To picture or not to picture….business cards

Business cards are the primary way most businesses advertise their business on a personal level.   Business cards should represent the nature of the business without being an overwhelming  graphic production.  For the skincare and massage industry, one should think about what sector of the market they want to capture.  For example a make-up artist’s card may be different from a medical aesthetician. A make-up artist may include many colors and different photographs representing their work.   A medical aesthetician may choose to put only the name of the business with a simple logo on regular heavy card stock.

To properly understand what type of business you are trying to bring in you must be represented visually. Visual representation made include a logo or a picture.  The use of color is also an important issue when selecting business cards. Not only must people be able to see what is going on but they must also be able to distinguish the correct contact information easily. *Information that must be on card:  Name of business, Phone number with area code, Address and email or website if possible.

The biggest questions I get when mentoring students in business development is if they should put their picture on their business card.  My first question to them is to think about what industry uses pictures.  Immediately, you think of real estate.  Right?  Well, again one must determine what type of market you are trying to go for.  In addition, pictures of people are similar to trademarks.  Remember that people must see the same symbol at least 11 times, hear it 11 times before they even recognize that business.  It is what people call branding.  Your company or business will be branded based upon how you portray your company.  Therefore, if you do choose to use a picture of yourself,  you cannot change the picture every time you need new cards.  People like to see consistency in a business.

Well, this is something to think about isn’t it.   To picture or not to picture, this is the question.  What do you think?

“Everyday is a Super Natural Day!” TM

Debbie Hellmann