Guest Post: The Branding of Business Cards

January 4, 2008 at 1:36 pm | In Networking, People, Personal Branding, Success Strategies, guest post | 13 Comments

This guest post is from my fellow personal branding colleague and friend, Hajj E. Flemings.  Hajj is a brand strateHajj Flemingsgist, blogger and author of “A Brand YU Life,” which you can go pick up at Amazon.com.

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Personal branding is a lifestyle, a 24 hour-a-day/7-day a week activity with many touch points, one of which is your business card. Does your business card (calling card) prompt people to call you? It should compel people to want to do business with you, it should communicate your message, your brand, who you are and what you do. Your business cards will go places you might not get to and stay longer than you do.  In some cases business cards stay in files and folders for years before they are used.
Personal branding is about making a positive impression. You can tell a lot about a person by their business card. Listed below are a few points to consider with business cards.

1. Be Branded: Communicate your brand with your business cards. Your cards should be consistent with your online presence.

2. Establish an email address with your dot.com: Using free email accounts (i.e. yahoo and gmail) for business purposes, communicates that you are not serious about business. (i.e. www.hajjflemings.com)

3. Quality is Important: Do not use inkjet printed cards or cards printed with your home computer.

4. Give and Take: Never give a business card without getting one in return. Be prepared, take business cards everywhere you go.

5. Be Visible:  Add your picture (remember you are the brand). Take professional pictures, it is worth the investment.

6. Be Creative:  Think outside the box, personal branding is about distinguishing yourself in a positive way.  Do something different, the world is filled with common business cards of common people. If you are stumped for ideas go to www.flickr.com and do a search for business cards.  You will see more business cards than you know what to do with.

7. Create a Tagline:  The tagline must communicate your brand.

Please remember to include your basic contact information.  I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met when I am networking who don’t have business cards, have cards without the proper information, or have a card that does not convey what they offer. My database tripled last year and business cards were an important part of that. Personal branding is about authenticity so the design should fit your personality and brand. Have fun and create an effective business card that people remember and want to use.


13 Comments »

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  1. GigglePrint.com is a great place to start looking for business cards. They have a huge selection of templates to choose from. They provide full color printing and allow you to upload your logos and images to personalize your cards.

    They have a standing offer of 250 free cards. You only pay shipping.

    They are worth checking out. http://www.giggleprint.com

    Comment by Sondra — January 4, 2008 #

  2. All great points especially the “Be Branded” point. Being one of the herd is a sure way to get devoured (Ever seen those wildabeast crossing the river…).

    Regards,
    Chief Show Officer

    Comment by Chief Show Officer — January 4, 2008 #

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  4. Thanks for the great tips! Although they seem basic, it is the obvious information that is often overlooked and forgotten about. I plan to implement some of your suggestions right away for my own business cards! Thanks again!

    Comment by Erica DeWolf — January 5, 2008 #

  5. Simple, but useful tips. Thanks. Just a couple of thoughts I’d like to add on.

    One useful place to get cards (at least in my opinion) is Moo. What I like about them is that they give you the option of having a variety of cards.

    For example, my blog has the tagline “Let your true colors shine through”. So the cards I made revolve around the simple concept of colors. But in 100 cards, there are >10 different color patterns. That means that not every card is the same. For me, that’s one way of making it more personal/unique.

    Secondly, just a simple statement that I read online, and so far one of the best advice I’ve seen regarding business cards. The best business cards start a conversation. A lot of ways to do that, and the tips you’ve given here are great practical suggestions for it.

    Comment by Derrick Kwa — January 6, 2008 #

  6. I’m curious. If you work for a corporation and have no control over your business cards, should you get personal ones? And if so, do you give both out when you network?

    Comment by macengr — January 7, 2008 #

  7. [...] out this article on the branding of your business card. Share and Enjoy:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover [...]

    Pingback by Personal Branding: The business card — January 8, 2008 #

  8. These are all great tips. Thank you. I love that you suggest carrying a nice pen. It’s the little touches that I think work in your favor. One thing I always suggest to people is to wear nice shoes. Scuffed shoes are never pretty.

    Comment by Kerry — January 14, 2008 #

  9. [...] conversations ended with an exchange of business cards and the encouraging, “Give me a call if I can ever help out” but nothing more. Once I scored a [...]

    Pingback by What Business Cards and Kissing Have In Common | Employee Evolution — February 13, 2008 #

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    Pingback by Business » Guest Post: The Branding of Business Cards Personal Branding Blog … — March 11, 2008 #

  11. Late to the thread, but I wanted to add this: while a dot.com email address *looks* better, it won’t be as deliverable as a gmail.com address. So I actually recommend to everyone that you should get your.name@gmail.com. Then, you can use variations on that (your.name+personal-branding-log@gmail.com) to track specific posts you do.

    Comment by wfeigenson — August 20, 2008 #

  12. [...] was quoted in the Boston Globe today on business cards. This is a real big deal for me, especially because I was interviewed the week of my 25th birthday [...]

    Pingback by Quoted in the Boston Globe on Branded Business Cards « Personal Branding Blog - Dan Schawbel — September 21, 2008 #

  13. [...] was quoted in the Boston Globe today on business cards. This is a real big deal for me, especially because I was interviewed the week of my 25th birthday [...]

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