Too Much Clutter – It’s tempting to fit everything you can about you onto your business card, along with your picture, some quotes, and then a photo of your cat. But resist the temptation to clutter up your business card with the unnecessary. Too much clutter leaves your business card unnattractive and less professional. Learn the techniques of white space when designing your business card.

Not Stating What You Do – OK, so you’ve decided to clean up your business card a little bit and remove the non-essential. Keep it short and to the point. But one thing you should never take off is what you do.

People have stacks of business cards they go through to find someone or something. If they are sifting through cards. it is highly unlikely they will remember what you do if it’s not written on your business card. A common place to put your Title or Service is directly under your name.

Be Obnoxious – If you haven’t heard the story, Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, once had the title of “I’m CEO, Bitch!” on his business card. Being the founder of the biggest social network on the planet does not mean you can be obnoxious or pretentious. It’s more true when you’re looking for investors that will make or break your business.

Business cards should be professional no matter who you are and what you do. People will not take amateurish business cards seriously, and will skip over them or throw them in the bin.

Square Business Cards – You can be as creative with your business cards as you want. Glossy, rounded corners, die-cut – the options are limitless. But one thing you do not want to do is deviate from the standard business card size.

It may seem unique and “cutting-edge” to be that one, oddly shaped business card in a stack, but it’s not. It’s annoying. Business card holders, scanners, and every other tool related to business cards are designed for the standard size card.

Of course, there are more things than just these four items that you shouldn’t do on your business cards, but we can leave that for another post.

Name – This is obvious. But do you use initials or your full name? Use the name you are most commonly called, and do not use nicknames (especially when dealing with professionals)

You want your name to stand out, so try to make it bigger than the rest of the text on the business card.

Credentials – If you are a CPA, P.E., etc, then you want to list it on your business card, especially in a professional setting. This adds credibility to your business card and lets people remember you better.

Title – This your position at your company. For example, it can be “President” or “Creative Director” or “Manager.” If you are a small company or one-person freelancer, avoid using titles that make you sound far more important than you really are. Use a title that lets people know what you do.

Address – Once again, credibility is key here. Without an address, many people will assume you work out of your basement (if you do, that’s OK – Get a P.O. Box or UPS Store Box). And of course, you want to show it off if your office is located in a swanky part of town!

Telephone, Cell Phone, and Fax Numbers – The easiest and fastest way for people to get in touch is through telephone. While many people are migrating to e-mail, most professionals still want the personal touch (and fast) that telephone provides.

Email Address – Some people prefer e-mail over telephone, especially for things that aren’t urgent. To come off as more professional, register a domain name (even if you do not have a website) so you can have an email address like myname@mybusinessname.com. Having a @yahoo.com or @gmail.com address comes off as amateur.

Website Address – After you hand a person your business card, the first thing they do is check out your website to see what you are all about. You do not want to forget your website address, especially if it is part of your marketing mix!

Professional criteria – If you need to display license numbers or registration, make sure these are on the card as well. This can apply to real estate brokers, therapists, and so on.

Photos (optional) – If you want people to really remember you, you can use a photo on your business card. Photos are better suited for professionals, like chiropractors, doctors, and real estate brokers. If you do include a photo, make sure to have it done professionally. Candid photos and home pictures won’t cut it!

Too Much Information?

Experienced designers know how to place all of this information on a business card without it becoming too cluttered. But if you are doing it yourself and you don’t have much design talent, you might have trouble getting everything in place so it looks good.

You always have the option of printing on both sides of the card. One side can include your important information, like name, phone and email, while the other side can include your address information, services, and website address.