The correct business card. What to write on a business card? Tips from Igor Mann and Dmitry Turusin

As you can see from practice, a business card is a rather effective business tool that works no worse than advertising on screens. A properly designed business card can attract more than one hundred potential customers, many of whom will be ready to place an order. What are the main requirements for the design of a business card? How and where to make a business card yourself? Read about the main programs for decorating a layout on the website.

Making a business card yourself: rules for designing a business card

With the help of a business card, an entrepreneur can easily convey information about his business and about himself not only to his partners, but also to a certain circle of people, to those who will be interested in it.

But in order to achieve a successful result, it is important to adhere to the rules for its design:

• Text part

There should be little text. It is enough to briefly describe the field of activity of the company or individual entrepreneur, indicate the name of the company or the full name of the entrepreneur (by highlighting it in bold), enter several contacts, an address part, an e-mail, a link to the site. On the back of the business card, you can place a small list of goods and services offered by the company, but this is a last resort. Do not overload the card with text. Conciseness, clarity and information content are the basic commandments of drawing up correct business card.

• Fonts

To design a business card and from an aesthetic point of view, you should use no more than 2 fonts, otherwise it can be annoying. There are many interesting fonts, but if you try to fit them into one card, then it will resemble a child's attempt to work in a graphic editor. By the way, a properly designed business card should evoke positive emotions.

• Arrangement of elements

It is very important to arrange the text and graphics on the business card in the correct order and in their place:

1. On a business card at the top is the name of the company and next to it its logo. The line below is followed by the surname, name and patronymic of its owner. Below them is the position held. Then contact details and that's it. You don't need to add anything else. Also, don't overuse the graphics.
2. On a corporate business card printed: company name, address and telephones. It is usually handed along with a business card for advertising purposes.
3. As for a personal business card , then there are no special requirements for its design. You can specify only the first and last name, phone number and e-mail, add your photo.

Advice : When making a card yourself in a graphic editor, you must make sure that the text does not go beyond the boundary lines (margins), as this can lead to truncation of letters.

• Color spectrum

As for color, monotony and monochrome are welcomed in business cards. Thanks to this, the reader's attention is not scattered across the entire field, but concentrates on the details. If the company has its own corporate colors, then it is advisable to use them in the card design. Playing with color in business cards is permissible only for stylists, designers, artists, and so on.

For reference : After typing the text for the card, do not forget to check it for spelling and typos. Even a small mistake on a business card can erase all efforts and hopes.

What a real business card should look like: design samples

The main purpose of making business cards is to encourage clients and partners to further cooperation. The person who received it should have a good opinion of the organization. That is why a business card should look expensive and elegant, for which it is better to print it on designer paper. Embossing, silk-screening, or braid can help transform a business card into a work of art. Its standard size is 90x50 mm.
For the convenience of customers, it should reflect the specialization with which the entrepreneur is associated.

A business card might look like this:

So, in this guide, we're going to talk to you about creating the right business card. The right business card is a selling business card, that is, the business card that either facilitates and accelerates the sales process, or ideally makes it without your participation.

The good news is that most business people have no idea how to make the right business cards. Most people think that a business card is a square of paper with the name of the organization, your first and last name, contact information, and logo written on it. In fact, this is the wrong approach.

In order to understand which approach is correct, we will analyze the business card of the photographer Pavel Potashnikov as an example, analyze her mistakes and try to compose the correct business card ourselves.

Two remarks: first, I understand perfectly well that your business may not be related to photography, however general principles and common mistakes are the same.

Second, I have no complaints about the photographer Pavel Potashnikov himself, this is good professional, there are only complaints about his business card. It is its shortcomings that we will analyze.

So, let's go directly to the business card itself. We look. Above it is written: professional photography, studio and field, under the inscription a squiggle pattern, then - photographer Pavel Potashnikov, website address, phone number, e-mail.

Under them, there is again a squiggle pattern, and then the services provided by the photographer are listed - ready to embody all your desires in photography, portfolio, portrait, shooting children, advertising photography, photography for interior decoration, subject photography for catalogs and sites, wedding photography, etc. love stories, photography of significant events, photography of interiors and real estate, reportage (events, promotions, competitions, clubs, concerts, etc.) and other types of photography of any complexity.

So what's the problem here?

There are two main mistakes here.

Mistake number one - there is no answer why I should use this particular photographer. If I mentally put ten business cards of photographers on the table in front of me, then it is completely incomprehensible why I should choose this particular photographer.

Most likely, I will do this: I will call the first three or four photographers and will choose either by price, or, most likely, by the degree of how sane and businesslike the photographer seemed to me. Plus, if possible, I will still try to collect feedback on them, but this is not always possible. Therefore, this business card does not fulfill the function of promoting the photographer, it simply just carries his contact information.

