your text is readable.
It’s tempting to use unique fonts to make your business card different from your competition. But beware of fonts that make it hard to read your text. Some fonts are easy to read when they are large, but illegible when they are small. Pick something that won’t be distracting or confusing, simple is always best when it comes to fonts.
4. Two-sided is the way to go.
Printing costs have come down in the last decade with the increase in technology. This has many advantages, including reduced costs for double-sided color printing. Two-sided business cards are becoming a major trend, with most people choosing to put their contact info and title on one side of the card, then using the other to highlight their website or company name. It’s an eye-catching and memorable design.
5. Don’t short yourself on good paper.
It’s important to print your cards on a stiff, thick card stock that will have a longer life than a cheap, thin paper. Most printers also offer UV coating to prevent ink rub off and make the card sturdier as well. Still, matte coating (a dull finish versus a shiny finish) makes a statement as well, just remember that without the coating a thicker paper is a must to give your card a proper backbone.