I have spent many hours in February entering business cards into a spreadsheet for one of my clients. The stack of cards was several inches high, and since data entry doesn’t take all that much mental focus, I did a lot of thinking.
This wasn’t the first time I’ve had this type of project, but this time the caliber of cards was really interesting to me. I think it’s because the longer I’ve been in business, the more it puzzles me why people even bother to print off some of the cards I come across.
I saw several cards with those perforated edges that were printed at home, on a very lightweight stock that I wouldn’t even call cardstock. I would estimate more than half did not use the back side of the card, which is just crazy to me. Why not use half of the real estate of your business card to include a marketing message, service list or something. Anything. Wait, I take that back. One of these cards really made me lose focus - to the point that I had to pause my timer.
The card was a plain white perforated one and had no mention of a business name. Just a woman’s name, phone number, email address and website address. On the back of the card (which I was checking for additional notes to enter in the spreadsheet) was written “the red head”. In all small letters, and it was actually part of the card, it wasn’t a note my client had made.
Now…it’s really hard not to make a judgment when you see something like that. I’m sure your first thought was probably the same as mine was. I knew there was more to it, though, knowing my happily married client. The site belonged to a business brokerage (I had to check out the site of someone that would print that on the back of their business cards) which kind of shocked me.
I believe the description on the back of the card was meant to be cheeky, and that woman wanted people to remember her as ‘the red head’ they met with. Red heads are rare, right? Lucy, Sally Jessie, Nicole Kidman. I can only name a handful of famous red heads. Putting “the brunette” on the back of my cards wouldn’t mean much, right? Chances are, at a networking event, people might only meet with one red head among all the brunettes and towheads. So I understand the intention, I just don’t think it worked in this case. Maybe if the card was a bit more professional, or if there was at least a business name or description.
Anyway, what do you think about this? Do any of my readers use a tool like this to make people remember you in your networking efforts?
You know what? That red head may be a genius. I will probably never forget her name, website address or what she does. Hmmm. Something to ponder.
I would love to hear your comments.
