How Business Cards Are a Form of Advertising

Business cards are probably the most under-used resource in many business people's marketing arsenal. They are rarely used as well as they should be and are often not even carried. This amazes me because they are a lasting and very effective advertising tool.

The origins of the humble business card go back a long way. Originally they were called "calling cards" and used to be left at someone's home if the caller was not 'received' or at home at the time of the visit. This tradition was used by the 'upper-classes' as they were the only ones who could afford to pay for them or who had the time to go 'calling'.

This early form of advertising was telling the receiver of these calling cards that someone of equal or better rank in the social hierarchy was interested in making contact with the receiver. There was a strict social rule that governed the leaving of these calling cards and it had to be followed precisely.

Today there is no precise way to use the business card except to make sure that you use it when you can. It should always be carried in your purse or wallet and offered to someone who is enquiring about your business. This is not considered 'pushy' but is taken as a form of courtesy and interest to the receiver as a sign that you would be interested in doing some business with them.

These business cards then get carried away and usually added into a Rolodex or business card holder. I know of business people who keep these cards filed in such a way that the minute they need a product or service, they always use their Rolodex before they Google or use the local yellow pages. Your business card is your way of 'talking' to the person long after they have met you and (hopefully) you will have exchanged business cards.

If you are a person who gets a lot of business cards from a lot of different networking business functions and you have a poor memory, it is a good idea to make notes on the back of the card as to which function it was that you met them. This will serve you well if you decide to use their services further in the future. They will be very impressed that you remember where you have met and they are more likely to give you a better deal. Wouldn't you do that for someone who contacted you months after an event and was able to remind you of when and where you met and even better if you remember who introduced you!

Business cards are a form of personal advertising and as such are rarely used to greatest benefit. You can use them as personally or as informally as you feel comfortable doing. I chose the personal way because that is the way I am most comfortable.

The impersonal way to use your business card to advertise is to use it like a flyer and drop it into people's letter boxes. This is a very expensive way to use them because flyers are much cheaper. But the upside is that people do see it as a service and an expensive one and they tend to put them on a fridge or to hold onto them rather than binning them quickly.

Any form of advertising notice into a household or business that 'sticks around' for a while, is an effective form of advertising and business cards used with discretion will do this for any business. 

Knowing how Small Business Networking off-line with business cards can improve your bottom line keeps small businesses in business today