Could your business card win you more business?

Being the next generation of influential professional movers and shakers, it is about time we got a basic business and advertising tool right and our business cards.

Research demonstrates only around 7% of a message communicated is based on the actual words used, so all that rehearsing of our elevator speech isn’t all it takes.
That leaves 93% of your impression based on other factors.

If we apply these statistics to your business cards, we could say that 55% of their impact comes from what they look like, the material, the tactile experience, and their shape and size.

A further 38% of the impression they make comes from their design attributes, including the colour, fonts used and size, and imagery.

With only 7% left being its content; who you are and what you do

How does your business card represent you?

What feeling will someone perceive from holding your card?

If it is thin and flimsy will they think cheap, or below-quality ? On a practical note will they end up dog-eared before they are even given to people? If someone hasn’t invested in their business card how can you believe in what they are selling?

Compare this to the impression given by a nice solid card – solid, durable, high-quality, reliable. Go for a thicker grammage (gsm) stock. A minimum of 300gsm is recommended but 350 gsm 400gsm is preferable.

The finish of the paper also tells a story, coated papers (papers with a sheen) aren’t as environmentally friendly. There are several 100% recycled uncoated papers available, labeling your card appropriately can add to the perception of your brand doing the right thing. If you choose a non-recycled stock ensure it is from a sustainably managed forest and that the stock is non-chlorine bleached.

Avoid matt or gloss-laminating your card. Once laminated, your card will never be able to be recycled. Sad but true, at some point your card will be discarded. Try to avoid foiling your card. Foils are made from toxic metals and don’t recycle well.

How can you achieve a completely different feel? Plastic, wood, metals?

There is a method available to print on virtually anything

Plastic cards be screenprinted or UV printed using a four colour process. Great transparency and layering effects can be achieved with clear plastic. Another great benefit of plastic is it goes through the wash and comes out in one piece – not like its paper counterparts, And with its rigidity it is far more likely to make its presence in your pocket felt rather than ending up in the wash. Plastic cards are also recyclable and promote this by printing the appropriate number on the back of your card, to communicate this to your customers.

Why are credit cards 85 x 54mm and standard business cards 90 x 55mm?

Credit cards are designed to fit modern wallets, why aren’t business cards?

The proportions of this standard size are both impractical and unattractive.

The orientation may also be worth considering, along with the shape.

Think about both the size and style of type (the font) used. Test your font with a few people. There is nothing worse than not being able to read a persons phone number or other contact details on their card and 7pt should be the absolute minimum font size. It also pays to remember that fonts vary in point size, with some in the same point size being smaller than others.

Pay attention to the colours used on your card:. The majority of business cards are predominantly white. The reason for this is that most logos are designed to work on white. When you are working with such a small design area, putting in a block of colour without your logo ending up in a white box can be an issue. Always try to make the background a solid colour.

If someone picked up your card without knowing you or your business would they know what it is you do?

Remember business cards have two-sides. Why not make use of both.

On the front have your logo, key contact details and email address, mobile and direct dial number and website, the back your address and benefits you offer.

Some of these rules may go out the window if you are in a creative industry, where being different is good. You still need to make practical user-friendly design decisions.

Future

Digital business cards – The cards of our future

The future of business cards – digital business cards

Including a QR code, a matrix code able to be scanned by the camera on your mobile phone is common on business cards in other countries. Over 50 million handsets able to read these codes are in use in Japan today. The code communicates directly with your phone. The codes can contain downloadable files such as your Vcard, a secret message, a SMS or a url, taking the recipients phone straight to your mobile web site.

Generating your own QR codes online is easy and free via several sites online such as
http://qrcode.kaywa.com. Other sites like http://www.viscards.com enable you to create a profile and a mobile web page that the code links to.
You can then download your QR code for use on your printed business card.

This is my code containing all my contact details on my business card.

The most exciting thing here is the ability to be instantly added to your prospects contacts list and to have them visit your mobile website immediately, rather than hoping they visit your website in an idle moment when they return to their desks at work.

Has this technology got the potential to change business card etiquette?

What do you do when some one gives you their card?
Do you have a good look at their card and comment positively?

Have you had your card put in someone’s back pocket? How would you feel if someone sat on your card ?

The business card zone is a big opportunity to win the best card of the day award, as the majority of people don’t value how important they are.

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Yoga for dummies!

