Business cards – a thing of the past or an evolution into the future? We still need business cards to hand out when people ask for them as well as for online. A business card is an extension of your corporate that also affects your brand. As a small business, branding your company effectively starts with your message and rolls over into your marketing materials. As social media plays a stronger role in marketing strategies, it is advantageous to showcase your efforts and creating a cool business card, printed and online is becoming increasingly more popular.
Online there are v-cards through Outlook that are plain and are almost becoming so yesterday with Card.ly and now Magntize.com, v-cards seem like they are becoming so yesterday. With all the the various social media networking profiles, how do we get it all into a business card that still looks cool?
Tips for Creating Cool Business Cards
Printed:
1. White Space. And lots of it. There is a lot to cram in however if it is hard to find contact information, the card is pretty much pointless.
2. Colors. Colored cards are great however keep in mind what colors blend well together. Red vibrates against certain colors and is hard to read.
3. Content. Contact information yes, social media profiles, which ones? The ones you are most active on and showcases your personal brand or business brand. A great example of this is the Army Card that I picked up at Blogworld. It is larger than the standard business card but it works and is very well done.
Online:
1. Card.ly. First out of the gate in online business cards, Card.ly is a free service with an offering of a premium account. Free profiles allows for custom backgrounds, a link to just about every social media site available. A key feature is the ability to embed your vcard.
2. Magntize.com. There are 2 options free and pro. Pro is $9 per month and allows for a custom domain name, background, personal RSS, iPhone/iPod touchsite to name a few. The free version allows for urls from your blog and social networking sites and updates automatically. There are a templates to choose from which have color choices.
There are no right or wrong answers when it comes to business cards and what to put on them. In the online arena, Card.ly and Magntize.com are comparable and each offer a presence that is another way to promote your personal brand.
How have you redesigned your business card to reflect your social media efforts? How have people reacted? Do they notice or even care?
photo credit: kvanhorn
