Business 101

So, my background is not technically in "business". I have only owned one dress suit in my life. I hadn't worn it in so long that the last time I went to put it on it was WAY too big (I suppose that's a good thing, at least it wasn't too small!) I DID once purchase an awesome baby blue silk shantung skirt/jacket for a steal at the old Filene's Basement in Boston but my pet rats got a hold of the bag it was in and chewed a hole through the back of the jacket, but that is a whole other story. I digress.

My point is just that, it is amazing to discover all the things I don’t know about certain subjects. I did an innocent Google search for these key words: “business card holders”. The results I was hoping for were actually to try to find little “promo” ideas for leaving tips at hotels and such, with your tip and your business card in some sort of memorable (but inexpensive) “package”. Instead, I came across a wealth of information about “how to give out your business card”! Don’t you just hand it to people? Here, it’s a card. Well, no, apparently not! I think it was good to come across these articles instead, since I have never really had to think about how exactly to give out a business card. The more articles I found, the more I realized it might not be a bad idea to try to absorb some of this info. I mean, people do judge on appearances, and how can it hurt me to know how to hand out my business card appropriately. Little details do add validity to your business, and these little things can only help. So here’s what I learned:

“Don’t hand them out like playing cards”
http://ezinearticles.com/?Business-Card-Etiquette---How-to-Give-and-Receive-Business-Cards&id=584852
That actually IS helpful as I have a pile of my business cards in an envelope in my purse, which I already knew did not scream professionalism! This article just drove it home that I need to acquire a nice little business card holder soon. Just a cheap one, nothing fancy, and VIOLA you have a whole new professional appearance! No more fishing around in my envelope for my business info.

Marketing ideas for lazy people?! That’s for me!
http://www.theadvocates.org/library/five-lazy-ways.html
This one I found interesting because, well, it had the word lazy in it. The article is about someone who is not a realtor using a few of a realtor’s marketing ideas for his own ends. I am not a realtor, and I will use some of these ideas for my own ends as well. It just drove home the idea that everything you do, everywhere you go, every interaction you participate in with another person, is really a marketing opportunity. So why not take the 2 seconds and hand put those business cards?

Is your business card telling everyone who looks at it that you suck?
http://www.davidlaplante.com/2007/08/15/personal-branding-the-business-card-tips-for-appearing-more-professional-legit-andor-possibly-employable-plus-dead-give-a-ways-of-the-dangleberries-and-other-personal-branding-screw-ups-you/
This article is more about the information ON your card and how it is presented. I am happy to find that my business card PASSES most of these little pointers. I run my own home business, but I am also a designer/web designer so I know the basics of good design. I knew to stay away from serif fonts as they are illegible on small printed material, especially when scanned or faxed. Don’t use them on anything you want people to be able to read clearly! Especially numbers or email addresses. Gold star for me. The only rules I broke were not making my phone numbers “international” as I am not really international and don’t need to be. For ME it would just be pretentious. The only pretentious thing I like to do on my cards is use periods between my phone digits instead of a “-“. Example: 555-555-5555 vs., 555.555.5555. I think it looks kind of euro. I even chose to NOT do this on my most recent cards as I think the dash was more legible. I also broke the “quality” rule as, well, I’m not in some 80’s movie about wall street or “American Psycho”, and I am NOT a high roller. My inexpensive cards are just fine… but they are NOT home printed. I DO agree with that. For my purposes, and my audience, Vistaprint is sufficient. My audience is PEOPLE not giant companies, so it would be silly and vain to print out fancy business card on some crazy expensive stock! As I said, I am a designer and graphic artist… I WANTED to design cool cards and logos and stuff for my business. I stopped myself and thought about my goal and if that was a necessary step. It wasn’t. I have all the marketing materials I need supplied from my team, so holding off “work” to “design” right now would be procrastinating! For my purposes, a Vistaprint template gets my point across in a professional manner in an inexpensive way, which works for me!

I am on a learning curve, and it was enlightening to find so much though devoted to a subject I had just never thought about myself. Well, now I know, and to quote J.I. Joe, “knowing is half the battle”.