The traditional black-and-white business card is dying out in some professions, but salespeople and marketers are reinventing their look to keep others intrigued.
The Wall Street Journal reports an increase in the do-it-yourself business card, marked by unusual designs and materials. Business cards are being made of everything from metal to plastic and even wood. Some are larger than your traditional business card, while others are much tinier to attract extra attention.
But some marketers warn that while unusual business cards can make a strong impression, they can also annoy recipients if they can’t be easily carried or scanned. Carolyn Thompson, an executive recruiter, says she gets annoyed with some of the unusual business cards she receives, such as tiny ones that easily slip out of her card stacks or black cards with indistinct lettering.
Many people nowadays just exchange contact information online or between phones. But having a traditional business card remains a mainstay in some industries, like in real estate.
And creative business cards can definitely leave an impression. Here are a few unique ones recently featured in
The Wall Street Journal:
- Oddly shaped cards: Greta Schulz, a sales trainer and consultant in Boca Raton, Fla., told The Wall Street Journal she wants to startle people when she hands them her card. It is shaped like a trapezoid with a slanted bottom edge. “People go, ‘Omigod,’ and it starts a conversation,” Schulz told The Wall Street Journal. “You want to make a statement, to make sure people remember you.”
- A puzzle: Randall Ostrow, owner of a business development advisory firm in Boca Raton, Fla., hands out wooden business cards in jigsaw shapes. He says people hold onto his cards for awhile because they like to play with the puzzle pieces.
- Heavy stock: Mel Carson, founder of a digital marketing company called Delightful Communications, wants to impress his clients with a polished business card so he hands one out that is three times thicker than traditional cards.
- Double-duty: Kevin Mitnick, a public speaker and chief hacking officer at the security training firm KnowBe4, distributes a lightweight metal business card that holds a removable set of flat lock-picking tools. He distributes about 14,000 of his cards a year.
View some examples of creative business cards in real estate.
Source: “Business Cards Aren’t Dead, They’re Just Getting Weirder,” The Wall Street Journal (Jan. 23, 2018)
