When designing and printing your business cards, there are an infinite number of things you can do. Unfortunately, some people take great liberties with their business cards and do things that cause more harm than good.
1.Too Much Clutter – It’s tempting to fit everything you can about you onto your business card, along with your picture, some quotes, and then a photo of your cat. But resist the temptation to clutter up your business card with the unnecessary. Too much clutter leaves your business card unattractive and less professional. Learn the techniques of white space when designing your business card.
2. Not Stating What You Do – OK, so you’ve decided to clean up your business card a little bit and remove the non-essential. Keep it short and to the point. But one thing you should never take off is what you do. People have stacks of business cards they go through to find someone or something. If they are sifting through cards. it is highly unlikely they will remember what you do if it’s not written on your business card. A common place to put your Title or Service is directly under your name.
3. Be Obnoxious – If you haven’t heard the story, Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, once had the title of “I’m CEO, Bitch!” on his business card. Being the founder of the biggest social network on the planet does not mean you can be obnoxious or pretentious. It’s more true when you’re looking for investors that will make or break your business. Business cards should be professional no matter who you are and what you do. People will not take amateurish business cards seriously, and will skip over them or throw them in the bin.
4. Square Business Cards – You can be as creative with your business cards as you want. Glossy, rounded corners, die-cut – the options are limitless. But one thing you do not want to do is deviate from the standard business card size.
It may seem unique and “cutting-edge” to be that one, oddly shaped business card in a stack, but it’s not. It’s annoying. Business card holders, scanners, and every other tool related to business cards are designed for the standard size card.
