Creative Use of Your Business Cards

How to Use Your Business Cards to Advance Your Career or Sales Margin

Business cards are a small two inch by three inch piece of paper that contains your contact information and a brief description of what you do, what you sell or what services you offer. These cards are a very important part of your marketing campaign and all professionals need them. However, in order to get the most from your business card investment, you need to learn how to use them properly.

A Good Old Fashioned Calling Card

The first way that you can use your business card is as a calling a card. To use your business card as a calling card all you have to do is hand it out to people when you first meet them. This is a great way to establish a relationship with a new vendor, a colleague or a new customer. This use of your business card is very important for sales people who rely on the size of their customer base to generate a consistent income.

Media Relations

Another important function of your business card is to provide your correct information to the media. When buying ad space in a local newspaper or national publication, or when plugging your business on the radio, a well designed business card can help ensure that the publicized information about your business is correct. Particularly, it will ensure that the media source will spell your business name correctly and provide the correct contact information for your business.

Use your Cards to Generate New Business

Generating new business is one of the best tasks that your business card can complete for you. There are several ways that you can use your business card to drum up new business. For example, if you hand out your business card to your current customers then they can pass on your card to their friends and colleagues, which will generate referral business for you. Providing your current customers with a business card will also encourage repeat business. Finally, you can print a promotional offer on the back of your business card to encourage people to come into your store or to place an order.

Don't Forget about the Back of Your Card!

When many people design their business card they forget about the space on the back of their business card. This space is very valuable, and can be used to attract people to your store or to encourage them to place an order. For example, you can print a coupon on the back of your business card for a free item, a percentage off or for a specific dollar amount off of their first purchase. You can also print an entry form on the back of your business card for a special drawing that you plan to hold in your store or office.