BUSINESS CARD MARKETING

Using Business Cards As Part of Your Marketing Strategy Is a Good Idea. Don't Be Normal. Here Are Some Great Tips.

Take just about any business card and look at it. Looks familiar, right? Business card marketing usually fails because no Marketing Principles are applied. Learn from these tips to see an increase in the effectiveness of your business card marketing.

Business Card Marketing: Name Placement

Don't put your name in the top left corner. Even though most people will forget your name or your business' name, everyone still puts it in the top left corner. Put your service or product category there. People who save and file your card will then be able to find it in their rolodex or business card booklet. Then, when they are looking for your service, they are much more likely to find your card.

Business Card Marketing: The Offer

Make an offer or promise. Then, include a call to action regarding fulfillment of that offer or promise. The difficulty here is that you need to do it in under twenty words. Figure out your unique selling proposition. Use the promise to highlight it in a way that calls for the reader to do something about it.

Business Card Marketing: The Freebie

Give away something for free. Set up an autoresponder or a webpage on your site that gives away a free report or manual. HostGator provides free autoresponders with their hosting services (as do most of the Inexpensive Website Hosting Services). Aweber provides a complete service dedicated to response marketing.

Use this aspect of business card marketing to build a list of names you can market to subsequently. If the person reading the card can get something for free, he will likely hold onto it. Plus, this is a call to action. He will take action to get the freebie, and you'll get the opportunity to contact him again.

Additionally, be sure that your free report has another action step that will lead people back to your website to make a purchase of the product/service that you supply.

Business Card Marketing: Include Your URL

Include your URL on the card. You must provide a website address, and it must be YOUR website. If you weren't able to Choose Your Domain Name so that it is reasonably short, use a link shortener (see How to Use Link Shorteners) to shrink it so that it will fit.

Nothing screams "I'm a rookie, avoid me!" like going to cookie-cutter, non-owned website (like geocities, before they went belly up). Having your own website gives you a measure of instant credibility.

Once you have your own website up and running (How to Make Your Own Website!), you can provide infinitely more information than you could ever hope to fit on a business card. So, make sure that the card draws people to your website. Make sure your freebie encourages them to come back to your website for the benefits it can provide them. Your website can have entire pages devoted to selling your products or services. Your card can't.

Business Card Marketing: Conclusion

Business card marketing is not rocket science. But, most people mess it up because they are too fond of prominently displaying their own name. Follow the guidelines above, and you will have far more success with your business cards than the average joe will.

Next up? A few comments on Human Nature Marketing. Then some tips on How to Use Social Networking.