Biz card: One thing to avoid

[toverman]

OK, maybe more than one thing.

Got a business card from a person who wants to freelance for us. Not a problem. Our little paper uses freelancers to cover high school sports with usually stellar results. The card, though, is a problem. If it's meant to tell me about this person or the quality of their work, essentially a first impression, in a shallow sense it just doesn't work. Here's why:

Thing to avoid No. 1: The card is 1 and 1/8-inch tall and 2 and 3/4 inches wide. If I wasn't so amazed by its small size, I would have lost it by now. (In that vein, maybe it's a brilliant idea).

Thing to avoid No. 2: The person lists "weddings, parties, freelance, portraits" on the card, but the image on the other side is of a building. It doesn't appear to depict a wedding, party or portrait, but maybe it was a freelance assignment. Don't know what the building is, or where it is. Random building?

Thing to avoid No. 3: Person lists "professional photographer," but there's no link to an online portfolio or Web site. IMHO, that's a must nowadays. Person also uses a gmail address as biz e-mail. Not really pro to me.

Nice things about it: It's different because of its size. The paper sure feels high quality. The random building, although it's kind of small to be sure, looks fairly well exposed.

[Steelsun]

Sounds like a Moo Card.
http://www.moo.com/

They are "all the rage" among Flickerati and others.

[S-Man]

Yeah, a friend of mine (who also happens to use this forum but will remain nameless) has those. His had various images on different cards though (they were'nt all the same), and they were great images I might add. I thought they were really cool. I liked em alot, however I agree, the small size makes it easy to lose. I still have one though, it stays on my desk...And yeah, it's very high-quality feeling/looking.

[STP Images]

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[toverman]

Good points, Todd. Was just speaking as someone who gets a lot of business cards, all of them except this one is "normal" size. I have one of those hole-punchers that lets me add "keepers" to my Rolodex.

I only give out my card when asked. If my portfolio and interpersonal skills don't sell my work, I wouldn't have any work!

[Roadrnr]

My thought is that your business card provides your contact info on it. It's not designed to "sell" your work for you.

With that said, you should ALWAYS have business cards on hand and ALWAYS hand them out. The more you can get you and your company's name in front of people, the better. The key to your card is to stand out to the person you are giving it to. That way they will remember you. Every time someone thinks of a photographer, they should think of you. Why? because they see your name everywhere.

When you are in a business that has a lot of competitors, you HAVE to set yourself apart from everyone else and show the value of your business. Also, specializing in a specific niche is good as well.

[canoflan]

Originally Posted by toverman

Thing to avoid No. 2: The person lists "weddings, parties, freelance, portraits" on the card, but the image on the other side is of a building. It doesn't appear to depict a wedding, party or portrait, but maybe it was a freelance assignment. Don't know what the building is, or where it is. Random building?

Classic mistake here. You would think that the first thing that people see from an aspiring photographer's work would be the best and most thought out; however, that appears to not always be the case.

One thing I have learned is that if you show a portfolio to a client, do not have anything in that portfolio (like putting your landscape pictures in the back because you only want the client to flip the front thinking they will never turn past the front 10 pictures) that doesn't relate to the work you are being interviewed for. They may see something that they don't like, etc..., then where are you? Professional means sticking to the point, meeting or exceeding client expectations, knowing your technical abilities and how much you need to bill to stay profitable and getting the cash. This all takes thought, thought, thought.

Canoflan

[MarcoFromHouston]

How do you like my business card? (Can it still be called a "business" card if I haven't officially started my business?)

Anyway, here is my "card".

Rounded Edges
UV Coat on both sides

[TxManx]

Marco -

My opinons: I like the design, however it needs to be centered....

Your business name, I presume from the card, is "Marco from Houston" - is that correct?

The back of the card is attractive - it's colorful and eye catching - and since it doesn't represent what you do, actually sets it apart.

The biggest mistake I've seen on recent business cards (from fellow photographers) is having 5-10 little bitty pictures all over the card - such that the pictures take away from the person's name, and almost confuses the issue...

Point proven by the fact that I cannot remember the name of a single person or company - but parts of the images stand out in my mind... my opinion, that's the opposite effect a business card is supposed to have.

The design, any photos, etc. should lead to the name, business, etc...should remind you of it...