Simple Tips For Your Card
Don’t print a lot of them, unless you’re getting a break on the price.
Make sure all of your information is current. (Sounds like a no-brainer, right? You’d be surprised.)
At the very least, your card needs to say who you are, what you do, have a contact phone number and email.
Create a Gmail account and stick it on the card. It’s free, and it will never go away. (It should also be at least a semi-professional name. Buttlikr9@gmail.com will not get you a lot of return emails or phone calls.) I don’t suggest putting a work email on it or a business email on it unless you know for certain that it will never go away. And by never, I mean never. The sun should expire before your email address.
Whatever other ways of contact that you can fit on it will be fine, as long as they don’t clutter: Twitter, Facebook, Skype, whatever.
Do not make it oversized. Oversized means it’s easy to throw away. Wallet-sized is the way to go.
Do not make them superslick with gloss over the entire card. Maybe the front, but not the back. (I suggest a demi-gloss, myself. They just feel nice, and will stand out better from the other cards. It’s a small psychological edge.)
Leave the back of the card blank. The reason is simple: you want people to write on the back. The more they write, the longer they keep your card. The longer they keep your card, the more possibilities you have of staying on someone’s mind for contact down the road. (This is why you have an email addy that will never go away.)
Only print up about a hundred or so at a time. (Again, unless you get a break on the price. I got 1K cards printed a few years ago for about $50, with shipping. I have about 800 left. However, everyone whom I handed a card to has commented on the feel of it. Demi-gloss, folks. For me, it was worth the price. And it’s cheaper than printing them at home. Ink is expensive.)
Carry cards with you wherever you go. You’ve got a bag, a wallet, a fannypack, whatever–carry cards with you wherever you go. Refill your stash before you run out. You don’t want to be caught anywhere without your card. Think of it as another form of ID.
Following these tips will put you in a better position than your peers who don’t. Every advantage helps.
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Category: Columns, The Daily Dose
