5 Mistakes to Avoid When Printing Your Business Cards

Your business card is often the way that you make a first impression.  This nifty tool helps you to keep in contact with potential clients and current ones, and it can give them useful information about your business.

However, if you take a look at the average business card, then you will see that many of them suffer from poor designs.  Often, these come from businesses who attempt to design business cards themselves or who utilize the services of a company that offers to print their cards for free.

There are certain things that you want your business card to do.  You want it to reflect your company in a positive matter.  You want it to stand out from other cards so that people remember you.  However, there are some things that you should absolutely avoid.

Going Cheap on the Paper Stock

You might think that choosing a lower-quality paper stock will help your budget, but the downside is that your business card will feel cheap and flimsy.  And the impression that your business card gives is often the same impression that someone has of your company.  Choose a substantial, mid-weight paper stock for your cards to achieve the best impression.

Templates that Don’t Match

You might think that using a pre-designed template will make designing your business card easier.  While this can help, you must use caution to choose a template that works with your logo.  Most will not work well together, as a custom logo needs a customized template to highlight its uniqueness.  You should also avoid templates that include a photograph, as these will often detract from your logo and impact the branding process negatively.

Too Big of a Logo

Contrary to popular belief, bigger is not always better.  In fact, the bigger the company, the smaller the logo usually appears on the business card.  Avoid the temptation to oversize your logo in an attempt to draw attention to it.  The use of white space around the logo can have the same effect without feeling overwhelming.

Being Too Colorful

Using too much color on your business card is the equivalent to screaming at the customer.  Color can be a huge asset when it is used properly, since color is closely linked to memory recall.  Use one or two specific colors that tie in to your business logo instead of trying to create a rainbow-colored masterpiece.

Overdoing the Customization

These days, there are numerous ways to make your business card stand out.  You can go with a complex die-cut, you can make your business card different sizes, or you can even go with a unique card stock.  However, you have to make sure that your business card is still functional.  Save the dramatic presentations for a highly customized endeavor.  For your average business card, remember that you want to choose a somewhat “standard” size and shape so that it can still slide into a wallet or a Rolodex easily.  Slightly rounding the corners or using embossing can allow you to customize your card without going over the top and detracting from your professional image.