Second, there is no call to action. Holding this business card in my hands, I can call the photographer, or I may not call, which, most likely, I will. And most of the people who will receive this business card will most likely do so. We all know that business cards are taken only in one percent of cases in order to call tomorrow and order this service. In most cases, business cards are taken just like that. They are taken as part of the exchange of business cards, they are taken, in the end, just out of politeness, so that you would be left behind. All of these cases do not result in the sale of your products and services.

What should a business card look like to fulfill its role as such a paper seller?

Let's try to figure it out and put together your business card!
So, on top we will put in large letters: photographer Pavel Potashnikov, then I was not too lazy to go to the photographer's website and see what awards and achievements he has.

He is the holder of the title “ best photo Yousmi Web-Journalism Awards 2009 ”and“ Best Portrait ”- 2009 by Drive magazine. If you have any awards and regalia, put them on your business card! If you have nothing like that, take care of this issue.

In any industry, there are a lot of exhibitions, seminars, conferences and other such events, and you can visit them and get there some kind of certificate, diploma, award, or even win. All this you should reflect on your business card.

We will do the same on the photographer's business card by placing this information at the very top. I even placed a goblet nearby so that it would be clear that the photographer is so certified, with awards. Further, under the name of the photographer, a squiggle pattern as a design element.

What should go next on the front of the business card? Here we must put the reasons why we should go to this particular photographer. Based on how I know Potashnikov, these reasons may be as follows: a photo studio in the city center, then under it, professional equipment.

However, I do not just put “professional equipment” and then list there some complicated technical names that do not tell anyone anything, I indicate in parentheses that they are filming for Playboy and Cosmo with the same cameras.

Ninety percent of the audience of photographers in this case are girls who want to make a portfolio for themselves, and such a description of professional equipment will be more understandable and more attractive for them. Further under it - special photo sessions for Odnoklassniki and Vkontakte.

What can be done here? Here you can simply pull on the background, this is already a matter of technology. You can look on the Internet, where there are very interesting examples of business cards. For example, a business card that externally depicts a piece of photo tape is a good fit for a photographer. Again, this is already a matter of technology. At this stage, you can invite a designer.

What other comments would I like to make here?

The first thing to note is that you must have separate business cards for each line of business.
The second point - in addition to business cards, you should also have CDs, flyers, catalogs, brochures. Business cards are not the only tool for work.

In addition, you must have a complete set marketing tools, which beats in different cases more accurately. And all this needs time. It's not easy to give to the designer to do. Therefore, spend two hours, or preferably two days, and make yourself the right business cards, it will be very beneficial to distinguish you from other competitors.

Look at your business card, would you like to touch it, smell it, or maybe lick it? Does it stand out in form and content? In this article, I'll tell you what to write on your business card so that it doesn't end up in your shopping cart. Let's make it so that she sells your services around the clock and does not lie alone in the trash. Warning: after this post, your business card will change dramatically.

On Instagram, the profile header is responsible for the functions of the business card. It is she who tells people who you are and why they need to listen to you. As in the case of a business card, a profile description can catch on or leave you indifferent.

Thanks to Igor Mann and Dmitry Turusin for speaking at the Russian Marketing Week conference. Thanks to them, I realized that I had to throw out my business cards and make new ones. They are the authors of a bestselling book called Points of Contact, an interesting take-and-do book. Everything I love.

Points of contact are moments, places, interfaces, situations in which the client comes into contact with the company. One of these tools is the business card.

Why do we need business cards?

1. This is yours commercial proposal in miniature. You can post any information that will hook a person.
2. This is networking - it answers the question of who you are and what you do.

As Marina Matveeva, manager of the Global Marketing printing company, explained to us, although in Russia the standard size of a business card is 9 x 5 cm, many business cards of European style (8.5 x 5.5 cm) go along with them. Of course, you can order a card for yourself, which hardly fits into your pocket, but it will quickly get lost, since it will not be kept with the rest.

The text should be legible: straight black letters on a white background - and no Gothic, italic, or ligature. Avoid playing with color. This is not an eye test chart for railroad workers. A rich palette is allowed only in the company logo. “The full name is always printed a little larger and fatter than the rest of the text,” says Marina. Especially if the surname is rare and difficult to pronounce the first time (for example, Ivanov).

If using only bold type is not enough for you, individual parts of the text can be distinguished by foil stamping, convex printing (convex printing) and thermal rise (volumetric letters that rise 0.5-1 mm above the card surface). Choose one thing. Eclecticism will turn a business card into a vinaigrette, and it will cost more.

Do not try to squeeze all your personal data into the limited space of the cardboard rectangle and short biography... Information should be limited to your name, position, place of work, phone numbers and email for communication. However, if you hope that your business card will be read out, nominated for "Booker", and subsequently filmed, you can even publish it in two volumes and provide a table of contents and cross-references.

