Thirty Creative Ways to Use Business Cards

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On the Back1.
Print a team's sports schedule on the back. Fans will keepthem handy and keep your name in front of them2.
Print a special discount offer or coupon on the back. ...
keep it becaus On the Back1. Print a team's sports schedule on the back.
Fans will keepthem handy and keep your name in front of them2. Print a special discount offer or coupon on the back.
Peoplewill keep it because they intend to use the coupon.3. If you do seminars, print key principals on the back.
Yourattendees will refer to them later and think of you.4. Hand write on the back your "unlisted" 800 number.
This addsvalue to your card, making people keep it longer because theydon't want to lose the special number.Ad Specialties5. Make the business card the ad specialty: Print your companyinformation on letter openers, CD openers, magnets, pens,highlighters, keychains, mousepads, mugs, luggage tags, andother items that people will keep because they are useful.6.
Attach a business card to an ad specialty: For example, givebusiness card holders as a thank you gift and place yourbusiness card in as the first one. Or, have your card designedas a Rolodex card7.
If you routinely give out seasonal gifts or specialties,attach your business card. Examples: candy canes at Christmas,heart shaped containers filled with candy for Valentine's Day,or even a sandwich bag of candy with a card stapled to it.Unique Places to Put Them8.
Tuck them into the product before delivery: If you are aflorist, cut a hole in it and tie a ribbon around the flowersand through the business card. If you sell gift baskets, Tuckone inside the basket before delivering it to your customer.
Thesame goes for Mary Kay or Avon Cosmetics - place your card inthe bag. You've seen how some restaurants staple a menu to theirbags for takeout; if you use bags, staple your card to theoutside of the bag.9.
Send a business card in every piece of correspondence -letters, invoices, even your electric bill. Sooner or later,those cards will be used.10.
If you are crafty, incorporate them into your designs:embellish them with rubber stamps, or blend them with other artprojects. You can also mount them to greeting cards you createand send to customers and prospects.11.When mailing out information: Take a number 10 envelope,facing you and upside down.
Fold the envelope in thirds. Whenyou turn it around, there is a little pocket to tuck your cardin.
Include it in the mailing. Using a colored envelope makesthe presentation even more dramatic.12.
Scan your card in and use it as a graphic for when youexchange links with other websites. The other site can use yourgraphic as the link.13.
Place them in library books as if you used them asbookmarks. Visit bookstores place them in books related to yourbusiness.Keeping Them Handy:14.
Use them as bookmarks so you'll always have some readilyavailable if you meet someone at school, in the library, on thebus, or at the park where you like to read.15. Have your spouse, family, and friends carry some of yourcards with them in case they meet someone who might beinterested in your product or service.16.
Wear them! Use them as nametags at meetings and conferencesinstead of the "Hello, my name is ..." type of tags.17. Keep a stack of cards everywhere you might need them - inyour car, your jacket pocket, your briefcase, your purse orwallet, in your planner, at home, anywhere you can think of.Then you'll always have some on hand when you meet a prospect.When to Use Them:18.
Give them out during your personal meetings when you meetsomeone new: at your church, your children's soccer games, atlunch with your friends when someone brings a guest. To be morepolite, you could have a personal "calling card" printed up withyour information to use in these situations.19.
If you do seminars, have your participants exchange cardswith each other. Have them write a compliment about the personon the back before they hand them out.
Everyone will have awealth of contacts; they will remember each other and it willalso give participants a boost of confidence.20. Ask neighborhood businesses if you may display your cardsnear their registers.21.
Tack them to bulletin boards at supermarkets, restaurants,retail stores and the library - anyplace that has a bulletinboard.22. Give out two cards at a time - one for your prospect orclient, and one for her/him to give away.23.
Place some on the table when you leave a restaurant.24. Agree to mail the cards of other businesspeople in themailings you do, if they will do the same for you.
Yournetworking circle will grow as your cards are passed around.How Not to Use Business Cards: 25. Don't give them to a member of the opposite sex in the hopesthat s/he will call you.
I have a friend who was told thiswouldn't work. He did an experiment for six months to prove it,and his friend was right! Sadly, not one woman called him.Although he does have a girlfriend now!26.
Some people don't give out business cards when they meet aprospective client. Instead, they send a follow- up note laterwith their card enclosed.Other Types of Business Cards to Have27.
Business card CD-ROM. If you haven't seen these yet, theyare a mini-sized CD that plays in any CD player and has yourcontact information on it, as well as an introduction to yourbusiness.28.
Email Signature. Put your contact information into asignature file for email, along with a link to your website (besure to include the "http" in order to make it "clickable.")29.
Vcard. These are electronic business cards that recipientscan click on and automatically add to their address books.
Do aweb search for "vcard" to find software that supports thistechnology. Then use it in all your emails!30.
One consulting company, which works with designers ofproducts for people with disabilities, prints their cards inBraille. It reminds their clients how they can help them complywith disability laws.
It also gets people asking for information. Article Tags: Business Cards, Business Card Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com .