Friday, April 8, 2011

Pocket Sized Brand Ambassador

“Cool card!” You love to hear this, because it’s not just a card, it’s your brand. The cool business card demonstrates pride of ownership. Some business cards say, “Hi, I’m Bob. I work for a payroll company. Here’s my info; you can email, fax, call or visit me if you so choose.”

The cool card says, “Check it out, this company is going places. We make our own rules and we’re badass. If Denzel was a company, he’d be this one!” Is this overstating the importance? Is a business card simply an efficient method of giving out contact information?

Heck no! Unless the recipient of your card has already been to your office, seen the quality of your work or checked out your website, this is your first opportunity to make an important impression.

True story - received a business card from an executive at a promotional products company called Far From Boring. Underneath the name, the title line read, “Handsome Bastard.” You know what? That’s Far From Boring! Guess who recently landed the spot as our favorite promotional products vendor?

A cool business card is not a disposable piece of paper. It’s too cool to toss away. Even once this contact is in your database, you can’t toss away the cool card. It’s too good. Too much went in to it. It’s a piece of the company. Some business cards present a powerful logo like a sizzling steak on a silver platter. Others serve you a paper plate with a hot dog and stale roll. The recipe we like: Captivating logo, sturdy card stock, a pleasing color palette and smart text in legible font.

Anything worth doing is worth doing well. Business cards are not a necessity, they’re an opportunity. When your card is passed on from a referral, who is there to ensure that impression you make is exactly the one you intended? Your good buddy, the cool card, that’s who!