At one time it was customary to write the address of the company's website in order to show that the company is keeping up with modern trends. Now it is no longer necessary to do this, unless your office is engaged in web design, etc.

Remember the abbreviations that are used when sending a business card and are written in the lower left corner. Abbreviations are borrowed from French, so you have to leave the translation on the back or explain in advance what it all means.

a.c. (avec compliment) - greeting. Attached to a bunch of flowers, a gift, or a suspicious ticking parcel left behind in a watch store.

p.r. (pour remercier) - an expression of gratitude. Thank you that you can put in your pocket.

p.f. (pour fete) - expression best wishes... Usually sent on the occasion of a birthday, when there is no time to look for a greeting card.

Not finding the owners' house, it is customary to leave a business card with a bent upper left corner. (If the owners of the house, but, bastards, do not open, the corner of the door is bent. Or the business card is chewed and the lock is clogged with the resulting paper pulp. However, the last two tips are optional and are optional.)

The right business card is an integral part of a business reputation

I am sure that each of you, since you have come to this site, is going to become an entrepreneur, have your own business, make good money and establish business connections. Perhaps some are already doing this successfully, but this article will be of interest to you. Today we'll talk about business cards. Yes, yes, about ordinary paper business cards, which are able to briefly tell about who you are, what you do, what kind of activity you represent.
A business card is an integral part of any business. Whatever you do: the provision of consulting services, the creation and development of websites, the sale of goods, you definitely need a business card that will become the face of the company. Many experts point out that a business card is the simplest, but at the same time very efficient business a tool with which you can convey information about yourself and your business to potential clients and partners.

Many entrepreneurs ignore this business tool, believing that business cards are not effective, that they are unnecessary expenses, that they have long outlived their usefulness. But, as practice shows, a properly designed business card can be many times more effective than a big board in the city center. Don't believe me? I will not persuade you, and it is unlikely that it will work out. I’ll just say one thing that in my experience I felt how several thousand correctly made business cards can attract more than a hundred customers, most of whom will place an order. Of course, drawing up a business card is only part of your overall success. You still need to be able to work with them, but this is a topic for a completely different article. Today we will tell you about 10 signs of a correct and effective business card.

10 signs of the right business card

1. Pay special attention to the text
You've all seen business cards - it's a 5 by 9 centimeters rectangle. The most common mistake many entrepreneurs make is that they want to put a lot of information on this small piece of paper. Remember, a business card is not an advertising brochure, and you should not try to fit everything that is horrible there. Personally, I had to hold in my hands such Business Cards, on which photos of products, a map of directions to the office, a small description of the company, addresses, phone numbers, names of employees were posted. It looked terrible, and, to be honest, I did not want to look closely and disassemble what was written and drawn there.

A correct business card should contain concise and clear information. It is quite enough if you include the name of the company, address, contact phone number, your first and last name, and position. Everything, in fact, you can put nothing else on the business card. Of course, each business card has its own purpose, but the main thing to remember is that information overload is a huge disadvantage. Clarity, conciseness, informational content - these are the three main commandments of the text of the correct business card.

There is one more thing that I would like to draw your attention to. Never duplicate business card text on foreign language... I understand that this way you can save money, and it seems to you that in this way you will add solidity to the business card, but in fact, this is a bad form. If you have partners in other countries, and a meeting is planned with them, then take the trouble to order a batch of business cards especially for them, in their native language.

2. Graphics and background for the right business card
Even 10 years ago, business cards used by businessmen were full of different colors, drawings, logos, and this was considered the norm. I don’t know how such business cards were perceived, but the trend was serious. Now the era of minimalism has come in everything. This "fashion" did not pass by business cards either. You do not need to use a lot of graphics, drawings, logos, all kinds of photographs and patterns.
Many experts even advise against using a logo on a business card if it is not made in a minimalist style. You ask, why exactly the minimum? What's so special about him. Yes, everything is simple, he will intervene in the three fundamentals of a correct business card: clarity, brevity, information content. A business card made in light and calm colors, not striking, but at the same time attracting attention, will be the best option.

3. Arrangement of elements
How you arrange all the elements on the business card is also very important. That is why I am saying that you should not make a lot of them, because then the possibility of correct positioning will be very limited, and the business card will not bring the desired effect.
After you create your business card mockup, order some test options. Let them print them in the printing industry, and then you will be able to appreciate the practicality and ease of use of your business card. How to do it? Well, one of the simplest options: take a business card in your left hand, and mobile phone to the right, as if you were about to dial a number. Holding a business card, you are not covering part of the phone number? If you close, then draw conclusions about how it would be more convenient to place it. In general, twist the business card in your hands, rate it, give it to a few friends, let them look, tell you their opinion, pay attention to what you like and what you don't.

