Do You Need a Unique Business Card? - By: Andrew Michaels

With the rise of printing technology comes the rise in a person’s ability to make their business cards truly unique. You can have your card printed on all sorts of different surfaces and place any number of images on it. The desire to stand out among a crowded market place leads many people to jump at the chance to make their custom business cards, but that doesn’t mean it’s always going to be a good idea. Take a moment to step back and see if a unique business card is really what you need. Let’s take the example of magnetic business cards. Here is the potential for something that’s not only unique, but allows a person to easily place the card right on their fridge. Unlike other business cards that get shoved in a rolodex, never to see the light of day unless someone bothers to sort for a card, the magnetic business cards are always sitting out for people to see. This is certainly a strength of this form of business card. If you run a business that does deliveries, or if people are going to order from you a lot, you can get a lot of mileage from a magnetic card. There’s a reason why my refrigerator is loaded with cards for various pizza and Chinese food delivery services. But if you have a business people don’t use very often, like an accounting service, people might literally forget the magnet is even on the fridge. After all, if I’m trying to find a business card I was given, I go to my rolodex, not my refrigerator. Other custom business cards have their own strengths and weaknesses. Having your card printed on a unique type of material like metal, wood, or plastic, will do wonders to get you remembered, but then, they also aren’t easy to organize with your other cards. Similarly, getting too creative with the size of your business card can backfire if people aren’t able to easily store your card. They might remember it, but they also might not have anywhere they can put it. You also don’t want to distract too much from the fact that your card is meant to get someone talking about you and your company. Whatever it is that makes your card unique, make sure it makes sense in connection to your company. Don’t have a great looking picture put on your card that serves no purpose other than to be seen. They might remember the picture, but that doesn’t mean they’ll remember who you are. I don’t mean to push anyone away from making unique, custom business cards. You just need to be sure that you aren’t accidentally doing yourself more harm than good by using a design that doesn’t really fit your company. Ask yourself which custom design will truly work best for your company.