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Networking

Business Card Re-design: What’s Involved

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footprints in snow heading to blue skyIs your business changing and growing? 

Lately I’ve been getting lots of requests from small business owners to update their business cards. One client is getting greater clarity about her target market so wants to change her tag line. Another client, Kevin, added a new employee a few months ago who’s making service calls and is handing out Kevin’s business card. Kevin thinks it looks unprofessional, so wants his employee to have is own card.

If someone has been in business a short while, they’re surprised to learn it takes me 2-3 hours to update their business card. Shouldn’t a professional graphic designer be able to do this in under an hour? I mean, their first business card was done by their son or daugher, spouse or a friend. Or, they may have gone to an online business card site, filled out a few form fields, pressed a button and …shazam! Their card might look like everyone else’s, or didn’t look that professional, but at least it was done. It’s just a business card. Right?

Your Business Cards Is Important…

…so it needs to look important—and not like the another business “down the street” who may be in an entirely different line of work.

It’s what you leave behind with a prospect.

People hold onto your business card. My BNI group holds onto other members business cards so we can refer our colleagues to our friends and clients we meet who might need their service.

My Graphic Design Workflow for Business Cards

1. Request my client’s logo, background (300 dpi), name of their typeface

2. Confirm their tagline.
— If my client doesn’t yet have a tagline, I review their other marketing materials and send suggestions.

3. Reproduce any files they may be missing so they are suitable for print
— a.k.a. high resolution of 300 dpi or better @ 100% of final design size

4. Setup their business card design in a layered file format: Adobe InDesign or Illustrator

5. Print out their business card design and check for type, position, size and hierarchyProof for spelling errors, including calling the phone number
— learned that one the hard way

6. Send a PDF proof to my client for their review and sign-off

7. Prepare a print file for output
— if their cards are being photocopied, I set them up, 8-up per one 8-1/2″ x 11″ sheet paper

8. Send their digital file off for printing with instructions to the printer including quantity, billing, delivery date and location.

9. Email my client all their job files for future printing needs

Walking In Another Man’s Shoes

The most common refrain I hear is, “I didn’t know one little change would involve all that.” It may be one little change, like adding a tag line, or a different name to an existing design, but it’s important to look profession so you can grow your business and get out there in a big way.

Networking 501

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compass pointing to word Customer business customer concept

At a recent 1-to-1 with a fellow BNI member and Fine Art Portrait Photographer, Michael Epaul, he came well prepared to our meeting. “I read and earmarked, Givers Gain,” I said sheepishly.

Michael’s a pro. Always ready for the next business opportunity, he presented me with 5 different sheets of information about himself, as recommended by BNI. Oops. Missed that memo.

At first glance, two of the most confusing sheets to understand, were his list of 10 Competitors and Top 3 Contact Spheres.

10 Competitors

It wasn’t a list of his competitors, rather it was a list of his best customers competitors. For example, if his most enjoyable work comes from landscape businesses, which need to showcase their work such as landscaping patios, driveways, natural and manmade stone sidewalks and retaining walls, then his best customer’s competitors would also be high-end landscapers.

Michael would not go to his best customer’s competition down the street. Instead, he would go outside his best customer’s geographic area, to other high-end landscapers. Through his contacts at BNI, he shares his Top 10 Ten Competitors List of landscape businesses he’s targeting, and asks if they know anyone on his list. If they do, would they make a referral so that he’s not cold calling?

Armed with an impressive portfolio of landscape photography, plus an introduction, he has a greater chance of picking up new business than if he was to cold call, or send a brochure in the mail.

Contact Sphere List

To determine his top 3 list of professions in a Contact Sphere, Michael first drew up a list of the 10 industries associated with weddings because Michael also specializes in wedding photography and portraiture. His list contained everyone from a florist to a wedding event planner. From that list of 10, he whittled it down to the three professions that would help round out his Contact Sphere.

Now, the next time I go to my hair salon, and my hair dresser tells me about the styling the bride and bridesmaids’ hair (which she has told me on more than one occasion), I can recommend a really great wedding photographer, and hand her one of Michael’s cards. She might want to hire Michael to photograph specialty hairstyles to promote this type of work to increase her own business, plus she might be able to recommend Michael to her customers, if they’re looking for someone to photograph their wedding.

Before There Was Social Media There Was Business Networking

Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have certainly made networking feel new and exciting.

Taking the time, and making a commitment to reach out to other business people and letting them know who I would most like to work with, and what services I can offer, can take my business to a whole new level…the old fashioned way.