While ink on paper business cards are great for marketing, they aren't so great for making your contact information accessible on your prospect's pda or email program. When your prospect gets back to the office, chances are that your business card ends up in a pile with dozens of other cards to be entered into the computer "someday". You don't want to wait for that day, you want to be in your prospect's contact list today.
Enter rolobiz.com. This clever little startup will turn your business card into a vCard, which is a common format for transferring contact information electronically. This format is supported by almost all major email and contact management applications, including Outlook, Palm, Thunderbird and Mail.app. All you have to do is register, enter your contact information, and print a link to this information on your business card. When your prospect types the web address for your vCard into their web browser, they will get a file that should be opened and automatically loaded by their contact manager of choice.
To see an example of how this works visit my rolobiz card (note: information is fake). This link will download the vCard immediately. Your card can also be viewed online as well. I don't know why someone would need to do that, but the function is available. You are able to create as many business cards as you have businesses. If you have 3 or 4 small enterprises running at the same time, you can have a unique vCard for each one.
Allowing someone to easily grab your contact information electronically is one of those little things that will make you stand out from your competition. The easier you make it for prospects to contact you, the more likely they will remember you when they need your services. Give rolobiz a try. Signing up is easy and free, and it takes just moments to create an electronic card.
(I am not affiliated with rolobiz in any way, just impressed with their unique solution.)
Monday, September 10, 2007
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Free Business Card Templates
Free business card templates can be a blessing to the small business person. Sometimes you just need to get a business card out. You have an upcoming conference, or a meet and greet at the Chamber of Commerce, and you need something to take with you to hand out.
Maybe you are just getting started and don't have the budget for a pro designer and offset printing. You have a perfectly good inkjet printer right next to your computer. Free business card templates can help you put together a decent looking business card without a huge expense.
Trust me, even though I write about everything I see wrong with business cards, and printed marketing in general, I understand the world of the startup. Tight budgets, heck, no budgets, but you have a dream, and an awesome idea to get started. You can't get caught up in trying to get things perfect, you need a business card, and stationary, that will get you off the ground.
Here is a list of a few free business card templates web sites you can look at to get started. Watch out for terms of use, and watermarks that say "SAMPLE" that will keep you from being able to use the template commercially.
www.free-business-card-templates.com : The name is self explanatory. This site provides a few easy to use images that you can use as the background for your business card. The resolution is high enough that you can use these images in offset printing if you ever want to.
www.businesscardland.com/home/free-templates.html : If you are handy with Photoshop or Illustrator, you can use these free business card templates as a starting point for a layout.
www.templates4cards.com/templates.php?page=1 : This site provides free business card templates as Photoshop files or TIFF images. TIFF images can be placed in just about any software on the market today, and you can type your personalized information over the top.
I will be posting some of my own free business card templates on this site soon. I am hoping to make a habit of providing at least one template each week for you to download and use for your business. These templates will be truly free with no watermarks or restrictions on use. If you want to blow it up and wrap your car with it, that's fine with me :)
Maybe you are just getting started and don't have the budget for a pro designer and offset printing. You have a perfectly good inkjet printer right next to your computer. Free business card templates can help you put together a decent looking business card without a huge expense.
Trust me, even though I write about everything I see wrong with business cards, and printed marketing in general, I understand the world of the startup. Tight budgets, heck, no budgets, but you have a dream, and an awesome idea to get started. You can't get caught up in trying to get things perfect, you need a business card, and stationary, that will get you off the ground.
Here is a list of a few free business card templates web sites you can look at to get started. Watch out for terms of use, and watermarks that say "SAMPLE" that will keep you from being able to use the template commercially.
www.free-business-card-templates.com : The name is self explanatory. This site provides a few easy to use images that you can use as the background for your business card. The resolution is high enough that you can use these images in offset printing if you ever want to.
www.businesscardland.com/home/free-templates.html : If you are handy with Photoshop or Illustrator, you can use these free business card templates as a starting point for a layout.
www.templates4cards.com/templates.php?page=1 : This site provides free business card templates as Photoshop files or TIFF images. TIFF images can be placed in just about any software on the market today, and you can type your personalized information over the top.
I will be posting some of my own free business card templates on this site soon. I am hoping to make a habit of providing at least one template each week for you to download and use for your business. These templates will be truly free with no watermarks or restrictions on use. If you want to blow it up and wrap your car with it, that's fine with me :)
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
From Your Business Card To Your Website
As I have said before, I love ink on paper. I think business cards, brochures, sales letters and newsletters are some of the best marketing tools around. Even in this digital age, printed materials still rank tops in attracting and retaining customers.
