What's your card saying about you? Here are some of the most common mistakes you've no doubt seen and reacted to negatively—tossing the card into the wastebasket is inevitable:
- Paper too thin. Card is wimpy and bends or crumples in your hand or briefcase. And screams cheap. Might be an indicator of your other business practices and products.
- Preprinted perforated cards you ran through your computer printer. More cheap impressions; plus, your card may look like dozens of others because of the limited preprinted designs available.
- Boring.
- Bad choice of typeface and size.
- Too much or too little information.
- No focal point.
- Muddy graphics.
Your business card is often the first—and perhaps only—impression prospective clients see. Will it encourage them to find out more about you and your business? Having a good logo design and a clean layout leaves them with a favorable first impression that you're a credible, professional businessperson.
Following are 13 easy ways for you to do what the professional designers do—insider secrets about business cards that go right to your first impression and bottom line:
- Create a focal point or central place that draws a reader's eye.
- Allow white space to help balance the layout. Don't fill up the card with text.
- Use a clear, strong logo that looks good when reduced in size on your business card.
- Use a highlight color sparingly. Make sure colored elements highlight the one main message you want to convey.
- Be sure the highlight color you choose is appropriate for your business. For example, using green on a lawn-care business card would be far more appropriate than, say, red or orange.
- Limit your selection of fonts to no more than two, which may also include their "families. A font family includes styles such as bold, italic, and bold italic.
- Format text to be smaller, more compact, and more professional looking.
- Choose appropriate fonts for your business, avoiding trendy or overly embellished versions.
- Avoid using all capital letters. They are more difficult to read and look unprofessional.
- Use a grid to align text and objects to each other.
- Don't use illustrations that are too detailed or delicate, as they may look muddy when printed at a small size.
- Stay away from amateur-looking or dated clip art (unless you're going for the "retro" look). Find good-quality resources.
- Select a beefy cover stock for your paper. Sometimes 80# cover is not enough. You can get a free swatch book from your printer or paper representative. The swatch book will give you the opportunity to examine and feel the various sheets for finish, thickness, stiffness, opacity (translucence), and color.
About the Author
Karen Saunders is the owner of MacGraphics Services, a unique design firm for today's entrepreneur. Whether you outsource your promotional pieces or are a do-it-yourselfer, Karen takes the mystery out of marketing. Learn the top five mistakes that can cost you money by signing up for her free e-course, available for a limited time. To take advantage of this e-course and find out how easy it can be to attract more clients, visit macgraphics.net/FreeStuff.php. You can also contact her at 888-796-7300 or karen@macgraphics.net.
