Business cards. The perfect representation of you and your business, and with many advantages. A simple and well-designed business card can send out a professional look, aid marketing and help you with networking. In this article I will cover five advantages of business cards for freelancers, what to include in a successful business card and recommend some business card printers/developers.
5 Advantages of Business Cards
1. The Personal touch
A business card given to somebody by hand has a much more of a personal touch than a logo of a website slapped onto a website when you’re searching for a developer of some kind . Place yourself in the shoes of a potential client. Think of the catalogue of worries that may arise when you first interact and are looking to potentially hire this person to do set work for you.
- “Is he/she reliable?”
- “What if they run off with my deposit?”
- “What if they do a shabby job?”
- And the odd one will think “What if I want to date her/him?!” (and no, I will not discuss that later as an advantage!)
Passing on a business card can help reduce these worries. Imagine a well-dressed, smart girl who walks into a office passively, offers her card to you for your potential custom after noticing an ad in the window.
Client: What do you charge…Sarah?
Sarah (freelancer): That would depend on the nature of the work, sir, however all of this information can be found along with my portfolio on my website mentioned on the card.
Client: Are you single?
Compare that to being on MSN Messenger and typing:
Max: can u make a site?
Sarah: ye, depend tho check me site man, its sickdesignz.com
Max: u single luv?
2. Sending the right signals.
Designing a business card is crucial as it leaves a lasting impression on the potential client. For example, I once met an accountant who gave me her business card. I never used her custom, but only because a very close friend of mine is my accountant (very reliable in dodgy bookkeeping, a joke, by the way) but I always kept her card. It oozed respect.
Looking the part can sometimes not be enough if you hand over a dull 1990’s style business card then as that, in their eyes, would mean you make shabby 1990’s style websites. If you’re a designer, then your business card should be able to speak volumes about you and could be seen as one of your key marketing points.
3. Highlight your message
A potential client can go on a freelancer’s website searching for past work, or trying to find what the designer does exactly, only to end up not knowing what’s going on.
For example when they want to commission a website to be created they may not know what ‘coding’ is and how it is different to the ‘design’ of the website. A card can help clear this confusion up, and if it doesn’t then they can just call you on the number which you have put on there and ask.
Remember people are unpredictable, someone may ring you and say “My company needs a thing on the internet”. A very vague statement, but a few simple questions and you could probably derive what he’s talking about (a website, maybe). This person may then go on to trust you when you explain jargon to them which they previously had no knowledge of. This may lead to further referral leads and a strong relationship.
4. Break the Ice
In intimidating situations when it may be hard to sell you services, a business card could do that part of the talking for you.
For example, if you were to meet the CEO of a company, it may be hard to say “Do you have a job vacancy for me?”. A business card could not only offer a good impression as discussed before but also break the ice in the conversation making it easier for you to ask when he/she says “So you are a freelancer, what do you do?”. Now he/she is asking you as opposed to you pitching to them.
5. ‘Viral’ Marketing
Similiar to an eBook you may publish online, or any kind of video or MP3 you publish, a business card has an opportunity of becoming some what ‘viral’. People do pass business cards around and they do keep them, so they are helpful for sustained marketing campaigns.
What to Include in a Successful Business Card
- Your name
- Your contact number
- E-mail and mail address (you could use a P.O.Box)
- Your website address
- Your Logo
- Your slogan
- Short summary of what you do
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June 30th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Very nice post on marketing. Hope to learn more from you.
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June 30th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Thanks for reading, please subscribe to our RSS feed if you haven’t already :)
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June 30th, 2009 at 10:25 pm
A good arguement for a well designed and appropriately styled business card.
Another good article from The Golem.
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July 1st, 2009 at 3:10 am
Title is misleading!
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July 1st, 2009 at 8:03 am
May I ask how?
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July 3rd, 2009 at 10:49 am
Thanks, Please subscribe to our RSS to keep updated ;)
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July 9th, 2009 at 11:44 am
Super post, Need to mark it on Digg
Thank you
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July 13th, 2009 at 8:14 am
I found this article very important. Thanx,.
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July 19th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
Added to my RSS, Thanks!
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July 25th, 2009 at 8:57 am
I myself want to freelance part-time and I’ve known a guy from my past job that handed out business cards to EVERYONE. It was about this travel agency where you save money, but the concept was to network on a global basis and pretty inspiring too. I think these tips are just fine, networking, marketing, and business all tie-in to selling and you just have to get over that fear. I say think of it as more conversational and less stiff and rigid. Let things flow and let the client know how passionate you are about your work and trust will naturally be relayed. The best solution is usually the natural one and not the forced.
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August 5th, 2009 at 12:24 am
In addition to vistaprint printing business cards, 48hourprint.com does a nice job. Better quality than the others mentioned, fast too.
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August 23rd, 2009 at 11:01 pm
Yep – I would agree with that.. Thanks for the line.
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September 24th, 2009 at 5:49 am
Hello, I found your blog in a new directory of blogs. I dont know how your blog came up, must have been a typo, Your blog looks good. Have a nice day.
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September 24th, 2009 at 8:59 am
Hi. I read a few of your other posts and wanted to know if you would be interested in exchanging blogroll links?
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December 22nd, 2009 at 6:53 pm
I completely agree with the “send the right signals” part of the text (the other parts too, buth this really got my attention). You can have as much experience and be the best possible graphic designer or copywriter or whatever. If you have a pack of dull business cards you’re planning to hand out, consider not handing them out at all. If you can choose between not making an impression or making a bad impression, I’d be happy to choose the first option.
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