When she got her letterhead paper printed and shipped to her, she called me right away.  The shade of purple that I designed the logo in and the shade they printed in were not even close!  One was blue and the other was purple.  Then she pulled out the business cards she received.  Thankfully they looked much more rich in color and true to what we were desiring, although not to my perfection.  The bigger problem for me was the inconsistent branding look that she now had to work with.  That is like printing Target’s logo in a lighter shade of red than what we see on EVERY piece of collateral they have.  You see that shade of red anywhere and you think of Target!  I even see random people wearing that color of shirt and khaki pants at the mall and I assume they just came from working at Target.  That specific shade of red symbolizes that store to me.  Same goes for UPS’ brown.  Always the same shade of brown, never anything different.

The printing company they used is one of those, very common, cheap companies on-line offering so many free items if you just place an order with them.  It is so enticing as a new business owner, but I want to caution you!  Don’t invest in the designing fees for your marketing materials to only have them come across as very poor once printed.  That will only reflect your business to your customer and probably not do you any good, a bad investment.

• The good double-duty business card - Using your business card for more than just telling who you are and what you do.  Print a coupon or special offer on the backs of your cards.  Include them with invoices to current customers.  If you offer a referral incentive, print it on the card.
• The not-so-good double-duty business card – Use your business card to focus on one business, not multiple. Someone whose card indicates they ‘do it all’ might be perceived as the infamous “Jack-of-all- Trades, Master of None.”  This is especially true if you use the same business card for two or more different businesses (such as your part-time real estate business and your part-time computer repair business).

If you are trying to break into a specific specialty within the same business (such as newsletter design or Web design), design a separate business card to give to your target market. Depending on your business, you might want to have a fun card and a serious card.

Business cards serve many purposes but their primary purpose is to tell what you do and give the recipient a way to contact you.

Minimum Information for a Business Card

Other information is optional but as a minimum the business card should usually contain:

• Individual’s Name and/or Business Name
• Individual’s Title or some other descriptive text to indicate what the person does if it’s not obvious from the business name
• A way (preferrably multiple ways) to contact the person — could be phone, fax, email, web page, mailing address, street address, etc.

It is not necessary to but a complete listing of services or products on the business card.  Keep it to the essentials.  Use brochures and personal interviews to disclose the full range of services or products offered.

• Orientation – Horizontal layouts are the most typical, most widely used format for business cards.
• Name – Whether using a horizontal or vertical arrangement, the person’s name or the business name are usually the most prominent text item on the card.  It is usually placed in the center or upper half of the card and emphasized with a larger or bolder font.
• Contact – Contact information is usually placed in the lower half of the card (left, right, or centered). The preferred method of contact (such as phone number or email) is often emphasized with a larger size, bolder font, or more prominent placement.

My husband works with sales for a major bank in the US and he keeps telling me that research shows many people will through a tri-fold brochure in the garbage before they even look at it.  Being that I create those for clients frequently, I don’t like hearing that.  That is what I was getting ready to create for myself!  Only problem is that  I just couldn’t bring myself to do this without adding a creative twist making the brochure a different size or adding some type of embellishment… but, that is when the price went up too…  I can’t win.

So I thought some more…  With social media changing so much I find myself spending so much time on perfecting my website as that is my  main reference for my business when potential clients want to see my work.  In my field, it is key.  So with that knowledge and thought process behind me AND my website finally starting to take final shape, it is time for me to create some postcard “teasers” for my business.  For me and my business, that is the best bang for my buck I believe!  Stay tuned, I will post it when I am done.

This logo was created for a new midwifery care business here in the Des Moines area.  Their goal was to make sure women understood that they offered services for all ages.  This logo was designed with that vision in mind.  Showing how women of all ages (and sizes were used to represent that) are their target market.