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In the past few years, we’ve noticed that the "lowly" business card seems to be dropping off in both use and effectiveness. That doesn’t surprise us. The fact that this trend is also mirrored in the lack of new client recruitment by a lot of businesses - isn’t much of a surprise either! The truth is: Not a lot of people these days really know how to use business cards. If you take nothing else away from this page, please read this: Avoid (like the plague) the temptation to creation your own business cards; get a professional. Further, printing your own business cards on perforated stock is more likely to do more damage than good, when you hand them out. The reason to avoid these tempatations in both cases is this: Your business card is making a first impression. Anything that suggests "cheap" or "low quality" is going to be interpreted as they way you do business. It’s just the way people are, and - doing it yourself is never as cost-effective as most people think... (More...) Toward that end, here are some general and specific suggestions: General Carry at least 10-20 business cards with you at all times; even if you are just going to the store for a jug of milk or out for a walk. You never know your luck! Better to have them than not. In fact, keeping a stock of 25-30 in the glove compartment of your vehicle should be a standard practice for everyone. Always give out 2 business cards: One for the person you are talking to and a "spare" so they can give the card to someone else, if they are so inclined. You’d be surprised how often we hear something like: You know, my friend such-and-such was talking about this just the other day... On more than one occassion we have heard that it dawned on them after they walked away that, yes, they did know someone that might benefit from your products and services. Guess what? They had a spare card to give away... In any establishment, like resturants, that have community business card racks that you frequent regularly (or even if you don’t), put out an odd number of cards (5, 7, 9, 11...) and always put out the same number of cards at each location. Why? Simple: The next time you come back, you can "count cards" and see how many were taken. This approach lacks a "personal touch," but anything that gives you an edge these days should not be overlooked. When exchanging cards with someone, do what the Japanese do (it seems to work): Take a moment and make it obvious you are really looking at the card you received and, if possible, make some positive comment about it to the person that gave you their card. It’s called rapport building and a little personal touch goes a long way these days. Realtors™ Like a lot of other businesses, successful Realtors work by networking. After all, the Realtor that assists a client in purchasing a listed property by another Realtor - will never know who they are until the transaction actually takes place! It is commonplace for Realtors showing a property to a prospective client to drop off one of their business cards. If nothing else, it lets the listing Realtor get some feel for how many showings a property is getting. We recommend a more aggressive approach other than the occassional hope that a showing Realtor will drop off their card. What we suggests consists of the following for each property being listed: - A small (up to 6 x 9") basket (wicker or otherwise; you can pick these up for about 10¢ at a lot of yard/garage/rummage sales)
- A 3 x 5" index card with the note: Showing Realtors - Please leave your business card in the basket (and take one of mine) printed on the card and left with, or attached, to the basket.
- 25 (or any other odd number) of the listing Realtor’s business cards left near the basket. (Actually 26 to start with, see next item). Count the cards to find out how many were taken.
- Important! Fan out the cards to encourage people to take one. A "neat stack" is a small presentation; fanning the cards out makes a BIGGER presentation. Worse, a nice neat stack suggests it should be kept neat and, believe it or not, people will hesitate to take a card!
- More! Take one card out near the middle of the fanned presentation -- but don’t straighten up the cards after you do so! The resulting "mess" suggests that someone else has already taken a card! (Which strongly "hints" to other visitors that "it’s okay to take a card.")
To keep up the stock of listing Realtors cards, we also recommend Realtors carry a box of not less than 500 additional business cards in their personal vehicle at all times. That is not just for replenishing the stock in houses. If they unexpectedly find themselves in a "bulk card give-away" situation - they’re covered. It happens... This is the fastest and least expensive way to get to know other Realtors throughout a given area and is a quick way to get a rough guage on how many Realtors are showing the property to their clients. Services Clubs Service Clubs like Rotary, Kawanis, Lions clubs?! Sure! The are businesses, after all*. And, sadly, hemorrhaging members left and right. That said: How do conventional business recruit new clients? A business card is about a cheap an advertising media as you can find! We suggest clubs get a "generic" business card created for the club (not specific members) that includes the usual Who, What, When and Where, along with a realiable contact phone number and email address -- and website address. Have the members give out those cards "with a vengence," just like they would to promote their own business. If necessary, have members write their phone number/email address on the back of the card to do followups. Guess what? New members happen... Giving out 10,000 cards per year for any given service club is not unreasonable. ** If anything else, the volume of cards given out may (maybe?) indicate to club officers just how serious members are about recruiting new participants. What else? These are just the "most obvious" uses for a business card; there are a ton of others. At HirMon we "think outside the box" when it comes to promotional materials and our track record suggests that the lowly business card might actually be the most powerful tool in your promotional arsenal. For example: Did you know that we can set up a business card so someone can access your website -- without having to type in a single character? That alone suggests to the younger generation that you are savvy enough of a business person to mix the "old with the new" and are probably worthy of being heard. Have a question? Contact us.
* According to the United States Supreme Court, anyway. Back in the late 70s the Court’s ruling was that services clubs are businesses and as such are subject to all laws that apply to businesses, including non-discrimination laws. As a side note: It is for that reason that "Ladies Auxillaries" of various clubs also happened to "disappear" in the late 70s. Anti-discrimination laws insisted that all members, male or female, had to be accommodated equally -- as members of the primary club; not a "secondary" organization. ** Assuming a 30 member club, that is only about 30 cards per member per month! If any given member can’t find one person a day to give a card to, we have to wonder why?
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