The firm of Miller and Miller was a small town accounting firm which had been run as a family business for decades. But in recent years they had seen growth opportunities and so at various points in their discussion they started talking about expanding. They started talking about doing a lot of things they had never done before, including a more modern office and better furnishings. One point everyone noted was that each partner and employee has his or her own business card, and there was no consensus on what was best.
They decided to call on someone they knew who might be in a position to advise them: a salesman at a full service printing company which happened to be located a block from their new location. They called him and they invited him over to see their new location.
The salesman had plenty of ideas and he was happy to share them. He felt that business cards was an area where personal taste ruled the day, and so he just talked about various approached and let them make up their own minds.
One approach he suggested was that certain fonts project power or prestige and that you should have a font that does this. Obviously these sorts of notions are highly subjective. You could look down a list of twenty five fonts and try to pick those that project power. It's likely that five different people would come up with five different choices. The salesman suggested that once they settled on clarity and readability, personal taste is the deciding factor and if something looks right for you, then it's right.
He recommended the use of company logos and association logos. By association he just mean that if it's a small accounting business, then if the saleswoman has joined the local professional association, this must be included on the card. Obviously the company logo should be included, but in many ways the association logo should be displayed even more prominently, simply because the relationship to the association is critical to establishing professional credibility. Anyone can open a business, but certifications and professional associations say a lot more.
Ultimately, whether or not your business card does you any good depends on a number of factors:
How sturdy it is.
How clear and easy to read the text is.
How complete, up to date and relevant the information is.
How easy it is for your card to interact with internet technology.
He didn't say: How gimmicky it is, or How flashy it is.
Gimmicks and flashiness have been tried numerous times on business cards. They have their place; however, in the long run, it isn't these qualities which make for a successful business card. Rather, in the long run it's other qualities which determine whether or not the card stays in someone's wallet, or on someone's desk, or in someone's business card valet.
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The author, who is associated with Conquest Graphics, is a nationally recognized expert on all aspects of printing, print marketing, the internet and social media. Visit Conquest Graphics at http://www.conquestgraphics.com/Products/Business-Card-Printing-Services to see which business cards work best for you
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