The Changing Face of Business Cards

Gone are the days of the plain, white business card with the black lettering. Or at least they are as the only best option for a business card to represent your services, products and business. You are looking to make your card stand out from every other card that people come across and use the uniqueness of your card to get them to hang on to yours.

Business cards have come a long way and you can use all those changes to create a card that is representative of your own personal style and business persona. Instead of a white card; consider different colors for the background of the card, or use a bold graphic or photo. You can use graphics and images to highlight and call attention to your profession; like a toothbrush for a dentist, or a photo of you lifting weights for a personal trainer.

You can mix and match fonts, font colors and things like using bold text or italic text to call attention to different areas and features on your cards. With business card software or online printers, you can change the font easily while designing to try different looks and find what appeals to you most. While you can mix and match font styles and sizes; don't use too small of a font because you want the card to remain readable.

Business cards are small to start with, but older style designs used to completely ignore the chance to double your real estate by not printing on the back side. More and more people are using double sided business cards to offer more space for placing important information. Examples of things you can use the back side of your cards for are: additional information on your services or pricing, a designated place to make appointments for doctors or similar professionals, coupons or special discounts, advertising two different businesses on one card, or any other use that you can come up with! I personally have separate referral cards printed up just so I can encourage current customers to send me new clients and the back side of those lets their friends know that I reward them for referrals, so they can let me know who sent them.

Business cards once had matte finishes as a standard. Gloss finishes gives your card a very professional look at a reasonable price. You can even opt for embossing or to really stand out you can have a card like I received recently with a hologram image on it. Holographic business cards are definitely going to cost you more; but they are not likely to end up right in the trash can either.

Other choices that are no where near ordinary include plastic cards that imitate the look of metal, transparent plastic cards, die cut cards and cards made out of atypical materials, like fabric.

Whatever your budget, you should be creating a business card that will stand out and have a greater chance of either being kept by the recipient or being passed on to someone they know. That is the only way your card is going to help you build your business with new clientele. So take advantage of all the advances in design being made to business cards to increase your bottom line and your visibility.

Resources

VistaPrint , Affordable Business Card Printing

Laser Express Holography, Holgraphic Business Cards