King Pin Business Cards

The term online business cards can mean one of two things. Electronic versions of the business card, like the ones you can include in mails or SMS messages, and business cards that you can buy online.

The online versions can take the form of Facebook invite cards, to LinkedIn and other business oriented networking sites. It is simply an electronic version of the trusty piece of cardboard with your work details on it. These are becoming increasingly popular with the increase in reliance on email. Microsoft Outlook allows you to create a business card and enclose it with emails. There are even Office templates for them. I know there are other third party applications that will help you create an online business card.

Depending on your cell provider and phone, you can create and send electronic business cards via your phone. They are encoded so that they can nestle nicely in your contacts folder in them. This can be a quick and discreet way of swapping details. There isn’t much to designing these kind of cards though. The technology is still in its infancy to the options are limited. I think there will be some useful applications coming soon that will breathe some life into this, especially as the phones themselves are getting increasingly sophisticated.

Buying a business card online is the other option. A quick Google of business card or any derivative of it will present you with an array of vendors who let you create an online business card for them to print for you. I have found that uploading your own design is by far the most effective way of creating a quality and original design for you card. Using a stock design or template is definitely not the way to go as far as I’m concerned. You don’t want to look cheap, tacky or have a design that someone else already has. Originality counts for a lot when discussing business branding. You may be a small business now, but it doesn’t mean it will still be small in ten years time.

A company can of course be rebranded but it costs time and money, and a surprising amount of effort to get your existing clientele used to your new identity. It isn’t something any company does lightly.

So if you are setting up a new company or nurturing a fledgling one, it is worth surfing the net for the companies that offer the facility to make an online business card, but be careful of actually making one. Ensure they will be of sufficient weight and quality to make you look good. Don’t use a stock photograph, design or template for your card, try and personalize it as much as possible before you print it.

Lastly but most importantly, get your spelling right. It can be an expensive spelling mistake to get a couple of hundred cards printed only to find you have spelled something wrong or missed out a digit on your phone number…

Austria is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. With hundreds of miles of mountains and valleys, picturesque alpine villages and town and scenery straight out of Mary Poppins.

Doing business in Austria is not for the faint hearted. This isn’t meant as a slight, merely an observation. The Austrians are very formulaic and detail oriented. Any visiting businessman must be very experienced and know his company and product or service very, very well.

Austria is a very formal place. First impressions are very important and visitors are judged on appearance and demeanour. Although they prefer third party introductions, or through an intermediary, they don’t need personal relationships in order to do business. Austria appears to be a very rigid and formal society, and it is. Deference is given to authority, education, position and achievement. Business dealings are very formal and direct. Meeting times and agendas will be adhered to precisely, almost on a timetable. There is little joking or small talk in meetings, Austrians often being direct, almost blunt. This is not meant to be rude, but is borne of a desire to achieve the stated goal.

Punctuality is regarded as extremely serious. Do not be late for an appointment, and if a delay is unavoidable, call immediately to inform them and be prepared to provide a valid reason. It is regarded as very rude to cancel meetings at the last minute and has been known to spoil relationships. Deal honourably, formally and properly with them and things will be fine.

As Austrians are so formal, introductions are too. A handshake with friendly eye contact at first meeting with a verbal greeting of title and surname. It is rare than Austrians use their first names with anyone but close friends and family so don’t be put off. Often visitors are referred to simply by surname, this is a cultural thing and not meant to offend.

It would be wise to order business cards with German on one side and present it that side up to the contact. Although business cards aren’t regarded as important, the attention to detail that it shows will create a good first impression.

During meetings or negotiations keep discussions factual and precise. Austrians hate inexactitude and ambiguity. Back up every claim with hard data and expect to be questioned on every detail. Have promotional material on hand to leave with the delegation, ensuring it has lots of facts and hard data about the subject matter. There will inevitably be lots of follow-ups and paperwork as everything is nailed down. Austrians like to have a complete paper trail of every detail of their dealings. Expect to provide lots of answers to questions and general feedback on issues before a deal is signed.

