Falling for the free-card trick
There are plenty of good, bad and ugly business cards being handed around, writes Chris Gaylord.
When Jon Knowlden launched his own lawn and land development service this year, he needed publicity badly.
He could not claim much experience - he is only 18 - and his flyers did not attract much enthusiasm.
After a few weeks, he turned to his brother, who works in advertising, for help.
"There was basically no budget so we needed one solid way to get the name out there," says big brother Brandon Knowlden, who is an art director for a United States company called Struck.
"We decided to focus everything on a business card but, not just any card, a business card that would help his business grow quite literally."
They designed a card that looks standard on the outside - name, phone number, and so on - but which hides a pouch of grass seed on the inside.
After handing out the novel card, Jon got meetings at apartment complexes all around the county and has since signed several annual work contracts.
"Without the cards, I was just a kid looking for work," Jon says. "Now everyone comments on how much they like them, and I really stand out."
In an age when people use Google to find gardeners and Microsoft Outlook instead of a Rolodex, standing out is crucial to small businesses.
Many career counsellors agree that, for entrepreneurs, sometimes the best advertisements are on tiny pieces of cardboard.
A classic card, they say, gives companies a professional polish but creative cards can give people such as Jon an edge.
Mark Gallagher, a brand consultant co-author of The Best of Business Card Design 6 says the role of business cards still is much the same but they are taking on all kinds of different shapes.
"In the book, there were, of course, cards from artists and creative types but some of the most impressive to me were for dentists or lawyers."
There's the divorce lawyer whose card is perforated down the centre, the personal trainer whose rubber card is unreadable until you work those arms and stretch out the contact info and many businesses whose cards are printed on specially shaped CD-ROMs.
People today need to cram a lot of lines on to a card. There is an email address, mobile phone number, a website - even an instant-message screen name.
Unfortunately, business cards were standardised long before anyone even had a fax number. Some adventurous companies have tinkered with designs outside of the standard size but they risk frustrating those few people who still maintain traditional business-card holders.
Peter Post, author of The Etiquette Advantage in Business, says that if a card is the "wrong size", it may become a nuisance rather than a provider of information and, at that moment, it has lost its value to you.
Post suggests using the backs of cards for extra information, logos or tag lines and leaving the front for the essentials.
Matt Verzola avoids cluttering up his card by keeping things simple: name, phone, email and the line "just Google me".
"I do a lot of freelance work in a lot of different areas so I thought, why worry about listing everything on a card when Google will do it for me?" he says.
For those seeking a more daring design, Post says there is nothing wrong with slicing away at a card's edges.
"For example, a guy who runs an auto mechanic shop could cut the top of his card into the shape of a car," he says.
Tanya Harper decided to snip off a whole 4cm, creating a square business card for Pangea Salon, a hair stylist shop she opened in Manhattan earlier this year.
She designed the card's bright stripes with a friend using a photo editing program to reflect the teal and orange hues of her store.
Harper says she wanted the card to be "fun and original" - just like the salon.
"We've definitely got a lot of business from the card. I hand it out to people I see on the street who have beautiful hair and sooner or later they show up here ready for an appointment."
Last month, editors at the British car magazine Intersection got to play with their new cards. Printed on a thick stock, the design can be cut and folded into a model race car or police cruiser, with the contact info tucked up on the undercarriage.
The magazine's creative director, Yorgo Tloupas, who made the car cards, says that, as with all products that have been around for years, the constraints of business cards can be challenged.
These are the third and fourth car models the magazine has tried over the years. Tloupas says each has been a hit.
Designers need to be aware. There is a fine line between unique and just strange. Gallagher says they need to be careful as to how far they go.
"Too often, people try to be creative and they come off as cute or clever, instead of brilliant and on the mark," Gallagher says.
Career counsellor Beverly Daniel says she remembers - although not fondly - meeting a financial planner whose business card was made to look like a miniature dollar bill.
"After seeing that, I didn't want to know more. The bill had said enough," Daniel, who runs CareerGrowth Group in New York, says.
Well-designed cards can also jump-start professionals who have had their careers stall on them.
Daniel says cards are critical for people who are "between jobs".
"If you don't have one for networking, it tells people that you're not serious about finding that new job," Daniel says.
She says such a card should read as a mini-resume by briefly explaining your past or desired job position - such as "operations manager with experience in a Fortune 500 company" but do not include your former employer. Some might think you still work there.
"It's understood in many corporate circles that handing out a business card without a company name means they are looking for work," she says.
