Networking 101 - The Importance of Business Cards

 Networking 101 - The Importance of Business Cards

By Nikki Viljoen of Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd

In her cards on Networking Tips, Dr Renate Volpe says “Your business card should read like a headline that is promoting your business.”

Ain’t that the truth?  I can tell you I have seen some strange cards out there.  Some really strange shapes and some really strange textures and some that you can only read if you put them against a white sheet of paper!

For me it’s about being able to read the bloody thing!

I hate to admit it, but there are some cards that I have actually thrown away in absolute frustration!  It tells me who they are and all the numbers are there, cell, work, fax, e-mail – the whole toot.  The problem is that the writing is so small that I needed a magnifying glass to actually read them – there are only just so many times that I am prepared to go downstairs to fetch the magnifying glass to read a business card – so out it went.

Then of course there are the cards that are so different that they do not actually fit into any kind of card holder.  Sure they make an impression, but they also frustrate the hell out of a person – so out they go too.  

Please don’t get me wrong – be different, be innovative – make a statement, but for goodness sake make a statement that most people can read and make a statement on a receptacle that we can keep somewhere comfortably.

The card should tell a person, clearly, who you are and what you do and the numbers should be of a size that anyone can actually see (never mind read).   Be different, be daring but most of all be BOLD.  Your aim at the end of the day is to get someone to contact you – they need to be able to read the numbers on the card in order to do so. 

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or www.viljoenconsulting.co.za