30 Creative ways to use Business Cards

tonja

I just got this from one of my uplines and thought I would post as it has some Good ideas ! And hopefully I have put this in the right area LOL
Tonja

2002 By Linda Elizabeth Alexander
On the Back
1. Print a team's sports schedule on the back. Fans will keep them
handy and keep your name in front of them.
2. Print a special discount offer or coupon on the back. People will
keep it because they intend to use the coupon.
3. If you do seminars, print key principals on the back. Your
attendees will refer to them later and think of you.

4. Hand write on the back your "unlisted" 800 number. This adds
value to your card, making people keep it longer because they don't
want to lose the special number.
Ad Specialties
5. Make the business card the ad specialty: Print your company
information on letter openers, CD openers, magnets, pens,
highlighters, keychains, mousepads, mugs, luggage tags, and other
items that people will keep because they are useful.
6. Attach a business card to an ad specialty: For example, give
business card holders as a thank you gift and place your business
card in as the first one. Or, have your card designed as a Rolodex
card.
7. If you routinely give out seasonal gifts or specialties, attach
your business card. Examples: candy canes at Christmas, heart shaped
containers filled with candy for Valentine's Day, or even a sandwich
bag of candy with a card stapled to it.
Unique Places to Put Them
8. Tuck them into the product before delivery: If you are a florist,
cut a hole in it and tie a ribbon around the flowers and through the
business card. If you sell gift baskets, Tuck one inside the basket
before delivering it to your customer. The same goes for Mary Kay or
Avon Cosmetics - place your card in the bag. You've seen how some
restaurants staple a menu to their bags for takeout; if you use bags,
staple your card to the outside of the bag.
9. Send a business card in every piece of correspondence - letters,
invoices, even your electric bill. Sooner or later, those cards will
be used.
10. If you are crafty, incorporate them into your designs: embellish
them with rubber stamps, or blend them with other art projects. You
can also mount them to greeting cards you create and send to
customers and prospects.
11.When mailing out information: Take a number 10 envelope, facing
you and upside down. Fold the envelope in thirds. When you turn it
around, there is a little pocket to tuck your card in. Include it in
the mailing. Using a colored envelope makes the presentation even
more dramatic.
12. Scan your card in and use it as a graphic for when you exchange
links with other websites. The other site can use your graphic as the
link.
13. Place them in library books as if you used them as bookmarks.
Visit bookstores place them in books related to your business.
Keeping Them Handy:
14. Use them as bookmarks so you'll always have some readily
available if you meet someone at school, in the library, on the bus,
or at the park where you like to read.
15. Have your spouse, family, and friends carry some of your cards
with them in case they meet someone who might be interested in your
product or service.
16. Wear them! Use them as nametags at meetings and conferences
instead of the "Hello, my name is ..." type of tags.
17. Keep a stack of cards everywhere you might need them - in your
car, your jacket pocket, your briefcase, your purse or wallet, in
your planner, at home, anywhere you can think of. Then you'll always
have some on hand when you meet a prospect.
When to Use Them:
18. Give them out during your personal meetings when you meet someone
new: at your church, your children's soccer games, at lunch with your
friends when someone brings a guest. To be more polite, you could
have a personal "calling card" printed up with your information to
use in these situations.
19. If you do seminars, have your participants exchange cards with
each other. Have them write a compliment about the person on the back
before they hand them out. Everyone will have a wealth of contacts;
they will remember each other and it will also give participants a
boost of confidence.
20. Ask neighborhood businesses if you may display your cards near
their registers.
21. Tack them to bulletin boards at supermarkets, restaurants, retail
stores and the library - anyplace that has a bulletin board.
22. Give out two cards at a time - one for your prospect or client,
and one for her/him to give away.
23. Place some on the table when you leave a restaurant.
24. Agree to mail the cards of other businesspeople in the mailings
you do, if they will do the same for you. Your networking circle will
grow as your cards are passed around.
How Not to Use Business Cards:
25. Don't give them to a member of the opposite s-e-x in the hopes that
s/he will call you. I have a friend who was told this wouldn't work.
He did an experiment for six months to prove it, and his friend was
right! Sadly, not one woman called him. Although he does have a
girlfriend now! (Sorry, I had to edit one of your words, it set off the word censors, lol! - Anita Wink

