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Creating a Great Business Card

nuraklia — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:20:15 +0000

Creating a Great Business Card

Success is in the cards when you’ve got business cards that convey the right message.

URL: http://www.entrepreneur.com/marketing/marketingbasics/marketingmaterials/article71900.html

A business card is an integral part of any good marketing plan. For its size and cost, it’s probably the most powerful part. Of course, you can’t expect your business card to tell the whole story about your company. What you should expect it to do is present a professional image people will remember. A business card can make or break a client’s first impression of your company. In fact, this little card makes as much of an impression as your personal appearance-the suit you wear or the briefcase you carry.

Choose a card style that’s appropriate for your business, industry and personal style. If you’re a funeral director, for example, you don’t want to be caught handing out day-glow cards with cartoon figures on them. If you’re a mechanic whose specialty is converting old Beetles into dune buggies, a formal, black-on-white engraved card will probably be dropped into the nearest circular file. When crafting a design, start with the style that best supports the business image you wish to project. To help you get started, here are five different card styles for you to consider:

Basic cards. A basic card is usually printed in black ink on plain white or cream stock. This is a good style to choose when utility is all you need. It’s a no-nonsense approach that can appeal to clients and prospects who would not be impressed by fancy design features-the people who want “just the facts, ma’am.” The design is simple, and the information is clear and concise.

Picture cards. Having your face on your card-whether it’s a photograph, a drawing or a caricature-helps a contact remember you the next time he or she sees you. Images representing a product or service, or a benefit your business provides, can help you communicate your business better than dozens of words. A splash of color (rather than just black and white) is often helpful on a picture card, too.

Tactile cards. Some cards are distinguished not so much by how they look as by how they feel. They may use nonstandard materials, such as metal or wood, or have unusual shapes, edges, folds or embossing. Tactile cards tend to be considerably more expensive than regular cards because they use nonstandard production processes such as die cuts. But for some businesses, this more unusual card may be worth the price.

Multipurpose cards. A card can do more than promote your name and business-it can also serve as a discount coupon, an appointment reminder or some other function. It may also provide valuable information that the average person may need. For example, a hotel may include a map on the back of its card for any guests who are walking around the local area. A card of any type can be made multipurpose by adding any of these types of features.

Outside-the-box cards. A wildly original, fanciful or extravagant presentation can draw extra attention. Creativity knows no bounds-except the amount of money you wish to spend. Some examples are cards made of chocolate or that folded out into a miniature box to keep small items in.

Now It’s Time to Order
Once you’ve settled on a basic idea for your business card, it’s time to head to the printer. There are four primary considerations when ordering business cards:

Weight. Most business cards are printed on 80-pound cover stock.
Finish. Of the three available-smooth, linen and laid-the smooth finish is the most popular.
Color. Right now, two-color cards predominate. If you’re selecting from a catalog, there are between five and 15 standard colors to choose from. If you have another ink color in mind, your printer can show you a Pantone Matching System book, which includes every shade under the sun.
Quantity. It generally pays to print more cards rather than fewer, because the printer’s cost is primarily in the setup.

Design Resource
For more detailed descriptions of the different types of business cards, take a look at It’s in the Cards. In it, Ivan Misner, Candace Bailly and Dan Georgevich review more than 2,000 business cards from 10 countries and select more than 200 examples of some of the best, which are shown throughout the book in full-color.

One Final Tip
Though this may sound like obvious advice, it might cost you another trip to the printer if you don’t heed it: Include the essentials. This means your name, title, company name, address, phone number (or numbers, if you want to include your cell), e-mail and Web site. If someone wants to contact you after receiving your card, you sure as heck want them to be able to.

How to Design YourBusiness Cards toAttract More Business

nuraklia — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 05:23:56 +0000

• The Basics •

Your business card is an extensionof yourself and/or your company. Itacts as a “silent salesperson” andshould be a key part of yourmarketing plan. Many people hold onto business cards longer than anyother marketing collateral. And as I’msure you’ve seen, there are evenspecific filing systems – boxes,plastic sleeves, compact books, etc.to keep business cards stored foryears.Inside, you will find 13 simple “How-To”tips to produce fantastic businesscards that will help your marketingefforts and create dynamic, qualityrepresentation of you and yourcompany!

• 13 Tips & Tricks • 13 simple tips for creating and usingyour business cards effectively toattract more business…There are three styles throughwhich people process incominginformation:

Tip 1 • Visual.
These people remember images easily. You want to useattractive colors, images and photos,while keeping text simple andpurposeful.

Tip 2 • Auditory.
People who are auditory remember the words usedand take words literally – so say whatyou mean and mean what you say.

Tip 3 • Kinesthetic.
These people remember the feeling of yourmessage. The feeling of paper andtexture is important too. Also the useof “feeling” words brings comfort.

Tip 4 • Minimal Effort.
Make it easy for people to read your cards andunderstand your message. If theyhave to struggle or work at it, youmay lose valuable customers.

