Too many people attempt to turn their business card into a brochure. They believe that it is small and easy to keep on them, so is a good way to promote their business. Every time they meet a potential client they would want to give them a full brochure, but instead they only have their business card on them, so they hand them that.
However, now their business card then needs more information on it: it needs a list of the full range of their products; it needs the 60 second elevator pitch sales line; it needs a picture of their primary product range - or building; it needs all of their key staff’s contact details, as well as their own, of course; and it needs to be made of titanium so that it can never be destroyed by a careless client who may leave it in their trouser pocket when they put them into the washing machine.
Does any of this ring a bell?
Let me be very clear, a business card is NOT a brochure. It is for contact details only! By mixing up a business card with a brochure you are missing the point of both the business card and the brochure. They both serve two completely different roles: the business card is an easy way for the client to remember your contact details; and a brochure is for selling your business - or a single product range or service within your business. That is, you may need more than one brochure and you will definitely need more than one business card if you have more than one staff member.
"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”
~ Leonardo da Vinci
"Less is more"
~ Mies Van Der Rohe
Your business card needs to be kept simple and clean in its design. Yes, make it stand out, but make your brand stand out, not the skills of your designer. Remember the KISS principle - Keep It Simple Stupid. Accept the fact that most people will throw it away moments after you hand it to them, so don’t spend a million dollars designing and printing it - that won’t get them to keep it any longer than they normally would anyway.
Your brochure’s message should be client directed and contain one simple message. Do not over complicate it. It is not a price list of all of your products and services, without prices. That the client can find on your website when they need to - with prices. It is all about the client and how your products and services meet their needs told in a simple and easily remembered story (read the next chapter to understand what client directed marketing is all about).
Good marketing collateral, like all good marketing, works in concert with the rest of your marketing and is simple, easily understood and designed for one specific job. So, please, let the little piece of card in your pocket do its job without undue hindrance.
Source: Dream: Profound Insights For Creating Business Success by Terrence Bull
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