)
26. Some people don't give out business cards when they meet a
prospective client. Instead, they send a follow- up note later with
their card enclosed.
Other Types of Business Cards to Have
27. Business card CD-ROM. If you haven't seen these yet, they are a
mini-sized CD that plays in any CD player and has your contact
information on it, as well as an introduction to your business.
28. Email Signature. Put your contact information into a signature
file for email, along with a link to your website (be sure to include
the "http" in order to make it "clickable.")
29. Vcard. These are electronic business cards that recipients can
click on and automatically add to their address books. Do a web
search for "vcard" to find software that supports this technology.
Then use it in all your emails!
30. One consulting company, which works with designers of products
for people with disabilities, prints their cards in Braille. It
reminds their clients how they can help them comply with disability
laws. It also gets people asking for information.
******************************
Linda Elizabeth Alexander is a business writer and marketing
consultant specializing in web content and sales copy
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yvette · Joined: 27 May 2007 Posts: 7

I gave my sister some of my bookmarks and she put some in the ladies' rest room on each floor of her company. They kept being taken, so she kept putting more. Very Happy

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NicoleM · Joined: 16 Jun 2007 Posts: 207

Wow, these are some great ideas!
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DDays · Posted: June 24, 2007, 2:55 am Post subject:

Great article. There are some useful ideas there.

Another good idea is to have a non-standard business card - something that stands out. I put a selection on a recent blogpost that I did if you would like to see.

http://thetallpoppy.blogspot.com/2007/06/do-you-have-boring-business-card-how.html

Some of those are definitely keepers just because of their style.
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Anita · Posted: June 25, 2007, 9:56 pm Post subject:

These are all some really great ideas! Thanks for sharing ladies!

Take care,
Anita Razz

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AmandaLee · Joined: 27 Oct 2007 Posts: 14

but I sell a lot on Ebay and whenever I send a package out I ALWAYS put a few cards into the package!

Amanda
www.affordablemineralmakeup.com/amanda.html
www.theresumeartist.com
amanda@affordablemineralmakeup.com

kellyp42 · Joined: 15 Oct 2007 Posts: 6

Linda, THANKS!!! You rock!!

Those were fabulous helps!!!!

Best wishes!

Kelly Smile

http://www.encreetpapieretmoi.com

SarahBendt · Joined: 05 Dec 2007 Posts: 98

Great tips, thank you for the post.
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Coco · Joined: 12 Dec 2007 Posts: 18

Love the suggestions. Thanks!
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snols82 · Joined: 19 Jan 2008 Posts: 108

These are great! I have a little "extra credit" for the leaving your business card in a library book... Put them in books that relate to your business. And don't forget the magazines!Examples...
I put mine in relationship books
If your products are food-Cookbooks
Candles-Decorating, crafts
Home and Garden-Decorating, crafts, gardening
Makeup-Beauty books
Website developing and such-website books and such(Sorry I am not saavy here!)
Body products-Beauty books
Fitness-Exercise/diet books, low fat healthy living cookbooks
Kids stuff-Expecting mommy books, parenting books
And theres more I know but alas, I can not think anymore right now!
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Anita · Posted: January 27, 2008, 8:43 am Post subject:

Here's my own personal off the top of my head here. Sorry in advance if I duplicate any Wink

I had actually done the library book thing one time. I don't know if anything ever came of it but I figured what would it hurt? I had went to the library to look for some books on a specific business topic. While I was looking around, much to my surprise, I had come across some books with "work at home" as the topic. I think one might have even been called "Working at Home for Dummies". Yeah, I couldn't resist slipping in a few, lol!

It's a little more expensive but for your really good customers/clients, you may consider mugs. I actually used to do this for my downline when I was with The Greeting Cake Company. I would hold monthly contests and for the winners, I would purchase custom made coffee mugs. I had one myself and I kept it at my other part time job to use. I had many people ask me what it was. You never know who might see your message when your customers/clients are having guests, family and friends over for coffee Wink

Oh and you can design custom mugs such as these affordably at Cafe Press . That's where I always got them.

Use a business card whenever you're giving out your phone number and/or email address. Hopefully this info is already on them Wink

Use your business card to give out your phone number - ugh! I was at the hospital and didn't have cards w/ me!

