Here’s a cool business card I spotted at LinkedIN.com.
Tag Archives: card
$1500.00 Diamond Encrusted Business Card
4
Okay so you want to make an impression. London based company Black Astrum has garnered some buzz from the likes of Huffington Post and others on the web offering for sale, diamond encrusted business cards. Sold in packs of 25, 50, or 100 the price is about $1500.00 per card. That’s correct one thousand five hundred dollars per card. Now here’s the rub. The company will not sell to just anyone. According to what I have read you must be invited or solicited by Black Astrum. If they feel you are worthy you can buy from them.
There are a number of marketing lessons lurking between each of these diamond chips. The first that occurs to me is the power of exclusivity. Do you have the nerve to turn down a client because their company does not fit your exclusive profile of who you want your client’s to be? Maybe we should all do that more often. Do you even have an idea of what kind of clients you want. Consider this before you just toss this off as arrogant or stupid.
As a related example, I attended an online webinar this week given by a marketing consultant that offers some of the same services I offer. I learned she charges almost $15,000.00 (fifteen thousand dollars) for a one day consultation. Makes me think I may be selling myself a little short. Maybe we all need to be fishing in a bigger pond.
Another lesson is to ask “what does your business card say about you?” Are you just trying to get the cheapest deal you can find? Are you maybe getting a nice card but then you don’t want to give them to anyone because you determine no one is worthy? I have seen this happen often. Would you spend $150.00 on each business card? How about $15.00? What about $1.50? The average card is closer to three cents and many people act like that’s too much to invest in a potential client.
The third marketing lesson is the idea of offering a seemingly outlandish product for the purpose of getting free publicity. How could you elevate your product or service to a seemingly outlandish level? What would you have to do to offer your product or service for 1,000 times the current price?
Add three zeros to your average price then ask what you would have to do to get that price. For example my book sells here for $15.00. If you are the sole owner of your business, and have been in operation for at least two years, and are stuck trying to figure out how to market or position your product or service; for $15,000.00 you can get my book and one full day of personal consultation with me (lunch included) just email reno(at)renoweb.net for more details.
Stop and consider some of these questions. I would love to see some comments.
Referral Business Card
My friend Bob sells an entertainment video DVD for cats called VIDEO CATNIP. With every DVD purchased he includes a business card that the buyer can give to a friend saying “My Cat Loves Watching the DVD Video Catnip and I know yours will too!” This is a great way to stimulate a referral because it gives your referral partner an easy way to pass on your information. The card includes the product price, URL and a toll free ordering number. Think about how you might use a business card to encourage your happy customers or clients to pass the word about your product or service. Remember business cards are cheap so it does not matter how many are discarded, what matters are the few that actually get passed a long.
Five Key Elements of Business Image Design
by Ginger Marks (Guest Blogger)
What is a business image? It is the unspoken representation of your business. It defines how others perceive what you do and who you are. Simply said, it is your business identity. The business that has no business image in place actually has a poor business image. Therefore it is important they you create an image today if you haven’t already done so.
When you consider what you want your business image to evolve into, think about the way you would want to be perceived. Would you personally go out in public without being properly groomed? I doubt it. The same holds true with your business. Things like, lack of stationary and re-used packaging illustrate to your customers that you are too cheap to or don’t consider them valuable. While you may think that being fugal, pinching a penny here will cut your bottom line, they may conceive this seemingly insignificant act to mean that you may not be in business the next time they need your services.
What are the critical components of a professional business image? There are several pieces to be considered. While the whole may be different for each individual business owner, there are five key elements that make up a solid business image that must be addressed. Can you guess what those five would be?
Let’s put our puzzle together.
- Business Name & Tagline
Your business name is vital to you. It is one piece that cannot be ignored or taken lightly. Because you will carry this name with you for many years to come great care should be taken in the selection. It is not unheard of to change your business name, however each time you do you risk losing customers. So think carefully, get input from trusted friends and decided on the name that best fits your product or service.
Your business name should easily reveal who you are where your tagline should reveal what you do. Keep it simple. A long and complicated tagline is easily forgotten or confused. Take a cue from the corporate giants, short and sweet, direct and to the point, make for memorable taglines. See if you know these taglines. Most of these I am sure you will recognize are:
It’s the Real Thing
You’re In Good Hands
Bring Out the Best
Fly the Friendly Skies
The Ultimate Driving Machine
And my personal favorite
We Make YOU Look GOOD!
Here are the answers, how’d you do?
It’s the Real Thing – Coke
You’re In Good Hands – Allstate
Bring Out the Best – Hellmann’s
Fly the Friendly Skies – United
The Ultimate Driving Machine – BMW
We Make YOU Look GOOD! – DocUmeant Designs & Publishing
Be sure your tagline contains two important elements, that of emotional and functional words. It needs to quickly describe what you do. If you want to open a pet store, don’t simply name it The Pet Store, that’s a little stale. Try something memorable like, Paula’s Pet Emporium or Perfectly Petaculous. One note on personalizing your business name, if there is even a slight chance that you may want to sell your business in the future, leave off the personalization. I am sure given the choice, as a buyer, you would prefer not to buy the business just to turn around and have to change the name and lose those loyal clients.
- Logo
Selection of your logo is of paramount importance. The three things to remember in designing your logo are that it is easily recognizable, matches the look and feel of what you wish to portray and the colors enhance the image.
When deciding on your logo a bit of soul searching and research before you begin the process is a very good place to start. Find out what is out there already, don’t imitate, be unique and creative. Use the competition as a starting point to give you some ideas, DON’T copy!
The colors you choose should be carried throughout all of your business materials. If you use red and green or blue and white – stay with them when designing your website and stationary.
Speaking of stationary, let’s move on to the importance of well designed business materials.