The Courier-Mail, Saturday 10 November 2007
When Jon Knowlden launched his own lawn and land development service this year, he needed publicity badly.
He could not claim much experience - he is only 18 - and his flyers did not attract much enthusiasm.
After a few weeks, he turned to his brother, who works in advertising, for help.
"There was basically no budget so we needed one solid way to get the name out there," says big brother Brandon Knowlden, who is an art director for a United States company called Struck.
"We decided to focus everything on a business card but, not just any card, a business card that would help his business grow quite literally."
They designed a card that looks standard on the outside - name, phone number, and so on - but which hides a pouch of grass seed on the inside.
After handing out the novel card, Jon got meetings at apartment complexes all around the county and has since signed several annual work contracts.
"Without the cards, I was just a kid looking for work," Jon says. "Now everyone comments on how much they like them, and I really stand out."
In an age when people use Google to find gardeners and Microsoft Outlook instead of a Rolodex, standing out is crucial to small businesses.
Many career counsellors agree that, for entrepreneurs, sometimes the best advertisements are on tiny pieces of cardboard.
A classic card, they say, gives companies a professional polish but creative cards can give people such as Jon an edge.
Mark Gallagher, a brand consultant co-author of The Best of Business Card Design 6 says the role of business cards still is much the same but they are taking on all kinds of different shapes.
"In the book, there were, of course, cards from artists and creative types but some of the most impressive to me were for dentists or lawyers."
There's the divorce lawyer whose card is perforated down the centre, the personal trainer whose rubber card is unreadable until you work those arms and stretch out the contact info and many businesses whose cards are printed on specially shaped CD-ROMs.
People today need to cram a lot of lines on to a card. There is an email address, mobile phone number, a website - even an instant-message screen name.
Unfortunately, business cards were standardised long before anyone even had a fax number. Some adventurous companies have tinkered with designs outside of the standard size but they risk frustrating those few people who still maintain traditional business-card holders.
Peter Post, author of The Etiquette Advantage in Business, says that if a card is the "wrong size", it may become a nuisance rather than a provider of information and, at that moment, it has lost its value to you.
Post suggests using the backs of cards for extra information, logos or tag lines and leaving the front for the essentials.
Matt Verzola avoids cluttering up his card by keeping things simple: name, phone, email and the line "just Google me".
"I do a lot of freelance work in a lot of different areas so I thought, why worry about listing everything on a card when Google will do it for me?" he says.
For those seeking a more daring design, Post says there is nothing wrong with slicing away at a card's edges.
"For example, a guy who runs an auto mechanic shop could cut the top of his card into the shape of a car," he says.
Tanya Harper decided to snip off a whole 4cm, creating a square business card for Pangea Salon, a hair stylist shop she opened in Manhattan earlier this year.
She designed the card's bright stripes with a friend using a photo editing program to reflect the teal and orange hues of her store.
Harper says she wanted the card to be "fun and original" - just like the salon.
"We've definitely got a lot of business from the card. I hand it out to people I see on the street who have beautiful hair and sooner or later they show up here ready for an appointment."
Last month, editors at the British car magazine Intersection got to play with their new cards. Printed on a thick stock, the design can be cut and folded into a model race car or police cruiser, with the contact info tucked up on the undercarriage.
The magazine's creative director, Yorgo Tloupas, who made the car cards, says that, as with all products that have been around for years, the constraints of business cards can be challenged.
These are the third and fourth car models the magazine has tried over the years. Tloupas says each has been a hit.
Designers need to be aware. There is a fine line between unique and just strange. Gallagher says they need to be careful as to how far they go.
"Too often, people try to be creative and they come off as cute or clever, instead of brilliant and on the mark," Gallagher says.
Career counsellor Beverly Daniel says she remembers - although not fondly - meeting a financial planner whose business card was made to look like a miniature dollar bill.
"After seeing that, I didn't want to know more. The bill had said enough," Daniel, who runs CareerGrowth Group in New York, says.
Well-designed cards can also jump-start professionals who have had their careers stall on them.
Daniel says cards are critical for people who are "between jobs".
"If you don't have one for networking, it tells people that you're not serious about finding that new job," Daniel says.
She says such a card should read as a mini-resume by briefly explaining your past or desired job position - such as "operations manager with experience in a Fortune 500 company" but do not include your former employer. Some might think you still work there.
"It's understood in many corporate circles that handing out a business card without a company name means they are looking for work," she says.
The Courier-Mail, Saturday 10 November 2007
