5 Tips for a Better Business Card

by Dave Delaney on 05/23/2012

Screen Shot 2012 05 21 at 10.35.33 PM 5 Tips for a Better Business CardIn my Social Networking in Real Life presentation (SNiRL), I put a lot of emphasis on the importance of business cards. I stress that you should not be the person at the party handing out cards like a Las Vegas dealer. However, you should have them readily available when the opportunity arises to exchange your contact information.

Business cards are not just for people gainfully employed. Use them when you are between jobs or to promote your personal blog. The following are my five tips for better business cards. I get my cards inexpensively from VistaPrint if you are interested.

5 Tips for a Better Business Card

  1. Use a photo of yourself. Be memorable by adding a headshot to your business card.
  2. Include several points of contact. Don’t just use a phone number. Include a couple of different ways a person can get in touch with you.
  3. Leave white space. Save a little white space, so a new contact can add a note about who you are and how you met.
  4. Include your URL. Where can people go to learn more about you? I recommend buying yourname.com if you can get it. Then redirect the domain to your blog, business site, LinkedIn profile, or a personal landing page. Use a free service like About.Me or Flavors.Me to create your own personal landing page.
  5. Be creative, but remember who you will be handing your card to. They may not be ready to play it on a music box or carry around concrete, although I love these ideas.

What is the most creative business card that you have seen?

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Tagged as: About.Me, business cards, Flavors.Me, SNiRL, VistaPrint

  • Soul

    Good tips overall, though I feel like business cards with photos on them always make me think of real estate agents. I’ve seen a very small number that do it creatively and avoid that association, but the vast majority just don’t work IMHO.

    • http://www.davedelaney.me/ Dave Delaney

      Interesting, but I can see where you are coming from.
      What’s the most creative business card you have seen? What made it different?

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  • http://twitter.com/gavoweb gavin richardson

    i have used Moo.com to create my cards because I can create a batch with different images that I will choose an image based on the person, and reason, i am giving them.

    • http://www.davedelaney.me/ Dave Delaney

      Moo is a great company. If you use Klout, they often send free card offers. Thanks Gavin.

      • http://twitter.com/gavoweb gavin richardson

        yeah, i got a perk from them for some free cards, but after setting it all up they wanted to charge me. i just saved for another day, also the perk was for the regular sized cards and i generally use the mini’s.

        • http://www.davedelaney.me/ Dave Delaney

          Those Klout perks often aren’t as good as they seem, or they are expired when you get to them.
          I love the Moo mini cards too. Have you seen this service that mixes Moo with Instagram? http://www.alchemoo.com/ I haven’t tried it, but it looks clever.

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