Photo by heydrienne.

Business cards can be one of two things…

• A waste of money.
• A tool for success.

If you aren’t luring people into contacting you, then you can be sure that your business card will end up in the same garbage bin as the other 20 cards they received that week.

Or perhaps they’ll remember how pleasant you were and hold on to your card for a while. But six months later they will be sorting through their wallet and come across your card. They might even wonder, “who’s that again,” as they flip it towards the trash.

Business cards in general, as they’re used by most people today, are a huge waste of money regardless of how cheap they are to print. $40 is a HUGE waste of money if it doesn’t bring a single penny back in return.

I’m not looking at dollar signs here, I’m looking at the return on your investment…and all I’m seeing is a bunch of zeros.

Think about it for a minute. What is the purpose of a business card? You know the answer, it’s meant to remind people about yourself and the services that you have to offer.

Now answer this…is your business card doing what it is supposed to?

• Is it causing people to contact you for work?
• Is it leading prospects through your doors?
• Is it making you money?

Everything in a freelancer’s business should be leading to more income either now or down the road. Bidding sites cost money, advertising costs money, web hosting costs money, Skype costs money, your cell phone costs money, your vehicle costs money, your computer costs money, and your business cards cost money.

If any of those things aren’t helping you generate more income, then you either need to cut your losses or fix what you’re doing.

So how can you fix your business card?

Make some improvements! You’re not a head-honcho at a big-time corporation, so you don’t need to worry so much about image, but rather focus on how you’ll get people contacting you for work.

Right now your business card probably says:

John Smith
Freelance Writer

Phone: (xxx) xxx-xxxx
Email: xxxxxxx@xxxx.com
Web: www.xxxxxxxxx.com
Address: 123 Street, Somewhere over the Rainbow.

Perhaps you’ve even thrown in a catchy tagline. But still, is it delivering results?

If it is, then don’t worry about what I have to say - because it’s quite a trick to create a business card that is actually effective - so if it’s not broken then please don’t fix it.

But if you’re sick and tired of handing out quarters to everybody you meet without getting anything in return (because that’s essentially what you’re doing), then here are a few ways to change things up.

Unique Selling Proposition

Get rid of your tagline (if you have one) and replace it with your USP. What do you offer your prospects that nobody else can? What sets you apart?

M&M’s are “the milk chocolates that melt in your mouth, not in your hand.”
Head and Shoulders gets rid of dandruff.
Red Bull stimulates the body and mind.

What do you do? Here are a few suggestions…

• Incredible Web Copy that Pulls Your Readers In and Causes them to BUY.
• High-Quality SEO Content that Pushes You Above Your Competition on ALL the Search Engines.
• Direct Mail that Delivers! More Sales, Higher Conversion Rates, All of the Time!

Make an Offer

I first heard about this through Alexi Neocleous, a direct-response copywriter from Australia. He explained that a business card offer gives people a reason to call. Sure, they might want to work with you sometime down the road, but they don’t need to contact you for any reason.

Making an offer adds some pizazz to your card and fills your email inbox with loads of prospects who are looking for your help. Will they all buy? No…but you’ll know that they fit your target market.

Examples:

• Email xxxxxxx@xxxx.com to receive a FREE 20-page report on “How to turn you boring web-content upside down and make it sell!”
• Sign up for my FREE Newsletter to receive weekly tips on improving your conversion rates…PLUS a bonus webinar that will explode your profits! CopywritingSells.com
• Contact me today and receive 20% off on your first project! Limited time offer - Expires December 31, 2008.

Testimonials

Why not turn your business card into a mini-sales letter? Need some added credibility? Call on a big-shot client or well-known friend to give a testimonial that converts. If you don’t know anybody that others will recognize, then add a few other testimonials instead!

I’d put one or more testimonials on the back of your card with a catchy heading.

• Discover what all the fuss is about…
• Find out why people turn to me when they need fast results…
• What others are saying about John Doe…

Use Both Sides of the Card

Since you’ve now got three times the information, you’ll probably need the other side of the business card to make things fit.

But don’t worry if it costs more money overall…

$80 well spent is better than $40 wasted.

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