Business Cards – Do ‘Em Yourself.
1.08.2008 | Business Development
Business cards… it’s one of those things that you can never seem to get rid of fast enough once you have them. From the first company I worked for that decided to give me a deck, I don’t think I’ve ever ran out of them.
The funny thing is, I’ve also worked at companies where it took them forever to get these made; if they were ever made at all. If I remember correctly, cost or inconvenience was the main reason for the delay. Yep, it sure made me feel good about myself knowing I wasn’t even worth the effort of spending $20-$30 to get some cards made or the 5 minutes to get a name changed on a template.
Can you imagine the client meetings? “Hi, my name is Wei and I’m from so and so Co. I’d give you a card but my company is too cheap to get them made in a reasonable time. Why should you do business with them? Well, apparently they need all the revenue they can get so I can get some cards printed. Please dear sirs, won’t you help?”
Sadly, that’s not an exaggeration.
Now that EasyAutoSales is getting development into full gear and the team anticipates going out and making some sales, I made a point to get the cards made for the team as soon as it was reasonable to do so. In all honesty, anyone with Photoshop or MS Word can make a business card. You can even make them online and print them instantly!
Given the amount of space on a card and the contact information you need to pass through, there’s only so much you can and need to do with the card. While images and fancy layouts help… they’re really not necessary. I’ve yet to decide against doing business with someone because their business card was too bland; lack of cards on the other hand… can be bad for people trying to follow up.
So if by chance you’re in a startup and you haven’t gotten the cards developed, take a few minutes and go do it. It will make you much more prepared for when you’re ready to go out and sell yourself. Who knows, the fact you have cards may just put you leaps and bounds ahead of your more established competition.
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