Always have a handful of cards in your purse, diaper bag, soccer bag, ballet bag - anything you may have with you at any time you may run into a possible customer/client. I was so disappointed with myself recently. Long story short, I get "treatments" at the hospital every eight weeks. I always take my laptop along to work while I'm there because I'm there for 3 - 4 hours. Anyway, I very rarely take my purse in with me. Being there so often, some of the nurses are already aware of what I do online. The one nurse couldn't wait for me to come in this last time because she's recently built her own adsense website about her horses (HorsesByApril.com - feel free to stop by, I'm sure she wouldn't mind the traffic since she's just learning.) Anyway, someone there wanted to know more about what I did and I did not have any cards in my laptop case! UGH! Talk about a perfect opportunity blown away. Hmm ... wonder if she still has that post it note I wrote on? Probably not, eh?

Another favorite of mine is business card magnets. They're much more sturdy and useful (everyone has magnets on the fridge) and the chances of them being held onto are a lot higher. Think about it ... what's easier to toss in the garbage? A card stock business card and magnet?

I get mine two different ways. I'm a big fan of Vista Print! They often have a special where you can get a bunch of them for free. You just pay shipping and handling. So, anytime they're having promo like that, I buy and stock up on them. Otherwise, I still buy my business cards from there and then I go to Walmart and buy the peel and stick business cards. You can stick your business cards right to them. (I'm sure you can buy those at many different office supply stores also.)

One last idea I can think of right now is to get your cards designed as a punch card (aka discount card). Basically you would set your card up to have say 10 circles around the border of the card. Everytime someone makes a purchase, you would make a punch, initial it or even stamp it. After 10 purchases, you can offer a special/discount/free gift. You could offer 10% off, free shipping or even free sales tax (remember, YOU still have to pay the sales tax). I'm not positive but I bet you can have this type of card designed at Vista Print also.

I just skimmed over the ideas below and I have to say something about #28. I am just blown away at the number of emails I've had come through my inbox that do not have a signature in them? I really can't believe that, lol! I mean especially with the people that I KNOW have a business?!? Why would you NOT utitlize this?

Okay, I think that's it now, lol. I've done more normal rambling long enough here. But, all this talk did remind me of one little thing that is a bit off topic but somewhat along the same line.

The Power of Print

Let’s face it … Computers and the World Wide Web are taking over almost every aspect of business. Millions and millions and millions of emails are generated every single day. I’m willing to be that the average work at home mom generates hundreds of emails a week herself. Speed is essential. Customers want their orders placed, paid for and notifications sent immediately. As this is by far a huge benefit … let’s not forget the importance of the printed word.

When was the last time you sent a thank you card? No, I don’t mean an eCard. I mean an actual card you can hold in your hands. While everyone else is relying on emails you should stand out and send something via old fashioned “snail mail”.

Thanks for your order…
Make your business stand out and send postcards to customers after they’ve placed an order. Post cards are perfect! This gives your customers something “real” to actually hold. Have them printed with your business logo on them. Do you know how many hands your postcards will go through before reaching your customer? There’s a double plus all by itself! Thank your customer and receive additional promotion! Post cards are small enough they can be held onto for future orders … and trust me … they will be! Don’t forget … postcards are cheaper to mail too!

Look what’s new…
Post cards can also be used to send out updates of new products, specials etc. Again, how many people are going to actually see this before it reaches your customer? Keep your customers (and anyone else who sees them in the meantime) “in the know”.

I know what you’re thinking right now …
It’s cheaper to send emails. It’s more convenient. It’s quicker. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not knocking emails in anyway because they are huge time saver and money saver. I’m just saying it never hurts to stand out a bit. Small businesses and work at home moms have the opportunity to keep customer service alive.

It doesn’t need to be expensive or time consuming either. First of all as mentioned above, the postage is cheaper when you send a postcard versus a letter. Places like Vista Print http://www.mommyshelperonline.com/vista-print.html and Stamps.com make it this much quicker and easier. For example, at Vista Print you can receive 100 full color postcards for only $24.99. You can have them customized with your business logo on them and even have a printed message on the reverse side. All you have to do is sign your name! At Stamps.com you don’t even have to run to the Post Office. For only $14.99 a month you can print your own postage right from home. This has been a huge time saver for me!

For a free trial of Stamps.com go to http://www.stamps.com/freepostage and enter promo code C-5TR8-DB4 during registration to receive $25 in free postage, free digital scale, free supplies kit and a free 4 week trial. Give it a try for free for a month. You have nothing to loose.

Alrighty ... really, I AM done this time, lol! (For now!)

- Anita Razz

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