4. Fonts
Playing with fonts is perhaps the most dreadful thing a designer can hear from a client. Why? Because there is a huge amount of fonts, and the customer wants to try and fit the most beautiful ones on his business card.
Yes, there are a lot of beautiful and attractive fonts, but you need to understand that you can combine a maximum of two on a business card. This is done so that your card looks solid, and not as drawn by a fifth grader in a simple graphic editor. Remember for always - two fonts and no more. Otherwise, even if it seems to you that it is very beautiful, you risk getting a low-quality business card that can significantly damage your reputation.

5. Colors
The rainbow has seven colors, monitors can display millions of shades, and such incredible combinations can appear in your imagination that it is hard to imagine. But this does not mean at all that you need to make a riot of colors and imagination out of your business card. Again, stick to the rule of thumb, and use a maximum of 2-3 colors when building your business card's color system. And the colors need to be selected such that they match and complement each other as well as possible.

Look at the largest and most popular sites in the world - Facebook, Vkontakte, Google, Wikipedia, Yahu. All of them have one thing in common - a clear and concise use of colors. So you start from this trend. Believe me, the designers for these giants of the Internet certainly know what and how they suit most people in the world, what their preferences and reactions to certain colors. Also, do not forget about your corporate colors. If they are, then the business card should be done in a similar color scheme.

6. Material is correct business card
Here you can already fantasize and not stop. Now there are many materials on which the execution of your business card is possible. This is paper, and plastic, and different kinds wood, and even exotic materials such as leather or rubber.
So what should we start from? As a rule, the material should be chosen based on the area of ​​your activity and the tasks of using business cards. If you are selling some unusual and amazing gifts, then it is better to make a creative, attention-grabbing business card. Looking at such a business card, it will be immediately clear that you can find something interesting and unusual. If the business card is intended for business partners, then it is better to choose standard thick paper and cover it with a thin layer of varnish.

7. How to make the right business card
Here, too, you have freedom of choice. First of all, the method depends on the material that you choose. Next, you should pay attention to how and where the business card will be used. Modern printing centers offer many different options making business cards is also offset printing, and silk-screening, and embossing, and die-cutting, and dozens of different methods, each of which has its own pros and cons. Here, as they say, there are no comrades for taste and color. If you see that one of the listed methods is ideal for the style and material of your business card, then go ahead, do just that. You can read more about the various manufacturing methods on the websites of printing centers that offer a similar service.

By the way, since we are talking about making business cards, I ask you to promise me one thing. You will never print your business cards on a color printer and then cut them out with scissors. Believe me, this way you will not save money, but only ruin your reputation. Self-made business cards on a printer are a terrible quality, redneck, and disrespect for those to whom you give such a business card. If I received such a card from a business partner, then several times I would think about whether it is worth working with him if he presses a couple of tens of dollars for a thousand high-quality business cards.

8. Storing business cards
Back pockets of trousers, inside pockets of jackets, various compartments in bags and backpacks - these are absolutely not the places where you can and should store business cards. Firstly, it's not entirely solid when you take out a rumpled and not very "fresh" business card from your back pocket. Secondly, by storing your business card in this way, you will overwrite them very quickly, they will become unattractive.
Therefore, buy yourself a business card holder. She will save your cards in good shape, and it will look solid when you present your business card, taking it out of a shiny, beautiful, neat business card holder.

9. Correction on the business card
Have you changed your address or phone number? Then we throw out the old business cards, and immediately order new ones with more relevant data. Of course, you can correct the incorrect data with a pen, and this will help potential clients to get the information. But at the same time, they will conclude that you are not taking your business seriously.

Once I myself faced such a case. I wanted to order household appliances in the store, but was out of stock, and it was suggested to place an order, leaving a small advance payment. I was going to think a little, and they gave me a business card with their coordinates to call back and say about my decision. What a surprise it was when the address and phone number on the business card were corrected with a pen. As for me, a company that wants to bring me equipment for a couple of thousand dollars should not save several hundred rubles on high-quality business cards. Immediately I got the impression that they can save money on equipment too, having brought me a TV “fixed with a pen”.

10. Errors and misprints
Check business cards at all stages of production. We wrote the text - check, made a preliminary layout - check, ordered a trial post - check everything for errors and typos. Also, give business cards to your colleagues and employees of the company, let them look with fresh eyes, they may find some inaccuracies. Even when you double-checked everything, gave the layout for final printing, and after a while came to pick up finished products, then check everything again in detail.
One small mistake on a business card is a hundred times worse than a few typos in an advertising brochure. Be as demanding as possible on yourself and the text of your business card.