Business cards are important tools to brand yourself and to network. However, poorly designed business cards will communicate that you aren’t as professional as you aim to be and will result in lost connections and missed business opportunities. Make sure your business card has the intended impact by avoiding the following business card mistakes:Creating Boring Business Cards
1. Creating Boring Business Cards
Business cards are a dime a dozen. The real goal of good business card design is to inspire the cards’ recipients to contact you. If your card looks like everyone else’s, you’ll find that they are more likely to dispose of your card than keep it.
While many people hire professional graphic designers to make their business cards, this isn’t absolutely necessary. If you want to design your personal business cards, all this requires is some patience and a business card template that will guarantee your card looks well put together.
2. Using Poor-Quality Printing
Another mistake to avoid when designing a business card is skimping on quality printing. While there are countless ways to print your own business cards at home, if you don’t have print-shop quality equipment and paper, it’s best to leave business cards printing to the professionals. This is due to the fact that printing cards on regular printers typically results in cards that are quite lightweight, have peeling edges, and feature inconsistencies in color and print quality.
By investing in high-quality printing, you’ll be able to communicate that your business is every bit of professional as your business cards are. Don’t forget to use thicker paper as well as this will show that you have a keen eye for detail.
3. Leaving Too Much to the Imagination
When working on your business card design, avoid creating a “mystery” card. While minimalism can work for certain branding, leaving too much to the imagination with your card will cause you to miss out on business opportunities. With these types of cards, it isn’t immediately clear what it is that you do. Avoid this type of confusion by clearly spelling out what your business has to offer.
In your effort to communicate more effectively on your business card, be sure that your logo ties into your business as well. Ideally, this logo should illustrate in some way what you sell or what services you provide.
4. Failing to Provide a Selling Proposition
As business cards are designed to attract more business, it only makes sense that they feature some type of selling proposition. Every business card should state a reason why a customer should do business with your company. With just a few words, you can offer a unique selling point and convince others to work with you.
5. Opting for an Over-sized Card
While it’s important to create a unique business card, going the route of using oversized cards isn’t the right option. Standard cards are 3.5” x 2” and are this way for a reason. While uniquely designed business cards will stand out, cards that are bigger won’t fit well in wallets or standard business card holders. Similarly, these larger cards are more than likely to end up discarded or forgotten.
6. Creating an Illegible Card
When designing a business card, you have the opportunity to choose what type and size of font you want. However, picking a font that is hard to read or too small will guarantee that your business card is never used. Avoid creating unusable business cards by following the font size rule of thumb: never choose a font that is smaller than 8 point. When selecting the font for your name and the name of your business, consider going with something larger, like 9 points and 12-15 point respectively.
7. Having a Cluttered Card
In your attempts to make sure your card is easy to read, be sure to keep the design as clean as possible. Business cards that are filled with text or photos look too busy and are unappealing. By working to keep your business card design simple, you’ll be giving other people a better opportunity to read your card.
With well-designed business cards, you’ll be able to make lasting business connections. Be sure to keep these tips in mind when designing your new cards.
