Do you have a title on your business card such as President, Owner, CEO or something else? In many instances titles are important because they indicate to the recipient what authority you have to represent the company. If you are a Sales Representative you probably have less authority than a Sales Manager or the Director of Sales. But that’s okay because it all depends on how complicated an agreement you are entering into. As agreements get larger in scope or outside the general norm of doing business the prospective buyer might want assurances that he or she is dealing with a person who has the authority to speak on behalf of the company.

Here are a few titles from business cards on my desk :

Business Relations Specialist

President

Author, Musician

Director of Recruiting, Training & Development

Entrepreneur

Retail Sales Consultant

Founder

Branch Manager

Installer

Chief Innovative Advocate

Executive Coach

Financial Representative

Partner

Agent

Associate

Certified Personal Trainer

In the case of sole proprietors and new start-up with less than 100 employees the title CEO may seem a bit overstated even pretentious. Perhaps consider President if you are indeed the corporate president. Otherwise consider Owner. If you do not have a board of directors with an number of other “officers”, then the term CEO means little and can look a little “wannabe”. My core business is web video production so even though I am the owner I have opted for Executive Producer because it sound sufficiently “in-charge” and has a nice video “flair”.

In short think about the title you choose for yourself. It should indicate to people you work with that you have authority without sounding too grandiose.

For more information here is an interesting article on the subject.