That being said, you can't ignore the web 2.0, social bookmarking, 24/7 online world. Look at your business card. Does it have your website address on it? Why not? If you don't have a website, you'll get covered in a different article. If you do have a website, you need to have your website address - usually called a URL - on your cards.
We live in a 24 hour a day world. Your customers, or potential customers, may want information about your business at 2am. Are you answering the phones at 2am? I sure hope not (unless you run a 24/7 retail business). But your website can be working for you while you sleep. If you include your website prominently on each piece of marketing material, you will drive business through your website at all hours of the day and night. It has really gotten to the point today that a web presence is a mark of trust and stability. If you don't have one, get one. I will cover this in a different article, but it can be so easy to set up a web based storefront or blog that there is really no excuse not to have something out there.
Now remember, next time you have business cards printed, make sure your URL is displayed prominently. You also have to make sure your customers have a reason to visit your site and keep on visiting.
Yeah, yeah, I know - that's another article.
That being said, you can't ignore the web 2.0, social bookmarking, 24/7 online world. Look at your business card. Does it have your website address on it? Why not? If you don't have a website, you'll get covered in a different article. If you do have a website, you need to have your website address - usually called a URL - on your cards.
We live in a 24 hour a day world. Your customers, or potential customers, may want information about your business at 2am. Are you answering the phones at 2am? I sure hope not (unless you run a 24/7 retail business). But your website can be working for you while you sleep. If you include your website prominently on each piece of marketing material, you will drive business through your website at all hours of the day and night. It has really gotten to the point today that a web presence is a mark of trust and stability. If you don't have one, get one. I will cover this in a different article, but it can be so easy to set up a web based storefront or blog that there is really no excuse not to have something out there.
Now remember, next time you have business cards printed, make sure your URL is displayed prominently. You also have to make sure your customers have a reason to visit your site and keep on visiting.
Yeah, yeah, I know - that's another article.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Your Business Card Sucks
I spent 10 years in the printing business doing everything from design to running a press (I was no good at the whole running a press thing). I saw thousands of business card designs pass by my desk, and unfortunately, most of the designs were awful. Too many of these cards had a logo, and some basic type in a boring font, in black ink on plain white cardstock. Some people will tell you that keeping business cards simple and inexpensive is the way to go. In this world of technology, it is just a way to communicate simple information, so don't get too "out there" with your design.
I have one word to say about that -POPPYCOCK (gotta keep it rated G).
Almost without fail, those small businesses who did the standard, el-cheapo business card didn't last very long. More established businesses with boring cards were inevitably stagnating. I believe that if you aren't willing to put a little time and money into your business card, you probably aren't doing much marketing of any kind. Yes, I said marketing. Your business card is a marketing tool. Probably the most underutilized marketing tool in the world. Scratch that, it is probably the second most unused marketing tool. The backside of your business card is the most underutilized marketing tool in the world. If the back of your business card is blank, you are missing out on seven square inches of inexpensive billboard space.
Even though I am no longer in the printing biz directly, I still have a passion for ink on paper. I love to see great design. I have a compulsive need to touch and examine printed materials. I enjoy the chemical inky smell of a working pressroom. I have love for the printing business, and I know how powerful ink on paper can be. Even in this web 2.0 powered world, that I happen to love as well, printed material has a tactile, file it away for later use quality that dots on a screen can't quite capture.
I have one word to say about that -POPPYCOCK (gotta keep it rated G).
Almost without fail, those small businesses who did the standard, el-cheapo business card didn't last very long. More established businesses with boring cards were inevitably stagnating. I believe that if you aren't willing to put a little time and money into your business card, you probably aren't doing much marketing of any kind. Yes, I said marketing. Your business card is a marketing tool. Probably the most underutilized marketing tool in the world. Scratch that, it is probably the second most unused marketing tool. The backside of your business card is the most underutilized marketing tool in the world. If the back of your business card is blank, you are missing out on seven square inches of inexpensive billboard space.
Even though I am no longer in the printing biz directly, I still have a passion for ink on paper. I love to see great design. I have a compulsive need to touch and examine printed materials. I enjoy the chemical inky smell of a working pressroom. I have love for the printing business, and I know how powerful ink on paper can be. Even in this web 2.0 powered world, that I happen to love as well, printed material has a tactile, file it away for later use quality that dots on a screen can't quite capture.
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