Business card mistakes

By Big Mike McDaniel Your business card can be your most powerful advertising and marketing tool. Get your card into the hands of people who can do business with you and profit is sure to follow. This little card is often taken for granted and not given the thought it deserves. Since it plays such a big role in the impression you make, it, and you, should not make mistakes. Here are some common business card mistakes: Printing them yourself. It’s not much cheaper and it looks like you did it at home, no matter what kind of printer you use. All it is, is faster. Not carrying them with you. Pocket, coat, briefcase or purse, you should have a number of fresh, clean cards ready to distribute. And you should be able to get your hands on one quickly and easily. Searching all over for them. You should be able to “whip one out” without digging out your wallet and thumbing through pics of the kids, or plunging to the bottom of your purse past the hair spray.

“Let’s see, I’ve got one here somewhere, no, that’s a card I got yesterday, no, that’s my kid’s picture, here it is, no, that’s not it either..” You should be able to quick-draw your card faster than an old west gunslinger. Saving a buck with the magic marker. Blotting out a changed phone number, address or email and hand writing in, or worse, cutting up computer labels with the new information is bush league. Yet, every day, some hapless wannabe loses a sale by acting like Donald Duck’s Uncle. Handing them out recklessly. The exchange (business relations are TWO-way) of cards comes after some degree of conversation. Beware the boob walking about the room handing out his card like Santa’s gifts at the lodge meeting. No system for retrieval. Once you get ’em back to the office, you must have a system to find and use the information when you need it. Customers and prospects should go into your computer without delay.