With my business cards, however, I can target where and when I leave them or to which individuals I hand them in order to get the greatest advantage. Of course, there is never a guarantee that where I leave them will result in sales, but at least people do keep business cards. The

The answer's no secret ... it's your business cards. If you aren't making them work for you, you may be missing an excellent opportunity at leveraging a cost effective marketing tool.

By the time you have read this article, you'll know several ways in which you can increase your profits by wringing every last cent of value from the advertising power of business cards.

Business card content

Everyone knows what a business card contains, so I'll keep this brief and focus on what some people don't have on their cards.

1. Every possible way to contact you. Don't just give your address and telephone number - give it all; fax, phone, mobile, email, street address, postal address and if you're keen, an after hours contact
2. Your Internet site URL. If you have one, put it on EVERYTHING
3. In Australia your Australian Business Number or Australian Company Number (or equivalent elsewhere). People may not deal with you if they think you are not equipped to handle Goods and Services Tax or are too small to have an ABN or ACN
4. Use the back to advertise. This can change each time you print or you can summarise - in dot point, the services you offer which are not always obvious from your name.
5. A byline. If you don't want to advertise on the back, think of using a byline, a short statement about what you do, 'Producers of the best hamburgers in Cuba'
6. Colour and professional design. People like colour. They like attractive design. Make sure your cards have both

Cost effective advertising

The last supply of business cards I bought cost me 0.07 cents Australian per card; the last classified advertisement I lodged cost me $72. While the newspaper advertisement will get much more coverage for a day or two, I have no control over who reads it. Among those who do, thousands will have no personal interest in my offer and still others might never get to the classified advertisements pages. Many will throw out the paper in a day or so and my three line ad will be gone forever from their houses and minds.

With my business cards, however, I can target where and when I leave them or to which individuals I hand them in order to get the greatest advantage. Of course, there is never a guarantee that where I leave them will result in sales, but at least people do keep business cards. The

5 Ultimate Graphic Design Mistakes - Things That Graphic Designers Should Avoid At All Costs
1. Using web graphics on printed material.With many young designers coming from a pre-dominantly web design background the transfer over from web design to traditional design for print can bring with it a multitude of design sins. Images supplied at 72dpi and crunched down to load fast on a website are going to reproduce very badly in print you can get away with small thumbnails but blowing things up to any appreciable size is going to be pushing your luck. There are a number of online sites offering free or very cheap quality hi resolution images which are a good source for suitable imagery.2. Forgetting about or not allowing enough bleed.A very common error is to send to print a document or fl
hat a business card contains, so I'll keep this brief and focus on what some people don't have on their cards.
1. Every possible way to contact you. Don't just give your address and telephone number - give it all; fax, phone, mobile, email, street address, postal address and if you're keen, an after hours contact
2. Your Internet site URL. If you have one, put it on EVERYTHING
3. In Australia your Australian Business Number or Australian Company Number (or equivalent elsewhere). People may not deal with you if they think you are not equipped to handle Goods and Services Tax or are too small to have an ABN or ACN
4. Use the back to advertise. This can change each time you print or you can summarise - in dot point, the services you offer which are not always obvious from your name.
5. A byline. If you don't want to advertise on the back, think of using a byline, a short statement about what you do, 'Producers of the best hamburgers in Cuba'
6. Colour and professional design. People like colour. They like attractive design. Make sure your cards have both

Cost effective advertising

The last supply of business cards I bought cost me 0.07 cents Australian per card; the last classified advertisement I lodged cost me $72. While the newspaper advertisement will get much more coverage for a day or two, I have no control over who reads it. Among those who do, thousands will have no personal interest in my offer and still others might never get to the classified advertisements pages. Many will throw out the paper in a day or so and my three line ad will be gone forever from their houses and minds.

With my business cards, however, I can target where and when I leave them or to which individuals I hand them in order to get the greatest advantage. Of course, there is never a guarantee that where I leave them will result in sales, but at least people do keep business cards. The

Why Having Blank Business Cards Is A Smart Idea?
According to Tom Cruise’s character in Jerry Maguire, the world is full of tough competitors vying for your business. Knowing this, business owners should excel at meeting and keeping potential clients. Blank business cards are one way companies can spread the word about their business. Whenever a new employee is hired, businesses can use Microsoft Word and other word applications to personalize business cards with a company logo. This is handed to the employee until new cards are purchased from a printer.Business cards are some of the more powerful tools out there. Spending that extra dollar to reflect a professional piece of paper is worth it. Different business cards may be as creative as you’d like, with
equivalent elsewhere). People may not deal with you if they think you are not equipped to handle Goods and Services Tax or are too small to have an ABN or ACN
7. Use the back to advertise. This can change each time you print or you can summarise - in dot point, the services you offer which are not always obvious from your name.
8. A byline. If you don't want to advertise on the back, think of using a byline, a short statement about what you do, 'Producers of the best hamburgers in Cuba'
9. Colour and professional design. People like colour. They like attractive design. Make sure your cards have both

