Most of the conferences for the year are coming to a close to make room for the holiday parties. This year, Orbit was happy to join in on the conference fun by attending and speaking at TriMega and Independent Stationers’ EPIC 2013, ECI Connect 2013, and OPI Global Forum 2013.
Like any industry conference, networking and exchanging information is a huge part of each event and workshop. After the conference, you travel home with a huge stack of business cards and a week or so later, you start entering them into your contact management system, trying to make sense of it all. Some company names aren’t what you remembered or the one piece of information you really wanted from that great conversation isn’t even on the business card. Avoid confusing your potential customers, employees, and professional connections by staying away from the following:
- Official Name vs. DBA – Yes, it’s true. We’ve seen it. A business card with the official name of the company (mainly used for tax purposes) along with the more customer-friendly DBA name all on one tiny 2″x3.5″ space.
- Fax Number – Welcome to 2013. Most people scan and email a document these days. Adding a fax number to your business card is like an old, bad habit. It’s rarely ever used. A fax number would be more appropriate on that rare document or contract that has the option of being faxed in (or scanned and emailed).
- Multiple Websites – Stop confusing people that may like you. Lead them to one website – in most cases, that website has more than enough information and links leading to secondary or tertiary websites like a blog or social media profiles, etc.
- Your Mission Statement – Please don’t. If you don’t know Orbit very well yet, we don’t believe in mission statements. In short, they are stuffed with too many big words to make the mission statement seem important. Most people don’t even fully comprehend the mission statement, no matter how many times they read them. If you go through our Branding Map Process, we’ll show you how to swap out your mission statement for a Branding Promise (7 words or less). And that Branding Promise is meant for your company to use internally … not smacked on the back of your business card for the world to see.
- Photo of Yourself – Unless you are an actor, a model or a really important face that people would recognize, a photo just takes up space and gets outdated way quicker than your email or phone number.
When you meet, chit-chat and exchange information with a new face, you want your business card to provide a strong impression, while still relaying the information in a simple manner that reflects your company and your brand. Don’t lose sight of what a business card is all about: how to best contact you. Stay simple, “Genius Simple” and keep the information that is crucial for following up and getting in touch.
Brand well and prosper.
Cyndi