Boring Business Cards Suck

In my years as a graphic designer and sales professional, I have definitely seen incredible amounts of ineffective business cards. Most are just plain BORING....

Take a look at your own business card and be honest -- does it look like everyone elses card? Is there anything about your business card that will make it standout from all the others?

• Anything to make the recipient hang on to your card, rather than toss it in the trashcan when they empty their pockets at the end of the day?
  
• Anything to make the recipient ask for additional cards so they can hand them to other people?
  
• Anything about the card that ties it uniquely to you and the services you provide?

An example of a business card I designed and produced that accomplishes all of the points above was for magician Jon Petz. When I accepted Jon's project, I immediately knew that I wanted his business card to actually BE a magic trick.

Any magician will tell you the very first request they get after being introduced is "show me a trick!" I wanted the mere act of handing out his business card to become a micro performance experience. More than that, I wanted the card to have the ability to become a viral trick they gets passed along from peer-to-peer.

Anyone who received the card needed to be able to show the trick to the very next person they met, and in turn show the new person how to show the next person they met.

Additionally, I'd come up with the idea for two sets of cards -- one that enabled the trick to be passed along as described above, and a second set designed to bring the recipient back to Jon's website to discover how the trick was accomplished.

Here's how it worked:
Jon would show someone the face of his business card and ask the person to choose a playing card from the six images printed at the bottom. Once they selected a card, Jon would wave his hand over the front of the card and only five would remain. The missing card would be the one selected by the other person.

It would then be up to Jon to decide which version of the card to hand them -- the one designed to bring the recipent back to his site, or the version that allowing the recipient to perform the trick themselves. In the second case, it was always advisable to hand the recipient 3 or 4 cards to encourage they pass the trick along. Here's what the second series (the ones designed to bring the recipient back to his website) of Jon's cards look like --

These cards proved popular and worked exactly as planned. The client was happy, and proved it by placing orders for additional business.

If you'd like a free evaluation of your own business card (and some suggestions on how it might be improved) please contact ideaguy@salestoys.com.

What A Waste(basket)!

The #1 author and authority on sales presents seminars on sales education (not sales "training" -- ask him to explain the difference between "training" and "education") all over the world. In every single one of the events I've witnessed, Jeffrey Gitomer shares the ugly truth with audience that no one reads their sales brochures (GASP!)

As a matter of fact, he recommends you simply crumple-up your brochure and deliver to your prospect inside of a trashcan, telling them "I knew it was going to end up there anyway."

The twist is, he tells the audience to deliver it in a really cool trashcan printed with their company logo.

After a recent seminar, I sent Jeffrey a link to what I thought was "a really cool trash can" and asked if I could be the one to print HIS logo on it, so that he could use it as an example in his seminars, as well as a product he could sell on his own website. A month later, the Gitomer 'Trash Talk' Wastebasket was produced.

More than featuring just a logo, Jeffrey's trashcan features quotes on the subject of trash from 19 of the world's great philosophers, authors, thinkers, actors, athletes, industry moguls, politicians, comedians, and cartoon characters (including Jeffrey.) While your crappy company brochure won't be read -- you can bet each and every quote on this wastebasket's large 10" x 27" full-wrap imprint area will.

If you're interested in having your own marketing message or logo printed on these wastebaskets (or just need some additional marketing and promotion ideas designed to build relationships with prospects and long-term clients alike) please contact Don The Idea Guy by calling 614-340-7910 or write ideaguy@salestoys.com.

---------------------------

Wastebasket Info: [item#13003]

High quality electrolytic tinplate material, with white exterior finish.

Product size: 11-1/2" high x 9-3/4" diameter, 3 Gallons

Standard imprint area: 10" high x 27-1/2" wrap.

Full wrap imprint available, ships fully nested for economical shipping. Due to tapered imprint area, some artwork will need adjusting. Four-color process available on minimum of 288 pieces.

Prices start at US$12.51 each in quantities as low as 36 pieces.

Tax, shipping, and setup charges not included.

Increase Sales Activi-Tee

Stumbled upon a new site the other day called Reactee. It allows users to create custom message t-shirts. Before you say "been there, done that (and bought the custom designed t-shirt)" -- these t-shirts talk back.

Reactee includes an automated text-back feature designed right into the shirt!
Anyone who sees the t-shirt (either worn in public or on the website) can instantly text a keyword to a provided number and received a custom message deliverd to their text enabled mobile device. They can even choose to 'subscribe' to the shirt and receive updates everytime the shirt's text message is changed.

Just imagine the possibili-"tees" for Bands (text to get their latest concert schedule), writers (text to get a free poem or serialized story), Retail Stores (to get sales info and special discounts), and Salespeople (get 5 tips on using product, on-demand contact info, current inventory) -- The uses are just about limitless.

My IDEA GUY shirt delivers creativity tips and promotes my website.
How will you use your Reactee?