Some months ago I decided to face a fear I have held for many years – bendy people doing ridiculously bendy things at yoga! As a non bendy person from a very early age I thought that this was going to be one small part of life that would happily just pass me by but something told me that this could be a great way to start to value my body and to hell with the lycra crowd! As it happens, lycra is very much pass  and the people that I met at Albany Yoga were seriously normal women who enjoy the brief respite from their busy lives, value their bodies and relish the relaxation sessions that can so often send you to sleep after your lesson. You go at your own pace and you can actually feel your body welcome the stretching.

I am a convert!

The warm, supportive staff at Albany Yoga appreciate that all bodies are made differently and accommodate injuries and sore spots. Their enthusiasm for helping you to create a better body and mind is infectious and habit forming.

Give it a go – no matter what age, size, shape you are.

Have a look at the website at www.albanyyoga.co.nz and email Sue to find a time that suits you. Don’t forget the special LWLS member offer of a free introductory lesson .

Face the fear – it’s worth it!

TEN TOP TIPS: Don’t Just Network – Connect!

Networking. We talk about it; we read about it; we all know what it is.
We like the articles, but do they really tell us the ‘how to’ of networking?
Let’s start by changing the term, it is not ‘networking’ it is ‘connecting’. Not everyone is born to be a great connector, but everyone can learn and everyone should.
Networking is less about direct selling and more about adding value and creating sustainable relationships.
How do we do this? Well, here in brief are my 10 top tips.

1. Add value Have a clear reason for why you are networking, know your objectives. Yes, at the end we all want to do business, but you need to give someone a reason to do business with you and your network. How? You add value to them first. You show credibility. How? You do something that will help them or their clients or their business before you even think of explaining how they can help you.

2. Know your hook and elevator pitch This is not a sales pitch. These are the words that get someone interested in talking to you. It is how you verbally showcase your passion (business) without the hard sell and showcase your credibility. Think about what you currently say when someone asks “What do you do?”. If you begin by saying, “I’m just a” or you describe your job, you need some training in this area. You need to describe what you do, what your business does for clients, the results and outcomes they experience; rather than who you are and your business process.

3. First impressions count Sounds really dumb but dress and act appropriately. If you feel uncomfortable you will act uncomfortably.

4. Take business cards How else will people know how to contact you or find you? Do not force your card on anyone, but if everyone is at an event or having coffee to ‘connect’ then the swapping of the business cards is ritual and accepted.

5. Be able to make small talk Not everyone can launch into the connecting habit. You need to establish a conversation; you need to have something to talk about – even if you scan the day’s news. The best connectors are the ones who ask questions, who genuinely want to help people, who want more information on how to help others.

6. Remember to add value I hear lots of people say “I stopped networking”, or “I left that network because I didn’t get anything out of it”. The question is: “what did you put in?”. Connecting is a give first, give consistently, then receive game. It takes time, but it’s worth the investment.

7. Be polite and respectful No one has to talk to you. No one has to listen. Likewise you do not have to talk to others or listen to them. However, be polite at all times, you may find some people boring, but it is not about the immediate person, it is about their entire network.

8. Stop networking one to one You are not trying to do business with the person you are talking to, seriously. If you do, it is short lived and not sustainable. You are adding value to the person you are talking to so you can do business and add value to their entire network. I’d rather have 30 referrals to work with than just one sale. You never know who in their network is going to be in a position to add value back to you, your business, your clients, your network.

9. Do not waste time with networks that are not working As long as you have maintained a regular attendance, been consistent with your message, added value to others, connected others and nothing has eventuated then move on. Not every event, club, situation will work in with your objectives or your personality. It’s okay to move on.

10. Always follow up, under promise and over deliver Do not be the person with the biggest business card box – that’s not connecting, it’s stamp collecting. Remember to follow up with everyone you meet, and do it regularly. It is this programme of contact that makes your network sustainable and produces results. If you say you will do something then do it. Do it well, do it right and do it ahead of the expectation set. If you are now thinking “well I do all that and it’s not working” then I assure you you are missing something in your connecting skill set. I have been there, I have done everything wrong, I have experienced the nervousness, the laughter and the pain. Believe me if you are following the skills correctly it will work, it will be sustainable.

Sarah Lochead-MacMillan is founder of the SLM Group and author of ‘The Naked Networker’.She is also a member of LWLS and we look forward to welcoming Sarah as a Speaker later this year.