- Stationary
Stationary items that should be considered are letterhead, envelopes, business card, and forms. Your local office supply store has a number of business forms available for your use at a reasonable cost. Nevertheless, what do your customers think or perceive when they receive them? Does it show permanence, longevity and commitment? Spending just a little more time and money to create forms and stationary that are uniform can greatly affect your business’ perceived value.
- Marketing materials
Marketing materials should always carry your business identity. These items may be as small as a pen with only the name and address of the business. Items in this category should include brochure(s), flyers, coupon, gift certificates, card and postcards, and t-shirts, hats, and other giveaway items. Pens are often the giveaway item of choice; people tend to hold on to them, and if lost or shared the new owner has your information. We call this “shelf-life” or your product’s “life cycle.”
- Storefront/Website
As mentioned earlier, your image gives your business a uniform look and feel when all of the elements retain a oneness. Your storefront/website is no exception. Whether online or offline this is your main source of customer interaction. Solidify your presence and demonstrate your credibility and reliability quickly. Let them know within the first few minutes what you do and how well you do it by presenting your unique business identity in the forefront of your business location.
Take a step back from your business; look at it through your customer’s eyes. If need be poll your customers to get a clearer vision. Once you have decided the image you want to represent you, use through your entire business. Be it fun and whimsical or clean and professional, your image is an unspoken representation of your business, becoming its identity. As such, it will speak for you more clearly than words. When you have a complete business identity it ensures your customer will easily recognize who you are, what you do and demonstrate your competence.
I challenge you to define or review your current business image. Ask for customer feedback and then solidify your place in the market. With all your pieces carrying your single message you will further exclaim your permanence.
© Copyright 2011 Ginger Marks
Ginger Marks is the founder of the DocUmeant Family of Companies, We Make YOU Look GOOD! For more information, visit http://www.documeantdesigns.com/. Her annual edition of Holiday Marketing Guide, Your business-marketing calendar of ideas is available at http://www.HolidayMarketingGuide.com. She also offers a wealth of knowledge through her ezine Words of Wisdom available on her website.
Awesome Sleight of Hand Card trick
I had this guy do this cool sleight of hand card trick to help promote my book.
Please re-tweet or otherwise share if you enjoyed it.
Vintage Card -South Bend Pulley
Designers today can take a tip from many of the business cards printed in the 19th and early 20th Century. These cards are full of information and presented in an artistic manner that is simply lacking today in spite of our advanced technology. Much of this may be due in part to the aesthetics of the post modern era and the idea of “less is more.” But look at the sense of balance combined with attention to detail and shear artistry exhibited in this example provided by Halcyon Rare Books of Adams, TN. The cards of this era were painstakingly etched, reflecting the craftsmanship of their time, with great care to faithfully represent the product being sold and to convey an image that would resonate with the intended customer.
Vinatage Business Card - South Bend Pulley
This example of South Bend Pulley proudly announces its business as manufacturers of Wood Split Pulleys with Iron Hubs and Iron Bushings; no doubt the state-of-the art pulley technology of the day. The card displays the names and titles of each of the company’s key personnel, includes a detailed drawing of its product and presents it all on a decorative bed of roses adding a sense of elegance and good taste to an otherwise cold and industrial enterprise. The shaded hand drawn font is effective and unique.
The main criticism I have of this card is the repetition of the “South Bend” which appears four times on the card. Arguably the redundancy may be there to reinforce the name however the South Bend, IND on the bottom of the card could have easily been left off with no harm to the message. In fact it appears to me to have been an afterthought as it is perilously close to the bottom and is rendered in a font that is less delicate than the rest of the card.
I believe this is a business card that company president M.F. Milton would have been proud to hand out when calling on captains of industry who might be in a position to use his product. It is important to note that people do business with other people and this card suggests that he and his associates are Victorian gentlemen of refinement.
Photo courtesy of www.HalcyonRareBooks.com .
My Essential Message
In this challenging economic climate, businesses that effectively promote themselves for the purpose of capturing their share of the limited opportunities available will be the businesses that survive and prosper.
For small business owners who derive the majority of their clients from a local geographic area, building word-of-mouth referrals is essential.
Web based social networking is the current phenomenon. It is effective and inexpensive but it is also slow and time consuming. For this reason there is new buzz about face-to-face networking. It also is cost effective – – but faster paced. Both the advantage and disadvantage is that one has a farther geographic reach than the other. In my judgment these two networking approaches are not in competition with each other. They are two tools that look similar but achieve different objectives. Think of them as a flat head versus Phillips screwdriver. Would you discard one because you have the other? I think not. Neither should these two networking approaches compete for space in your marketing tool box.
In my book “Turn Your Business Card Into Business” I provide readers with the fundamentals of building entrepreneurial business relationships and encourage them to consummate the deal with a business card.
I am available to lead business mixers, business card swaps and networking events. I have also personally trained thousands of salespeople in hundreds of companies how to prospect effectively. Trade show exhibitors who use my book as a promotional gift for their distributors or salespeople can contract to have me on hand at their booth to sign books or talk about effective networking.
I will be quoted in an article that will appear in Entrepreneur Magazine in June 2009. There is more information and a press kit at www.businesscardtobusiness.com .
Poker Chip Business Cards
Who said business cards have to be rectangles? I just ran across this unique “business card” while surfing the web. Though this gets awfully close to being classified as a promotional item technically anything that succinctly conveys your business message and contact information can be considered a business card. Promotional items are generally described as useful. Since this is not really “useful” as much as it is simply thought provoking or interesting, why not a poker chip business card. If a poker chip says something about you, the product or service you provide, or the industry you are in, a poker chip business may be just the thing to get the attention of your potential clients and have them remember you. If you want to learn more about poker chip business cards visit http://www.pokerbusinesschip.com .