Tool cards
BY CHUCK GREEN A smart business card is a “tool“—a device that aids in accomplishing a task. It gives your contact a reason to keep your card within reach—it adds function to form. Yet, in an effort to save a few pennies in printing, millions of business cards are printed with a blank back—surrendering half the real estate on what is often our most widely circulated print piece. What should you include?
Simple: create a card with information worth keeping--a list, conversion chart, table of measurements, glossary of industry terminology, and so on--something that encourages your prospect to keep your card within reach. Some examples:
A bike shop proprietor incorporates a metric conversion table:
A copywriting teacher provides a list of proofreader's marks:
A guitar teacher includes basic chord diagrams:
A cafe shares a recipe that has brought it acclaim:
A pastor provides a list of local help line phone numbers:
Other prime elements to consider including on your business card:
PEOPLE
Name of person
(Nickname) in parentheses
Title
Affiliations
Professional/academic designations
PLACE
Pronunciation of unusual names
Department/division name
Organization street address
Floor/suite/mail stop
Alternate P.O. box address
City/state/state abbreviation
Zip+4/postal code
Country
Home street address
DETAILS
Office hours
Time zone
Appointment fill-in
Map/directions
COMMUNICATION
Voice phone/extension number
Toll-free phone number
Mobile phone number
Pager number
Fax phone number
Home phone number
E-mail address
Web site address
ORIENTATION
Name of organization
Defining phrase
Product/service categories
Resource info
Special offer
Invitation
Illustration/photo
Logo
Organizational affiliations
No defining phrase? Check out “Create a Defining Phrase” (a PDF article) the Printouts page.
A few of these examples originally appeared in one of my Smart Art columns for Before & After Magazine. If you like what you see, you'll love B&A. We sell Before & After Page Design, a book I contributed to, in the ideabook.com store. Chuck Green