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Building a business card
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August 3, 1998: 12:37 p.m. ET
Properly designed cards can be your company's strongest networking tool
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - How does your business card stack up against the competition?
It's just about impossible to conduct business these days without someone asking you for your card. You pass it out to prospective customers, as well as to established contacts that like to keep your name and number handy.
But many business cards don't pull in much business for their owners -- for a variety of reasons.
Advertising and printing experts say your business card needs to work as hard as you do. That means you should put as much thought into designing your business card as you would any other advertising tool.
"Keep in mind it is your most important marketing tool," said Bill Hopkins, of American Business Centers, in Schenectady, NY. "People will spend $200 on a 3-by-3 inch ad in the paper, but they don't want to spend $75 on a business card that's going to do them a heck of a lot more business."
Does the paper work?
Some business cards aren't worth the paper they're printed on -- literally.
"Start with just the physical qualities of the card," said Gary Matt, of Channel Marketing, in Chicago.
When selecting the paper the card will be printed on, don't just look at the samples of card stock available; feel them. Rub each one between your thumb and forefinger.
How does it feel? Is the texture pleasant?
The heavier the card, the more solid the business image it projects, Hopkins said.
He advises using 80-lb. card stock. Cards printed on thinner papers bend too easily, and don't hold up well in a wallet or Rolodex. The card's corners will be dulled before it leaves your hand.
"Anything lightweight gives the feeling of cheapness," Hopkins said. "A lightweight business card is a lightweight person, a lightweight business."
To see if a card is too flimsy, Hopkins suggests the cup-and-quarters test.
"Put your business card over a coffee mug, take three or four quarters and stack the quarters on top," he said. "That card should remain rigid. If the quarters fall in your cup, the business card is no good."
Your card needs to set itself apart from the flood of thin white paper pouring out of fax machines and photocopiers, said Matt. "That's why it should be on high-quality paper, with a tactile quality to it," he said.
Information, please
Don't be cryptic about your profession when designing your business card.
"Tell somebody more about your business than just your name and address," Matt said. "List some services that you provide. If you're a dentist and your practice is made up of kids, get that across."
Don't have prices and fees printed on your business cards, said Ann Reed, of Millennium Marketing & Advertising, in Chicago Heights, Ill. Such cards have a short shelf life. Even if you update your cards frequently, you'll have several different versions of your card in circulation -- all listing different prices for your product.
Don't jam the front of the card with information; use the back of the card for a more detailed list of services, or a map if your business is difficult to locate.
Also, consider a folding business card. When folded, it's the same size as a standard business card but it gives you twice the printing surface. "It's like a mini-brochure," said Matt.
Avoid slogans unless they truly convey an impressionable message. "Stay away from trite ones like, 'Where the customer is always king,' because it really means nothing," said Hopkins.
So many numbers, so little room
The business card of yesteryear listed, at most, two telephone numbers. Thanks to the growing use of cellular phones, pagers and fax machines, today's cards carry a barrage of telephone numbers.
"We also have web addresses and e-mail addresses on business cards," said Matt. "As a result, some business cards are starting to look very crowded."
The extra phone numbers and addresses often are haphazardly tacked on to the bottom of the card, "and what used to be a beautifully designed business card is all of a sudden no longer a good design," said Matt. "So a lot of people need to (redesign) their business cards with those extra numbers in mind."
Don't shrink the size of the type to make all the numbers fit, experts say. People shouldn't have to squint to read the information.
"You need to gear your type size so that a person of any age group can read it," said Matt.
Typeface on the card shouldn't be any smaller than 10 points -- 8 points in a pinch, said Hopkins. He suggests hand-writing the extra phone numbers on the back of the card before passing it to someone. This adds a personal touch to the business transaction.
Ask yourself whether you truly want everyone to have all your phone numbers.
"If you put your cell phone number on there, people are going to use it," Hopkins warned. Do you want people running up your car phone bill with calls you could have received at the office or home?
For Dick Robert, the answer is yes. His business card for Cedar Falls Real Estate Co. lists his office and home numbers as well as numbers for his fax and pager. His car phone number isn't included, but he passes it out frequently with the other numbers.
"I want people to be able to get hold of me," he said. "When people want information on real estate, they almost always want it (immediately). So I have to be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week."
Stand out, don't stick out
Make your card stand out distinctively, not annoyingly. A standard business card is 3.5 by 2 inches. Don't go bigger than that, because it may not fit comfortably in a wallet. "People wind up chucking it, because it's getting in the way of all their other cards," said Hopkins.
Consider a colored or foil-stamped border to distinguish your card. This will help it stand out in a stack.
As for the color of the card itself, ivory, beige and gray offer a softer look than stark white.
"You want the card to do the speaking for you when you're not around," said Matt. "When someone has a Rolodex of cards and they're deciding who to call, it's a subjective thing. So you want to make sure your card works the way you want it to."
Of course, your cards won't do you any good if you don't pass them out.
"Make it a rule to pass out seven or eight cards every day," said Hopkins.
"I tell my customers: Don't let them sit in a box. Please, use them!" 
--by Margaret Nowak for CNNfn
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