Your potential client is building up a lasting opinion about you in the first 10 seconds. It sounds harsh but people often do judge a book by its cover. However there are a few tricks you can use, such as diverting their attention from the fact that your hair is a mess by pushing a unique and beautifully designed business card under their nose.

1. Keep your business card straightforward

Stay away busy designs, there is no need to fill the card with unnecessary information, keep it simple and straight to the point. Make sure you used a readable font so potential customers are not struggling to read your details.

Between 10pt and 12 pt is an ideal font size but never go below 6 pt type as this will make it difficult to read for those who are vision imparied. By keeping your business card simple, you can clearly illustrate who you are and what your business is all about.

2. Double and triple check your details

A business card with inaccurate information is useless. Double and triple check EVERYTHING!

It doesn’t send the right impression to your potential customer if they can't get a hold of you.

Include several ways for people to contact you – as some people prefer using the phone. It is always a good idea to put social media as now a days lots of people like to contact businesses through sites such as Facebook.

Never put stickers over old information and scrub it out with pen. It never looks good for your business.

Before clicking on your massive print order, do check over your design carefully. It’s always worth getting a second eye to look over the design to avoid a nightmare spelling mistake or rogue apostrophe ending up on all of your brand new business cards!

3. Branding

Your business card must reflect your business portraying the company’s branding and ethos. Your business card will often be the first piece of branded marketing material they see, Therefore it is very important that your business card gives your potential customer a sense of what you/your company are about.

4. Colour

As a rule of thumb we recommend using no more that 2-3 colours, maximum. This is because utilising any more colours will usually result in an over complicated, cluttered and confusing design. You must pick the 2-3 colours that represent your company’s branding.

5. Have business cards on you at all times!

It is a nightmare running out of business cards in the middle of an event. To avoid this, plan and prepare ahead. If you are going to a an event make sure you have plenty business cards with you. It is better to have too many than run out.

Another helpful tip is to put a decent number of business cards in vital spots, for example, in your coat’s pockets. That way regardless of you forgetting cards or not bringing enough, you’re not completely out of business cards. You can sometimes meet potential customers in unlikely places so it is always handy to have some just incase. Having some in your car is always handy.

A great thing to invest in is a business card case, this helps keeps your cards in top condition. This make it easier to remember them but maintains a professional image.

Lastly, keep about 5 or so business cards inside your wallet, preferably in a small case. While these may look a little beat up compared to your usual pristine set, they are so much better than not having a business card to give out at all.