Does Your Card Mean Business?

Before I left for Tokyo on business some years ago, a Japanese friend told me two things. First, that I should have my business cards printed in Japanese as well as English. And, second, he said, “take a ton of ‘em.”

I guess I didn’t listen closely enough to the second part or maybe I just didn’t believe him. I thought a box of 500 would be enough, but after only several days of a 2-week tour, my supply was running low and I got stingy. In fact, by the start of the second week I looked like Scrooge handing out bonuses at Christmas.

In Japan, the exchange of business cards is a formality. It happens at the time of introduction to new business clients or prospects. Before anything is said, the cards are exchanged and everybody gets one. Everybody!

The average business card is a good way to advertise, however, most are not used to their full potential. For example, is anything printed on the back of yours? If not, you’re wasting valuable space. Big-company executives can get by with plain cards that show the executive’s name, company and phone number, but a small entrepreneur should offer a lot more information. Every bit of advertising space should sell for you. As long as you’re paying for the cards, you should make them work as hard as possible. Right?

If you’d like to get more bang out of your business card… think of it as a portable billboard or a mini-brochure. Naturally, it should include your name, phone number and logo. But, you should also have a well thought out statement of benefit and as much body copy as you can fit.