Successful Blog

Why Business Cards Still Matter

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If you’re a tech-savvy, online-shopping, social media-sharing internet junkie like much of the rest of the world, you probably wonder why some businesses still rely on business cards.

We live in a time where the world is at our fingertips – literally – thanks to the internet. You can find company information, contact pages, product information and more with just the click of a button.

So, how do business cards still fit in?

Surprisingly, a Small Business Sentiment Survey conducted by Yodle found that roughly 52 percent of small businesses still don’t have a website. And, in North America alone, more than 20 percent of the population does not use the internet, according to Internet World Stats.

Business cards won’t get lost in the shuffle of the world-wide web. They’re concrete, edgy and still very useful.

In fact, a survey conducted by Designcrowd found that 87 percent of Americans exchange business cards when meeting. If you own and operate a small business, that statistic alone should be enough to make you want to develop your own personalized business card.

Why business cards matter

Though having a website and developing company social media pages are important, you still need to have a real-life, tangible business card to help meet your needs.

Keep in mind:

  1. Business cards put a face to a business – When meeting someone new, handing them your business card (preferably with your photo on it) will help keep your business in the back of their minds. Though they may not need your product or services today, there may come a time when they do, and hopefully they will be able to pull out your business card and call versus trying to remember your company name and searching the web.
  2. Business cards visually create your brand – Your business card should stand out among the rest. It showcases you and your company in a visually creative way. Don’t just simply put your name and phone number on the card; instead, add color, a photo or two and your business’ motto. Make it easy for your potential customer to want to use your services.
  3. Without a business card, you look unprofessional – Even if your business is done almost solely online, you still should carry a business card for when you meet new people – whether at the gym or at your child’s birthday party. Local business is always important and by handing out your business card to new people you meet, you’re greatly increasing your chances of growing your business. Plus, if a new friend is genuinely interested in your company and you have no way of providing them with contact information, you may have lost them as your future customer.

If you’d like to get creative, Canva offers a “Free Business Card Maker” so you can easily create your own business cards with a few clicks.

Almost as important as the business card itself is how you carry them.

While stashing a few in your pocket may work, it’s better to be organized with a sleek, high-quality holder.

Retailers such as Walmart offer a variety of business card holders at an affordable price. This Engraved Leather Business Card Case is lightweight, will fit into your suit jacket pocket and is personalized all for $25.

Have your business card handy and always carry at least 5 with you at all times.

As a business owner, marketing your business is not a 9 to 5 job, it’s a 24/7/365 job since you’ll always be on the lookout for new business.

Photo credit: Image courtesy of savit keawtavee / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

About the Author: Sarah Brooks is a freelance writer living in Glendale, AZ. She writes on small businesses, personal finances and travel.

Is Having Clients at Your Home for Business a Wise Move?

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You finally have your small business up and running. And it’s in your home. How do you have clients come to see you? What do you need to think about?

Many small business owners can’t afford office space, or really don’t need it, so they work from home.

A lot of questions arise about meetings in the home, so here are some of them with their answers:

1.    Do I need a separate entrance?

Ideally yes, but that’s not always possible in the real world. If you have a separate entrance, you will come off as more professional than if a client comes into your home filled with your personal life. But if it’s not possible, just make sure you have any area clean of clutter (even if you stuff it all in a cabinet), pets are put away and no one will bother you during your meeting. If your office is upstairs or somewhere else in the home where you’d need to walk through much of it, have your meeting in the dining room or another neutral area more easily accessible in your home.

2.    Should I tell my client beforehand or will that make me look bad?

Many people say they drive up to a house for a meeting and think they have the wrong address. Be upfront and let your client know you work from home and that is where you’ll be meeting.

3.    What if my client hurts him or herself in my home?

This is a tricky one. If your client slips and falls or your dog bites him, you’re legally responsible. The smartest thing you can do is have insurance to cover this. If you don’t and something happens, it can turn into something pretty big and bad.

4.    Should I just meet at a coffee shop or somewhere else instead?

Sure, some people who home office have off site meetings. It depends a lot on what you do. If you need to look at material that takes up space, your home is probably better. At home you can avoid distractions that may be found elsewhere. You also have all your materials and don’t have to lug anything around. But if you have kids or pets at home, or another working adult, it may be too distracting and you should think about another spot.

5.    Are there any other little tips I should know?

Yes.

• Dress professionally. Maybe you work most of the time in sweats, but remember you’re meeting with a client, put on your work clothes.

• Try to avoid any household smells like last night’s dinner or your golden retriever. You can use a candle or other air fresheners; just make sure nothing is too strong or offensive.

• Oh, always make sure the bathroom is clean!

Many people work from home and as long as you keep it professional and let your client know up front, you should be fine.

If you run your small business from home, do you allow clients to come by? If so, what have your experiences in such cases been like?

 

Photo credit: thesmarterwallet.com

About the Author: Heather Legg is a writer who covers topics related to small business, social media and personal finance.

Don’t Let Your Business Blog Content Become a Biology Project

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Just about all of us at one time or another has had to deal with rotten food.

In many cases, we leave something out too long or leave it in the fridge for an extended period of time; hence it soon takes on the junior high science project that many of us thought was cool back in the seventh grade.

In our adult years, however, such projects are not only viewed as unfavorable, but they can be costly when running a business.

Working in marketing full-time and doing freelance writing on the side, I literally come in contact with dozens and dozens of business blogs on a daily basis. The number one threat to their existence in my opinion is stale content.

When some business heads feel like the content is just there to fill space and show both current and potential customers that the site is active, I just want to come up to them and shake them for about five seconds. My main question as I am shaking them is what are you thinking? In many cases, they probably are not doing much of that in the first place.

What is the Purpose behind Business Blogs in the First Place?

Company blogs come in all shapes and sizes, be they for someone just beginning to run a business or someone who’s been around the block a time or two. In many instances, the blog is used as a tool to attract current and potential customers to the site, and then provide them with worthwhile information that they can take away.

On the surface, that sounds like a great premise for having a blog in the first place. Where that becomes an issue is when the lead content is left to sit on the site for days and days and days and….

Soon, visitors coming to the site begin to see the same old and tired copy anchoring the site. Before long, what was once good content starts turning into that bagel or loaf of bread that was left sitting out on the counter for weeks and weeks. You get the picture, it isn’t pretty.

As someone that has written and overseen a number of business blogs over the years, I cannot stress enough the importance of maintaining fresh content on the site.

Among the obvious reasons to do so:

  • Search engines will be more favorable to your site if the content is regularly updated;
  • Fresh content puts your company blog out there as an authority on a subject or subjects, singling you out from competitors;
  • A continuously updated blog site makes it much easier to approach potential advertisers that will want to get their name linked to your site;
  • With updated blog content, you can have real-time interaction with readers, leading to more opportunities to convert potential customers into customers.

One small business blog I recently came across, one which I will not name, was last updated in the fall of 2011. Last time I checked the calendar, we were coming up on the middle of March.

My first thought was maybe this company had gone under and the site was still showing up on Google searchers. As it turns out, the company sure is still business and looking for new clients as we speak. If I were consulting them, I would not advise them to start their sales pitch by referencing the site’s blog.

I make it a habit to clean out my refrigerator once a week so that nothing can become a biology project behind that closed door.

Perhaps more business owners should take on a similar project to make sure their company blogs are not festering something nasty.

Remember, the time for conducting science projects was back in school, not when you are running a business.

Photo credit: marqui.com

Dave Thomas, who covers among other topics workers compensation and credit card processing, writes extensively for Business.com, an online resource destination for businesses of all sizes to research, find, and compare the products and services they need to run their businesses.