Obviously business cards are used at networking events but they can also be given out to colleagues and friends of friends at a chance meeting.
When you start a business you need to consider marketing and the strategies you will use to get your name out there. In our Small Business Management course and coaching we help you develop a marketing plan, but there are other ways you can market your business and one of them is simpler than you may think: Business cards.
Useful Beyond Networking Events
If you’re a networker and regularly go to networking events then you’ll know the value of a business card, but if you don’t network that often, you might think you have no real purpose for them.
While you may not network in the tradition sense — that is, attending networking events — whenever you meet someone, be it at a café or a social event with friends, and tell them about your business, you’re networking.
But if you don’t have a business card to give them, you’ve just lost a business opportunity. Sure, you could tell them to Google you, but that’s kind of pretentious, and there’s no guarantee they’ll remember to. Enter: Business cards.
You Can’t Surpass Word-of-Mouth Referrals
Speak to any business owner and they’ll tell you that, while marketing your business is integral to growing and developing new business, word-of-mouth referrals are usually the best new business you can get.
People like to work with people they know, like and trust — if someone refers you to a friend or relative, you already tick at least two of those boxes.
Besides, if we’re being honest, referrals or clients you meet through friends are a lot easier to deal with than a complete stranger off the street. They generally already have some understanding of how your business works and they’re confident you can deliver the goods.
So keep a couple of business cards on you all the time, because you never know when an opportunity will present itself.
Where Can I Get Business Cards?
There’s an abundance of places you can have business cards made up nowadays, thanks, in large part, to the interwebs. VistaPrint is probably the best known — they’re quick and inexpensive, and you can design your business cards online, without even picking up the phone.
Express Cards, The Business Card Shop and Martin Print use graphic designers who will tailor the design of your business cards to your business, and offer competitive prices based on your requirements. Then there is Moo, a UK-based company whose designs — even the generic templated ones — are amazing. Regardless of your industry, you can find templates to suit or business or design your own online. Even with the exchange rate, the prices are extremely reasonable and the finished product outstanding.
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Your business card, like your website, represents your business and represents you. So shop around and make sure you’re business card markets you the right way.
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