It’s a New Year and often in business, it is time to give things a fresh look. Why not give your business card a once-over, to decide if it is offering you the most opportunities it can?

Your business card should be an introduction to who you are and what you do. But it also should encourage people to contact you again. A lackluster business card that is ho hum and totally forgettable is actually doing you more harm than good. Giving your business card a little vibrancy and pep can help give you more connections and build relationships in the coming year.

Let’s talk for a moment about what happens when you meet someone. This can be in any situation so let’s generalize: you have a short, friendly conversation and talk about what the two of you do. One of you suggests exchanging business cards. You exchange business cards. You leave each others\’ company. Then (quite often) no connection is made. Giving your business card a makeover can change this.

Take your business card out and look at it. Yes, right now! First: is the information on it current? Is your Job Title, Company Name, Address, Telephone Number, Email Address and all other information current for who you are and what you do and how to contact you? Don’t laugh, there are many, many successful professionals who have out of date business cards because they “don’t have the time” to get new ones. If you “don’t have the time” then you need a business card makeover more than ever! Make note of the information that needs to be make current.

Get social. Does your business card list your social networking information? Your LinkedIn URL? Twitter? In some industries, social networking is used a lot more and in other industries it is not. In some companies, social networking is used a lot more and in other companies it is not. Some people use social networking and others use it less. So as you can see, there is no “right” or “wrong” answer here, simply the right one for you. But if you do have social networking links you want to add, this is the ideal time to add them!

Remember if you give out your social networking URLs, you want to be sure your social networking URLs show updated information for you too. Take the time to update your social networking profiles before you do your business cards, so any contacts that visit your accounts have the opportunity to see you at your best. If you change your social networking accounts, like create a new Twitter account, have updated business cards made. Don’t hand out the old business cards. If you are working and investing in your career by doing social networking you are doing yourself a disservice by handing out the old business cards!

Does your business card have white space? That sounds odd, doesn’t it? But every business card needs some white space, space you can write on. This can be the back of the card, the bottom of the card, the middle of the card, it really doesn’t matter. But there needs to be some part of the card you can write on. To increase contact with the person you exchange with, write a short note to them as you pass the card to them. Taking the time to personalize your card shows you like them and want to develop a relationship with them. It will also help to remind them of you when they see your business card in their coat pocket a week from now.

With your business card makeover, you’re ready and primed for a successful 2012!

Article written by Lawrence Reaves, writing on behalf of Galorath, providing software estimation tools for complex business projects.

Article written by Lawrence Reaves, writing on behalf of http://www.galorath.com/index.php/products/software/C5/, providing software estimation tools for complex business projects.

Author Bio: Article written by Lawrence Reaves, writing on behalf of Galorath, providing software estimation tools for complex business projects.

Category: Marketing
Keywords: social networking, marketing, business card, sales, marketing