{"id":11040,"date":"2013-03-25T14:27:10","date_gmt":"2013-03-25T20:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.paperdirect.com\/blog\/?p=11040"},"modified":"2015-05-27T15:04:05","modified_gmt":"2015-05-27T21:04:05","slug":"business-cards-dos-and-donts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.paperdirect.com\/blog\/2013\/03\/business-cards-dos-and-donts\/","title":{"rendered":"Business Cards Do&#8217;s and Don&#8217;ts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.paperdirect.com\/Ambassador-Business-Cards\/-108933\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-11452\" alt=\"Ambassador Business Cards by PaperDirect\" src=\"\/blog\/media\/BC00131-300x180.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"180\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.paperdirect.com\/blog\/media\/BC00131-300x180.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.paperdirect.com\/blog\/media\/BC00131-150x90.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.paperdirect.com\/blog\/media\/BC00131-350x210.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.paperdirect.com\/blog\/media\/BC00131.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>As Forbes puts it, the business card can be the &#8220;entrepreneur&#8217;s best friend.&#8221; Business cards represent an inexpensive, yet powerful, marketing tool that puts your information out into the world &#8212; and into the hands of potential customers, employers, business partners, and other movers shakers in your network.<\/p>\n<p>That is, when it&#8217;s done right.<\/p>\n<p>When it&#8217;s done wrong, well&#8230; the entrepreneur&#8217;s BFF can turn into his worst enemy. OK, that might be a bit dramatic, but think of it this way: Often your business card represents your first &#8212; or maybe your only &#8212; chance to make a good and lasting impression. So, although no one wants a boring business card, the alternative may be even worse. Who knew these little pieces of paper were so important?<\/p>\n<p>These &#8220;do&#8217;s and dont&#8217;s&#8221; will help you get your business cards just right.<\/p>\n<p>Business Card\u00a0<strong>DO&#8217;s<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Your card should include your essential information, such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Full name<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.paperdirect.com\/Royal-Business-Cards\/-158669\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-11455\" alt=\"Royal Business Cards by PaperDirect\" src=\"\/blog\/media\/BC00751-300x179.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"179\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.paperdirect.com\/blog\/media\/BC00751-300x179.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.paperdirect.com\/blog\/media\/BC00751-150x89.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.paperdirect.com\/blog\/media\/BC00751-350x209.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.paperdirect.com\/blog\/media\/BC00751.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Title<\/li>\n<li>Business Name<\/li>\n<li>Email<\/li>\n<li>Phone Number\/s<\/li>\n<li>Website or online portfolio<\/li>\n<li>Physical Address<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Additionally, follow these tips for business card DO&#8217;s:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Whatever a potential client, employer or networker would need to get in touch with you should be on your card.<\/li>\n<li>Keep your card design simple. Left align tends to look less cluttered and is easier to read than center or right-aligned designs. Pick a simple, classic font and stick to it; at most, use two complementary fonts.<\/li>\n<li>Use color, but keep the palette to three or &#8212; at most &#8212; four tones that work well together. Choose darker colors as they&#8217;re easier to read and use larger font sizes because, again, they&#8217;re easier to read.<\/li>\n<li>Include your business logo and other branded materials. Your business cards should match the look and tone of your company&#8217;s website, storefront and other marketing formats.<\/li>\n<li>Tailor your business cards&#8217; overall look and theme to your industry. In banking or law? Choose a conservative, dignified theme. In design, art or fashion? Choose a theme that reflects your innovative style.<\/li>\n<li>Finally, use high-quality cardstock and a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.paperdirect.com\/Business-Cards\" target=\"_blank\">professional printer<\/a>\u00a0to create your cards. After all, they represent you and your business!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Business Card<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>DONT&#8217;S<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.paperdirect.com\/Metro-Style-Business-Cards\/-141628\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-11457\" alt=\"Metro Style Business Cards by PaperDirect\" src=\"\/blog\/media\/BC1931-300x179.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"179\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.paperdirect.com\/blog\/media\/BC1931-300x179.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.paperdirect.com\/blog\/media\/BC1931-150x89.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.paperdirect.com\/blog\/media\/BC1931-350x209.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.paperdirect.com\/blog\/media\/BC1931.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>While including your essential contact info is essential, avoid including too much information. After all, this isn&#8217;t your resume or your portfolio, so you don&#8217;t need to list all of your skills and experience. Packing your card full will also make them appear cluttered and unprofessional.<\/p>\n<p>Stick with your company&#8217;s established branding. You want a cohesive, memorable look, and using too many different colors, fonts or themed elements just distracts from the overall message.<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, avoid using generic clip art on your cards. It looks cheap and unprofessional.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, avoid using untraditional materials, such as chocolate or soap. Yes, it&#8217;s cute and creative, but once it&#8217;s all used up, so is your message &#8212; and your contact info.<\/p>\n<p>For professional, custom designed business cards that will create a lasting positive impression, browse the huge selection at Paper Direct!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As Forbes puts it, the business card can be the &#8220;entrepreneur&#8217;s best friend.&#8221; Business cards represent an inexpensive, yet powerful,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":11457,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[89,92],"class_list":["post-11040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-designing-business-communication","tag-branding-strategy-2","tag-business-cards-2"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paperdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11040"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paperdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paperdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paperdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paperdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11040"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.paperdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14731,"href":"https:\/\/www.paperdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11040\/revisions\/14731"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paperdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paperdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paperdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paperdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}