Future sales are in the cards - your business cards
"So what," you say. "It's just my business card."
Yeah, you're right. It's just your image. Just your identity. Just a reflection of you and your company, your product, your service. Big deal.
Baron Hanson, head buckaroo (best title I ever saw on a card) of FlexCorp, designs and manufactures business cards. Extra, extra ordinary business cards. FlexCorp makes clear plastic, paper, metal, and wooden business cards. Cards that are designed to reflect the image and identity of the giver - and make an impression on the receiver. His cards have also made an impression on his wallet.
Hanson started a shoestring operation four years ago, and this year sales will top $600,000.
Hanson and I collaborated on a list of advantages, opportunities and situations created with a great business card. Here's the top 10.5 list for your perusal.
• It's a reflection of you. It shows you've taken the time to market and position yourself. It suggests you're a leader.
• It speaks for you. It says, "We're something special," before you say a word.
• It speaks about you. It's a sample of the kind of work your company produces. Great card, great work. Ordinary card, ordinary work. Crappy card, crappy work.
• It sets the right tone. If you hand your card out at a networking event or appointment and receive a "nice card" comment, it sets the tone for a positive discussion or meeting.
• It's the most potent form of lasting advertising you've got. A good card is kept. Shown to others, it is a reinforcement to the claims of your other advertising.
• You get multiple impressions for cheap. If you have 10 employees who use 1,000 cards a year (four a day), that's 10,000 business impressions a year. If your card is good enough to be re-shown to others, the number of impressions could multiply by five.
• Your card will be saved. Not every card you distribute results in an immediate sale. But if your card is great, people can't bring themselves to throw it away. It will stay around on a desk or in a drawer until the day it's finally used.
• It's a victory at "hand to hand" combat. The right card captures attention, disrupts competition and wins the battle for attention and respect.
• It's like getting married. A spouse will bring you 90% of life's joy or 90% of life's misery - depending on your selection - the same goes with business cards.
• It's a competitive advantage. Especially when two cards (yours and that of your competitor) are being fondled to make one decision.
• It's identity and image. Your corporate identity is how you want to be reflected in the real world. It's your image. What's that worth?
• It's your corporate and personal signature. It makes a statement. It sends a message. Are you proud to offer it?
Here are a few examples of real-world business cards that have made a creative difference:
• A card card. Richard Herd, president of Continental Advertising, has his on the front of a deck of cards. He's used them for the past five years. His business has grown 2,000% - a coincidence?
• A bland card with a twist. Take your ugly card and create a better one - by adding to it. Phil Raymond, agency manager of The Financial Group in North Carolina, has an insurance and investment sales business. Raymond has laminated his (bland) card with two postage stamps on the back: a 1975 10-cent stamp and a 1995 32-cent stamp. A creative way to illustrate how costs go up over a 20-year period. His objective is to get people to think about what might happen to their investments 20 years from now.
• A conceptual card. A transparent card. A wooden card. Baron Hanson has created wonderful business cards for himself and his customers using a variety of materials that include translucent plastic, wood and metal. He tries to make cards for his customers so they can communicate an image and identity beyond their competition.
• A creative title. In our office, Angela Brown "runs the place." It's also the title on her business card. At The Jack of Hearts Screen Printing Company, Bill Roberts' title is, "Jack."
• A cat card. Lito Gitomer - is the "corporate mascot" of our company. Her card has become famous in the sales world. I've told of her card in "The Sales Bible" and Lito gets mail requesting her card every day.
What's the value of a creative card? They never get tossed away. And often get shown and re-shown for years.
Jeffrey Gitomer is president of Business Marketing Services, North Carolina. Inquiries should be addressed to: Gitomer c/o Warsaw Business Journal, ul. Sloneczna 29, 00-789 Warsaw.
Yeah, you're right. It's just your image. Just your identity. Just a reflection of you and your company, your product, your service. Big deal.
Baron Hanson, head buckaroo (best title I ever saw on a card) of FlexCorp, designs and manufactures business cards. Extra, extra ordinary business cards. FlexCorp makes clear plastic, paper, metal, and wooden business cards. Cards that are designed to reflect the image and identity of the giver - and make an impression on the receiver. His cards have also made an impression on his wallet.
Hanson started a shoestring operation four years ago, and this year sales will top $600,000.
Hanson and I collaborated on a list of advantages, opportunities and situations created with a great business card. Here's the top 10.5 list for your perusal.
• It's a reflection of you. It shows you've taken the time to market and position yourself. It suggests you're a leader.
• It speaks for you. It says, "We're something special," before you say a word.
• It speaks about you. It's a sample of the kind of work your company produces. Great card, great work. Ordinary card, ordinary work. Crappy card, crappy work.
• It sets the right tone. If you hand your card out at a networking event or appointment and receive a "nice card" comment, it sets the tone for a positive discussion or meeting.
• It's the most potent form of lasting advertising you've got. A good card is kept. Shown to others, it is a reinforcement to the claims of your other advertising.
• You get multiple impressions for cheap. If you have 10 employees who use 1,000 cards a year (four a day), that's 10,000 business impressions a year. If your card is good enough to be re-shown to others, the number of impressions could multiply by five.
• Your card will be saved. Not every card you distribute results in an immediate sale. But if your card is great, people can't bring themselves to throw it away. It will stay around on a desk or in a drawer until the day it's finally used.
• It's a victory at "hand to hand" combat. The right card captures attention, disrupts competition and wins the battle for attention and respect.
• It's like getting married. A spouse will bring you 90% of life's joy or 90% of life's misery - depending on your selection - the same goes with business cards.
• It's a competitive advantage. Especially when two cards (yours and that of your competitor) are being fondled to make one decision.
• It's identity and image. Your corporate identity is how you want to be reflected in the real world. It's your image. What's that worth?
• It's your corporate and personal signature. It makes a statement. It sends a message. Are you proud to offer it?
Here are a few examples of real-world business cards that have made a creative difference:
• A card card. Richard Herd, president of Continental Advertising, has his on the front of a deck of cards. He's used them for the past five years. His business has grown 2,000% - a coincidence?
• A bland card with a twist. Take your ugly card and create a better one - by adding to it. Phil Raymond, agency manager of The Financial Group in North Carolina, has an insurance and investment sales business. Raymond has laminated his (bland) card with two postage stamps on the back: a 1975 10-cent stamp and a 1995 32-cent stamp. A creative way to illustrate how costs go up over a 20-year period. His objective is to get people to think about what might happen to their investments 20 years from now.
• A conceptual card. A transparent card. A wooden card. Baron Hanson has created wonderful business cards for himself and his customers using a variety of materials that include translucent plastic, wood and metal. He tries to make cards for his customers so they can communicate an image and identity beyond their competition.
• A creative title. In our office, Angela Brown "runs the place." It's also the title on her business card. At The Jack of Hearts Screen Printing Company, Bill Roberts' title is, "Jack."
• A cat card. Lito Gitomer - is the "corporate mascot" of our company. Her card has become famous in the sales world. I've told of her card in "The Sales Bible" and Lito gets mail requesting her card every day.
What's the value of a creative card? They never get tossed away. And often get shown and re-shown for years.
Jeffrey Gitomer is president of Business Marketing Services, North Carolina. Inquiries should be addressed to: Gitomer c/o Warsaw Business Journal, ul. Sloneczna 29, 00-789 Warsaw.