Cost effective advertising

The last supply of business cards I bought cost me 0.07 cents Australian per card; the last classified advertisement I lodged cost me $72. While the newspaper advertisement will get much more coverage for a day or two, I have no control over who reads it. Among those who do, thousands will have no personal interest in my offer and still others might never get to the classified advertisements pages. Many will throw out the paper in a day or so and my three line ad will be gone forever from their houses and minds.

With my business cards, however, I can target where and when I leave them or to which individuals I hand them in order to get the greatest advantage. Of course, there is never a guarantee that where I leave them will result in sales, but at least people do keep business cards. The

The Advancement in an Individuals Ability to Print Postage Stamps
When the USPS allowed customers to print postage stamps from online sources, they opened up a whole new world. Almost everyone has a need for postage at one point or another. It is safe to say that everyone will use at least one stamp in their lifetime. Before online postage a person had to go to the post office or other approved retailer to get a postage stamp. Sometimes this could be rather inconvenient and even annoying. With the availability to print postage stamps at home people are finding postage is no longer adding another errand to their day. They can easily and quickly get the postage they need right in the comfort of their own home.There has been a way to print postage stamps for quite some t
amburgers in Cuba'
10. Colour and professional design. People like colour. They like attractive design. Make sure your cards have both

Cost effective advertising

The last supply of business cards I bought cost me 0.07 cents Australian per card; the last classified advertisement I lodged cost me $72. While the newspaper advertisement will get much more coverage for a day or two, I have no control over who reads it. Among those who do, thousands will have no personal interest in my offer and still others might never get to the classified advertisements pages. Many will throw out the paper in a day or so and my three line ad will be gone forever from their houses and minds.

With my business cards, however, I can target where and when I leave them or to which individuals I hand them in order to get the greatest advantage. Of course, there is never a guarantee that where I leave them will result in sales, but at least people do keep business cards. The

Accepting Credit Cards
Everywhere you look today, you see them. The logos are plastered all over the entryways into most business shops you see on the roads, you seem the at the bottom of every order form page online or in the paper, and even the olympics and the NFL!Visa and Mastercard logos are everywhere you want, or don't want them to be!With the country today spending so much money on credit, with the "buy now, pay later" mentality, accepting credit cards will truly increase your business simply by accepting these forms of payments.Debit cards are standard becoming the way younger adults pay. Cash is becoming also as obsolete as the 8 track!National Translink Corporation has conducted a survey all over 1
onal interest in my offer and still others might never get to the classified advertisements pages. Many will throw out the paper in a day or so and my three line ad will be gone forever from their houses and minds.

With my business cards, however, I can target where and when I leave them or to which individuals I hand them in order to get the greatest advantage. Of course, there is never a guarantee that where I leave them will result in sales, but at least people do keep business cards. The idea is to increase probability ... the probability that the recipient will want my goods or services. Here's an example.

Target marketing

Recently I attended a workshop about Email Marketing which was also attended by about 50 others. As the products I sell include three high capacity email management software systems, this was an opportunity I couldn't miss. I left a card at every place mat on every table.

If the target audience was interested in email marketing, wasn't there a probability they might also be interested in email software? Sure enough, I received 11 enquiries within a few days of the workshop and sold three copies of the software.

Had the workshop been about 'The Metallurgical Use of Sodium Cyanide' how successful do you think I would have been?

When you use target marketing, you may have to offer a financial incentive for someone to distribute - or allow you to distribute - your card. If someone asks for a commission to distribute my business card, I'm happy to oblige, but I also expect to be allowed to leave a brochure. The incentive I offer is this: If you agree for me to leave my sales brochure, I'll use a code within the brochure that lets me identify a sale as coming from your workshop, shop, seminar or whatever. For every sale I'll give you a percentage commission.

If you do this often, you can set up an affiliate program through Clickbank, Sharesale or someone else who provides affiliate management programs. But I don't create affiliates for short-term ventures that may last only a few weeks, it's too much work.

Depending on the goods or services you sell, you can leave your business cards at business offices. For example, when I visit a real estate office I see business cards for insurance brokers. When I go to the insurance brokers, I see cards from real estate businesses. This can be a mutually beneficial arrangement that costs nobody. If you do it though, you must ensure you don't neglect your busine