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• Create Kromekote® Color Business Cards Online - 3 business day turnaround
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Tips for Designing an Effective Business Card

By: Diana Ratliff for BizCardsPronto.com

Any printer worth the paper he or she prints on knows that certain business card printing and marketing strategies are more effective than others. Even if they don't say so.

They usually hide it well - after all, the customer is always right - but being asked to print plain, ordinary, black ink on white stock cards makes them wince.

So does being asked to print outlandish, neon-colored business cards. Or business cards with stock clipart. You've probably seen a business card for a local handyman service with a line-art drawing of a hammer or a little guy in overalls. Even if your printer suggested adding such clipart to your card, he or she did it to make money, not because it's an effective use of the space on your card, or because it's going to wow the people you give your card to.

But what really bugs printers - what really makes them shake their heads and worry about your professionalism and marketing savvy - is overcrowding your business card.

That's right. The single biggest design mistake, according to printers, is putting too much text and artwork on your card. Designing an effective card means designing one that can be easily utilized by the recipient. Anything else is a waste of time and money.

Here's why: A typical business card measures 3.5" by 2", for a total of 7 square inches of space on each side. That's not a lot of room for your name, your company name, your slogan, your address, your phone number, your fax number, your cell phone number, your website, your email address and, oh yes, your logo too.

It's not that such information isn't valuable. But for your friendly printer to fit all that onto the front of your new card, he or she needs to reduce the font size dramatically.

This means there's a good chance that your hot prospect is going to have to squint, or pull out their glasses, or toss your new business card aside in frustration, because he or she can't read it!

Anything you do which makes it more difficult for current or potential customers to do business with you, means that you'll lose at least a small percentage of those customers to someone else. Someone who's easier to deal with. Someone who's more attuned to their needs.

Take it from a printer who's tired of seeing people waste their time and money. Ruthlessly prune the text and artwork for your new business card until you're left with the most concise, compelling, and essential information.

• Entrepreneur.com - Creating an Effective Business Card
• IBCC.com - International Business Card Collectors
• IdeaBook.com - Rethinking the purpose, design, printing, and delivery of business cards