Your business cards, that is. The card you should always have at your fingertips is one that shows
- name
- title
- phone number
- email address
No more excuses
You never know when you’ll find a bona fide chance to make an impression, and you certainly don’t want to be remembered for not having a card handy.
Make them your own
Your business card has a specific purpose beyond making it easy to hand over your contact info: it should be your ambassador, setting you apart in an instant, and giving the recipient a visual image on which to hang a memory of you. For this reason, we don’t recommend using “cheap” services such as Vistaprint and Moo. There are advantages to those sites, of course, but after years of collecting business cards from Listers, arts admins, artists, and performers of all kinds, big patterns emerge — with lots of people using the same four or five templates that seem to fit their field.
The problem is not with the designs, as many of them are quite attractive. But that popular template becomes the first impression (and sometimes the last) that people have of you. Business cards are a little bit magical, in that sense, as they can evoke memories of the moment that person met you, of what you said during that conversation, and what the future might hold.
Be an individual, your own self, with your very own image. You can build a customized, better-quality card online cheaply, using free stock images, for almost as cheap a price as Vistaprint.
Keep it simple, straightforward, and very memorable. You’ll feel better about yourself every time you give one away.
Need help?
If you don’t have a card, email us, and we’ll design a personalized card for you for a flat fee. Then you can order whenever you’re ready, and we’ll set it up with the printer so you can edit easily, without further help.
Or, if you have an uploadable design and just need to order more, consider the printer we use: UPrinting.com. They take good care of the Lister Team and do all of our printing, and both prices and quality are very good. You can even build your own design on their site, for dead simple ordering now, and lightning-fast editing later. If you live or work on the Westside or in the SF Valley, you can even save a few bucks by picking up your order at one of their two locations.
Present them (and protect them) in style
Protect your paper representatives and always know where they are by finding a card holder you like. Business card holders are available just about anywhere, and can cost anywhere from a buck to something quite a bit more fancy and pricey. But it doesn’t have to be fancy: just be sure to use it!
Use ’em up
Once you have them, put them to work — that means passing out a lot of them!
- Always have at least five more cards on hand than you think you’ll need.
- Include them in every piece of outgoing mail.
- Place cards (with permission) in likely areas where people might find you: bulletin boards, coffee houses, music schools, etc. Make it easy for the world to find you!
- Show up! The best way to network is to be present. Go to as many schmoozes, parties, performances, workshops and networking events as you can fit into your schedule without making yourself insane. (Time off is important too!) Once you’ve shown up, keep cards handy and be prepared to offer them when a legitimate opportunity arises. People will remember you the more they see you, and four brief meetings, where they can learn or re-learn something new about you each time, can make a more lasting impression than a long lunch.
Have a card you’re really proud of?
Send us a picture or drop one of your cards in the mail, and we might feature it (and therefore you) in a future post!
