Lip-Sticking: The All Important Business Card: Why You Still Need It

by Yvonne DiVita

Our company struggles with the idea of business cards, on a regular basis. We know they’re important. After all, when you network, when you travel, when you send out product, you should always include a business card. The issue is: what should it look like and where should it be purchased?

While where you get the business card printed is not as important as how it looks and what it says, there are more options on printing than ever before. For instance, online options like UPrinting business cards, come complete with templates to guide you on creating a truly eye-appealing and useful card, are popular today. They’re can also be more cost-effective than a local printer. We’ve used both at our office and I always steer new business owners to the online printing option because being cost-effective at the onset of your new business is as important as creating a pleasing, purposeful design.

Don’t buy into the rumors that the business card is obsolete. “Just visit my Facebook page,” I catch myself telling people, as if they can whip out their smart phone and fire it up right there. “Oh, I’m on Twitter,” I say. Because, after all, these are the new 21^st century tools all companies need to be successful, today. Right?

Yes, we all need to be tuned in to social media. That is right. But, the truth of the matter is, the company business card is just as important today as it was 100 years ago. It’s the best representation of you and your company, when you can’t be there to give your best pitch. It’s your elevator pitch, shared over and over, to people you’ve handed it out to and to people who have picked it up from your booth at exhibits or trade shows and people who receive it in the mail, with product or other company information.

Your business card shares that elevator pitch and more. It shares your company culture, your personality, and your creativity. Here’s how:

The Design: This conveys your company culture. Is your card a wild color, purple or orange? Those colors convey imagination and optimism. Is your card green or blue? Green is often considered a “growth” color – as in your business growth. Blue is for loyalty. Choose the colors of your card thoughtfully. Yes, they will depend on the colors of your logo, but don’t be a slave to your company logo – remember that your business card needs to be eye-catching as well as informative.

The Content: Our business cards share our logo, our tagline, our purpose and our contact information. Mine includes our company phone number but my partner’s includes his cell phone. Contact information is tricky today. Should you include your Pinterest page? What about Facebook and Twitter? While it’s a good idea to show how active you are in social media, you only have so much real estate on a business card. Share what’s most important – if showing those social media links is important, you can always have one line that says “Find us on Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter, too!” Folks will then expect the links to those sites to be apparent on your blog or website. How you share all that info can reflect your personality – crazy, upbeat, business focused, or technical.

The Format: Is your card going to be a standard rectangle, with squared corners? While I admit I find that format a bit boring, it’s what we use at our offices. Our next printing will be more innovative, I can tell you that! Rounded corners are popular and even special designs – for instance, a landscape artist might have a business card in the shape of a leaf or a bush. For us, we’re leaning towards a paw print, as that is a big part of the BlogPaws focus.

Don’t expect the business card to go away anytime soon. Instead, watch these important tools continue to evolve and push the edges of creativity. Watch online printing options grow and offer great ideas and suggestions. Yes, your website and your blog, your Pinterest page, Twitter account and your Facebook page are all important to your overall business presence. But, nothing can replace the business card – it’s there regardless of a person’s access to the net. In your absence, it speaks for you.

Make it count.

This is a sponsored post. Lip-sticking received an incentive to share my thoughts on this topic. The post content is 100% original and written by me, Yvonne DiVita.