Contractor Marketing Begins With The Business Card
Contractor business cards might seem like a no-brainer. You hop onto a discount printing website and order a couple hundred for about $5, right? Premade template, name and phone number, and you’re done. Well, you could choose to do it that way, but if you would like a contractor business card that helps build your brand and bring in business you can create a design that is much more effective.
Professional Design
Invest in a professionally designed business card that coordinates with the rest of your marketing materials. Your professional logo – if you don’t have one already, now is the time to get one – should be featured on your business cards, including the color scheme and any other elements that usually accompany your logo.
Some templates look fine, but fine isn’t really the standard you’re looking for in your company’s marketing materials. Not only that, but people recognize them as cheap templates even if you choose an attractive one. After all, they have all checked out those temptingly cheap business cards as well. Your company and your customers deserve better.
Simplicity
You need to include the necessary information on your contractor business cards. Your company name should already be present in the form of your logo. Your name, preferred phone number, and email should also be present. Even if you prefer one or the other, some clients will only contact you if they can use their own preferred communication method.
Your company website address must also be on your business card, but do not label it “website.” Same for your email address; no label needed. Everyone recognizes website and email addresses these days without being told what they are. Beyond this, don’t clutter your business card with extra information that most clients won’t need. With your website address included, they have access to everything they need to know.
Eye Friendly Design
Avoid business card elements like tiny fonts and light colored text. Since you are (hopefully) having your cards professionally designed, this shouldn’t be an issue. When you are approving the design for your own business card avoid design elements that you have seen on other cards that you did not like. If you are putting information on the back, do not relegate vital information there. It is a good place for your tagline or a coupon, not your website address.
Too Trendy?
You have some creative options in modern business cards, but before you go for an unusual card shape, QR codes, or crazy designs that will cost a small fortune give it some serious thought. Professional, high quality cards are essential, but you don’t need to go over the top. In fact, some of these trends will actually backfire.
Cards of unusual shape and size may be cute and memorable, but they will not fit in standard business card cases. That makes them much easier to misplace. For all the trendiness of QR codes, surveys have demonstrated that few people actually use them unless you are in a high tech industry. For contractor business cards, they are probably unnecessary.
Quality
Quality is an essential impression to give for a contractor, and you can start with the quality of your business card. Thin discount cards may leave a prospective customer wondering if the same standard of quality applies to your construction projects. Since this is definitely not what you are aiming for, choose a nice cardstock with some solidity to it for your business cards. Aim for around a 16 pt cardstock that will feel substantial when you hand it over.
The key to choosing your contractor business card design is to ensure that it will convey the essence of your business and enable potential customers to quickly and easily contact you. For everything else, your website address is there to provide additional information.
