As a marketing and image consultant, I serve business people who want to expand their business and social frontiers both locally and globally. Through personal and corporate branding, I help clients to identify and maintain a distinct, relevant and consistent corporate 'personality'.
Most Nigerian business owners would agree that "man" indeed does "look on the outward appearance". As Thomas Edison once said: "Clothes may not make a man, but they sure do make a business man." I would concur by stating that appearance may not make a person, note con artist and high class prostitutes, but they sure do make a business man or woman.
A major vehicle for your corporate brand and appearance is your stationery, of which the business card is often used in both social and business encounters. When people like your business card, they are more likely to keep them and eventually use them. Hence your choice of design is vital to the effectiveness of your business card presentations.
The appropriate size for a business card is 3 ½ by 2 inches. The business card, which is presented to others at business functions should contain the following information: Your name and title, your business name, address, telephone, email and website and your company logo. You may also include a brief explanation of your business. Some may choose to print additional information on their business on the reverse side of the card while others may choose to leave it blank. I recommend keeping the items on the reverse side to a minimum especially for high ranking officials and business owners. I also recommend not including your home address on your business card as you may not want every person that you meet to have your home address.
While designing the card, ensure that your name and professional title are brought into focus in terms of font-size and boldness. It is acceptable to indicate your qualifications and the appropriate suffixes after the name, but unacceptable to prefix your name with any rank or title.
Like all culturally sensitive Akwa Ibomites, I came home at Christmas, the peak period for various functions and occasions. During my two-week sojourn, I stumbled head-long over titles such as Apostle Engineer and Princess Barrister. Not to mention Architect Prophet so and so with JP as the icing on the cake. Needless to say, I quickly came to the realization that titles were indeed important in our Land of Promise.
While on international business assignments; if necessary, ensure that your business card is printed in English on one side and the host country's language on the other side. A major tip in achieving this is to use Google Translate and type in words like name, telephone, address, title, email, and then have the website translate the words for you to use on the card.
The cards that you present to acquaintances should be in pristine condition and without any hand-written notes on them. If there are errors on your card, return them to the printer to effect the necessary corrections. I never use cards that mandate me to make manual corrections before handing them out to clients.
When presenting your card, in order to show your acquaintance the highest level of respect, hold the card out with both hands, facing up, so that it is readable to your recipient. Holding the card out with both hands is especially important in Asia and also adds to our Nigerian cultural need for reverence.
The manner in which you happen to receive a potential client or business partner's business card can have great consequences. If you arrive in China or anywhere in the Far East and you immediately stuff your acquaintance's card into your back pocket after receiving it, you will destroy the possibility of a relationship. On the sub-conscious level, I believe things are not much different in Nigeria.
However, you can use basic business card etiquette to honour your acquaintance and gain an instant rapport. When receiving a card, take a careful look at the card, read out the name on the card so that the owner can correct you if necessary and so that it helps you to remember the person's name. Thank the person who gave you the card and hold the card for as long as you are speaking to that person. Once you have ended the exchange or once you realize that you are going to spend some considerable amount of time with the person before moving on to someone else, gently place the card in your jacket pocket or in your purse.
The design, colour and typeface of your card are totally a matter of personal taste. However, endeavor to keep the entire design relevant and appropriate to your business. Certain colors and paper can help to reinforce your unique corporate image. The type and colour of the paper that you choose for your card suggest certain associations for recipients of your stationery so avoid cheap looking or faded ink looks for business and social stationery. Certain designs and colours are feminine while others are masculine.
Luxury paper is appropriate for a luxury goods merchant while an accountant who is often perceived as being frugal and dependable would look frivolous using such paper.
The type of colour or font that you use for your stationery is also important in its relevance to your business. If your business is tailored towards women, I strongly recommend that you use a more feminine colour or a rich cream colour for your stationery. There are also certain font types such as Comic Sans MS that are perfect for children-related businesses.