On the Back
1. Print a schedule on the back. People will keep them handy and keep your name in front of them

2. Print a special discount offer or coupon on the back. People will keep it because they intend to use the coupon.

3. If you do seminars, print key principals on the back. Your attendees will refer to them later and think of you.

4. Hand write on the back special prices that you have verbally given them.



Ad Specialties
5. Make the business card the ad specialty: Print your company information on the front and use them as swing tags. Why not ask Ipswich Printree to have a single hold placed in a corner

6. Attach a business card to an ad specialty: For example, give business card holders as a thank you gift and place your business card in as the first one.

7. If you routinely give out seasonal gifts or specialties, attach your business card. Examples: candy canes at Christmas, heart shaped containers filled with candy for Valentine's Day, or even a sandwich bag of candy with a card attached to it.



Unique Places to Put Them
8. Tuck them into the product before delivery: If you are a florist, have a hole drilled in it and tie a ribbon around the flowers and through the business card. If you sell gift baskets, Tuck one inside the basket before delivering it to your customer. The same goes for house parties (example cosmetic parties, etc) - place your card in the bag. You've seen how some restaurants staple a menu to their bags for take-away; if you use bags, staple your card to the outside of the bag.

9. Send a business card in every piece of correspondence - letters, invoices, even your electric bill. Sooner or later, those cards will be used.

10. If you are crafty, incorporate them into your designs: embellish them with rubber stamps, or blend them with other art projects. You can also mount them to greeting cards you create and send to customers and prospects.

11. When mailing out information: Staple your card to the inside of the envelope, so the reader has to remove it from the envelope and read it.

12. Scan your card in and use it as a graphic for when you exchange links with other websites. The other site can use your graphic as the link. Why not send the same scan with every email that you send.

13. Place them in library books as if you used them as bookmarks. Visit bookstores place them in books related to your business.



Keeping Them Handy:
14. Use them as bookmarks in general

15. Have your spouse, family, and friends carry some of your cards with them in case they meet someone who might be interested in your product or service.

16. Wear them! Use them as nametags at meetings and conferences instead of the "Hello, my name is ..." type of tags.

17. Keep a stack of cards everywhere you might need them - in your car, your jacket pocket, your briefcase, your purse or wallet, in your planner, at home, anywhere you can think of. Then you'll always have some on hand when you meet a prospect.



When to Use Them:
18. Give them out during your personal meetings when you meet someone new: at your church, your children's soccer games, at lunch with your friends when someone brings a guest. To be more polite, you could have a personal "calling card" printed up with your information to use in these situations.

19. If you do seminars, have your participants exchange cards with each other. Have them write a compliment about the person on the back before they hand them out. Everyone will have a wealth of contacts; they will remember each other and it will also give participants a boost of confidence.

20. Ask neighborhood businesses if you may display your cards near their registers.

21. Tack them to bulletin boards at supermarkets, restaurants, general stores and the library - anyplace that has a bulletin board.

22. Give out two cards at a time - one for your prospect or client, and one for her/him to give away.

23. Place some on the table when you leave a restaurant.

24. Agree to mail the cards of other businesspeople in the mailings you do, if they will do the same for you. Your networking circle will grow as your cards are passed around.



How Not to Use Business Cards:
25. Don't give them to a member of the opposite sex in the hopes that s/he will call you. Unless you want them to be business related.

26. Some people don't give out business cards when they meet a prospective client. Instead, they send a follow-up note later with their card enclosed.



Other Types of Business Cards to Have
27. Fold out business cards that sits on the tables like a tent fold. It has printing on 1 side only and when you fold it in half both sides is visible.

28. Email Signature. Put your contact information into a signature file for email, along with a link to your website (be sure to include the "http" in order to make it "clickable.")

29. Vcard. These are electronic business cards that recipients can click on and automatically add to their address books. Do a web search for "vcard" to find software that supports this technology. Then use it in all your emails!

30. If you wanted to be different, have a corner cut off on a angle so it gives an appearance of style.