Tip 5 • Photos.
Using your photo or a photo of your product not only buildstrust, it builds relationships andrapport more quickly. Be sure yourimages are a high resolution – 300dpiminimum.

Tip 6 • Both Sides of the Card.
Use your entire business card’s realestate. On the back, you can put amap or directions, testimonials,quotes, a list of services orproducts, your mission statement oreven another image.

Tip 7 • Paper Quality.
Use a business card weight and quality paper, suchas linen or card stock. It makes aninstantly positive impression if yourpaper feels good to the touch.Quality paper gives the impression ofa professional business that valuesits presentation.

Tip 8 • Text.
Stick with easily readable fonts. Artistic fonts such as tribal or Carpenter may look good, butare hard to read. Font size should beno smaller than 10pt, but again, makesure it’s legible (sometimes 10ptvaries in size from font to font).

Tip 9 • Colors.
A good rule of thumb is 2-3 colors. Be sure your textcolor is dark enough to read on alight background, if it’s too light, itmay be hard to read.

Tip 10 • Benefits
(what’s in it for yourcustomer?) Stimulate the interest of your potential clients, tell them howyou can increase, decrease, enhanceand improve their business, theirlives, their relationships – you getthe point…

Tip 11 • Call for Action.
Invite them to visit your website, offer a freeconsultation, offer a toll-free phonenumber, provide easy access to youand your services.

Tip 12 • Pleasure Value
(kinestheticpeople love this stuff). Folding cards, smooth or rough texturedpaper, embossed characters,rounded corners, cut-outs, spot UVcoated images or text, etc.

Tip 13 • Five Common Business CardMistakes.
• Poor print or image quality
• Over-sized cards that don’t fitinto standard card holders
• Small fonts, too hard to read
• ALL CAPS SOUNDS LIKE YOU’REYELLING
• Cross-outs, handwriting, typos

nc210 – TS Group Holdings Sdn Bhd Rebranding

khairulazizi — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:40:49 +0000

Why we need a namecard at the first place? To be contacted? For business purpose? Power? Flirt? Whatever reason the client have in their mind, our purpose is to give the best, and by the best we mean to give the moment of happiness, the first impression of the client’s face when he received his namecard.

nc1011 – Buuraq Tulin Edaran

khairulazizi — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 08:08:46 +0000

When people says, bla bla bla is the key to success, there are few issue that need to be consider. One, you need to really know and understand what kind of the key you need to have. Second, if you don’t have the key, then you need to find a keymaker.

Buuraq Tulin Edaran is an automative company, selling and buying cars. So when the CEO of the company, Mr. Azriel Affendy had appointed us to do the re-branding for the company image, Ahmad Muzammil, our conceptual artist aka the project manager has develop a “key” concept.

This “key” concept is implemented to the company logo and to the name card itself to reflects both the company vision and mission, for the key to success. For Buuraq’s client, the manifested idea is like this, to give a bold statement without saying any word : your new car key is with us. Hence, by the arrangement of the composition logo and the black square appear to be an invisible key.

For the physical approach, we use the red color of the luxurious, the fastest car on earth : Ferrari. Of course, if you wanted to be success, then follow the one who did.

Below is the detail of the namecard design. Want to buy a new car?

Namecard : Material/Concept

nuraklia — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 06:44:44 +0000

Agency: Struck.
Art Director: Brandon Knowlden
Copywriter: Rich Black
Letter Press: Athenaeum Press

Namecard : Material/Concept

nuraklia — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 06:36:52 +0000

Namecard : Die Cutt

nuraklia — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 06:29:18 +0000

source : http://www.robonut.com/blog/

670 : Marketing Kit Folder, Custom Made

khairulazizi — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 12:11:39 +0000

So we scout for the custom made folder by any mean in order to please the client. Luckily we manage to find one. He’s got the solution and finally we proceed for printing. Check out the end product.

Things to remember :

- This is a custom made folder, so timeline is really important

- Delivery is not by the usual van but by 2 x lorry : It’s not a paper that we can fold. We need space.

670 : Marketing Kit Folder, Proposal

khairulazizi — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 15:32:12 +0000

Ok, we got the solution. It’s a white semi transparency pvc folder. Very nice. So we present to the client and the client is very happy until the “pakkof” day arrives.

We went back to the store to bulk order before we plant to hand it to the factory for printing process.

But then the stock from the store is so limited which you can only have 1 instead of 2000. They need to order from China and it takes about 1 month. The shopkeeper told me this when the second time I went to the store to bulk order. The only 1 that I bought is the one that I’ve showed to my client.

A Yay for that since we already proposed to AmAssurance and the bonus part is :

The need it by end of the june!

Yay!

670 : Marketing Kit Folder

khairulazizi — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 05:38:17 +0000

AmAssurance need a tough folder to keep their marketing documents including brochures, docs, books and folders. They need it to be very corporate look but simple and the most important things is : to carry the branding of the group and can carry all their combo stuff.

And for the solution, I have been searching from one bookstore to one bookstore to find answers ….

A white pvc folder with buttons…

A transparent plastic file?

A paper folder with matte laminate…