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Does Your Business Card Have An Ad On The Back?

by Mike McDaniel

You stand out from the crowd when your business card is a professional marketing piece, both sides. Having a business card with nothing on the back is wasted space.

Think of your business card as a miniature billboard. A traveling advertisement for you and what you do. If you don't use the back to reinforce your selling proposition, you are missing a great opportunity for increased exposure and impressions.

You DO have a statement that clarifies what you do (selling sentence) on your business card, right? Many people call it the Unique Selling Proposition, USP.

Here's the official definition: "USP: The factor or consideration presented by a seller as the reason that one product or service is different from and better than that of the competition".

Much like an elevator speech, the USP sets you apart by promising a benefit to the reader. "20% Off On Power Tools, Everyday!" "We deliver hot, fresh pizza in 30 minutes or less or it's free." "We Show Up On Time, Smell Good and Fix Your Leak, or You Don't Pay!" Get the idea?

Your branding statement, selling sentence or USP should be on the front, and again on the back of your card. Make the back of your card look like an little display ad.

You can use the back of your card to explain the high points of your business, quote happy customers or list the products you offer (if you quote, be sure to get permission). Implied permission is when you use a sentence with quotes around it with no attribution.

No need to fill the back edge to edge, but put something there that will work for you. Judicious use of white space front and back is the mark of a professional. Ever notice the isles in an expensive store are wider than those at Wal-Mart?

Find a way to work your name into what you put on the back. The back is an ad for you, a mobile marketing piece. Without your name there, the close is lost. Don't repeat anything else from the front, but be sure your name is on both sides.

Always design the back of the card with enough white space for you to give your prospect your direct number or your cell phone number, by hand writing it in the space on the back before you present it.

"Here, I am writing my cell number on the back..." indicates, in not so subtle tones, that not everyone gets that number (or you would have had the printer put it there with the others). The chance of that card making it back to the prospect's desk are 10 times better than a ho hum card.

If you use color on the front, the back can be done in black and white. If you use chrome coat on the front, the back can be regular flat white. Information is usually presented in black and white. Nice physiological touch, and less expensive, too.

A business card with nothing but white space on the back is a lost opportunity to sell.

BIG Mike is America's Small Business Advertising Expert, Celebrated Author, Consultant and Speaker. Get BIG Mike's latest advertising article at http://BigIdeasGroup.com/advertising.

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