"The 12 Days of Business" Day 2: Tips To Grow Your Business On

“The 12 Days of Business” Day 2

“On the Second Day of Business, My Consultant Said To Me: Create Two Calling Cards.”

So on the first day of business we identified who our customers were and the importance of networking to reach out to those customers. On this second day, we want to touch on your first two impressions that most business owners usually make on their customers, the business card and the website.

Business cards have gone thru many incarnations from simple to flashy but a strong business card can create a lasting impression on those you meet and network with. A good business card will have some basic elements: If you have a physical location where your customers or clients will go to see you or write to you, that should be on your card. If your customers never see your physical business and do not have to contact you there, the address is not needed. All applicable phone numbers should be included, cell, business, fax, and 800 number. A website and email address should always be included. Some visual element should be included, whether a logo or an artful design. A good business card will also take advantage of both sides of the card. Business cards should be on on heavy card stock with a laminate finish to really pop.

Some things you should avoid on your business card include; using oversize/non-standard cards that stand out when you are holding them, but if they can’t fit easily into a wallet, card holder, or rolodex, they will be put into a drawer, never to be seen again. Plain white cards have nothing that catches your eye and will soon be forgotten when customers are rifling through cards to find you. Using magnets with the front of your business card on them are great accessories to your business card, but should not be your main card. They will be left on file cabinets or at the office and are not easily portable. Another fad was the CD as business card, creative in the information it can provide, clunky and not kept at arms length when a client is ready to find you.

A good consultant or marketing firm should be able to get you 1,000 double sided full color laminate cards for about $65 dollars and it will be money well spent in formulating your first and lasting impression on your clients and customers. If you already have a good logo, there shouldn’t be any design fee’s, but if you want them designed by scratch, it could cost anywhere up to another $100.

The second, ‘first impression,’ you make on your customers or clients is the website they find by surfing the web. If your company does not have a website yet, it’s definitely the time unless you want to continually lose market share. A good website is very subjective, but from a business standpoint, it should include some basic elements as well. Your website needs to first and foremost be found on the web, so search engine optimization through keywords and other tricks of the trade, need to be implemented in its design. Visually, you want your site to be attractive, but not to distract from the products, service, or message you are trying to convey to your audience. A good website will have a site map or be easy to navigate with clear and concise links to the information it offers. Finally, security is an important basic function when designing a site. You don’t want others to be able to hack into your site and make it unsafe or unreadable for your customers and clients.

Web design is moving more and more towards combining style and functionality, and a good designer will make them work well together. Content Management Systems, (CMS,) has become more sophisticated where the owner of the site can create changes much more easily than before, without effecting the sites beauty or functionality. In my own web company division, I am constantly amazed by what my designers can do. Websites can cost from $500 to thousands of dollars, and you want to find someone who will listen to you and be able to implement your ideas. There are also web design programs available that if you have a little bit of creativity, can give you a basic web presence, but you really want someone who will continue your company’s brand from the real world to the cyber world.

Tomorrow we are at day 3 and I will be continuing the series thru Christmas Day. Happy Holidays from Ace in the Hole Marketing.