Dealing with Austrians can be hard work, but it isn’t without reward. Once proven to be reliable and honourable a long term relationship can be easily forged between organizations. Being prepared for the cultural demands of doing business there will ensure any visit will have the positive outcome required.

Business cards are the most commonly used form of marketing in face to face dealings in the world today. For the most part they are a ritual undertaken when meeting new people or contacts. Many people never give much thought to the fact that they are actually marketing tools. They are used throughout the world as a standard form of introduction, with many cultures having entire rituals around giving and receiving them. Countries like Japan and China take great pains with their cards and will be mortally offended if you don’t treat them with respect when they give you one.

Business cards are used in far greater numbers than any other form of real life advertising now junk mail is pretty much useless. By real life, I mean non-electronic methods such as web promotion and email marketing and useless I mean filling our trash cans without being read.

Putting a little thought into it when you make your own business cards can give you a head start when competing with other companies. Many of them, as already mentioned just view them as a ritual and not as a marketing tool. Don’t make the same mistake and turn them into an effective publicity tool.

There are certain pieces of information that should always be on your business cards.

They are:

• Logo or Company Branding
• Business Name
• Business Address
• Your Name/Title
• Your Contact Phone Numbers
• Your Website Address
• Your Email Address

Once these elements are covered you‘re pretty much free to let your imagination run wild. Begin by putting yourself in your clients shoes. If the client was to put ten business cards on the table would yours stand out? If the answer is no then you need to go back to the drawing board and start again. If the idea of making your own business card doesn’t appeal, you can always hire someone to do it for you.

Ensure you use both sides of the cards to tell a story about you. Use bright colors, images, interesting photos or anything that takes your fancy. Do what you like as long as in the end it looks professional and says exactly what you want it to say to your target audience.

You aren’t limited to plain flat boring cards either. Think about the material, card, metal, plastic, or even fabric! The use of texture, rough, smooth, patterned. It doesn’t have to be flat either, although it is better if the dimensions remain standard, it isn’t written in stone. If the card is good enough, your audience will keep it, even if it doesn’t fit in a card wallet or Rolodex.

If you can get into the mindset of exploring every opportunity you will soon start picking up these little ideas for yourself. Making your own business cards, or using them as a marketing tool instead of just something you do is a good step towards promoting yourself and your business and hopefully taking a step ahead of those firms that don’t take these advantages.

When creating a brand from scratch it is tempting to go for free stuff every time. There are compromises to be made when shopping the free way however, the biggest being quality and originality. If you are shopping for free templates for a website or stationery then you can guarantee other people are too. Everything from nametags to business cards are available for free online, with varying degrees of success. It is tempting to just accept the norm, or to be conservative, especially when first starting out. We are often risk averse until we know our field a lot more, or have been in business a while. After all, just starting up on your own is risk enough, right? The problem with that mindset is that more often than not without risk there is no reward. Unless you have a unique selling proposition you are going to need to do all you can to stand out from the crowd and get noticed.

One of the most prized accomplishments in business is originality. It can make or break a company, product or service. A newcomer to any market isn’t going to get anywhere if they just offer the same thing for the same price as everyone else. When shopping, people tend to go with what they know. Established brands spend millions of dollars creating an emotional connection between their brand and their audience. They want buyers to think of their products as the only one to buy, the most reliable, best value or whatever. Unless you have an advertising budget of at least seven figures you aren’t going to be able to compete with this. This is where originality comes into its own.

If you can devise a product, service or offering that’s original, or done in an original way then you don’t need millions of dollars to sell it. Once you can spread the word about it, it will sell itself if done correctly. The same with your business brand. Come up with something original and it instantly becomes memorable. Go with the standard and it becomes forgettable. When competing in any field, with any competitor you have to have or offer something they don’t in order to win, succeed or often to even be noticed.

Think twice before doing something supposedly mundane like ordering business cards online. What does the design say about you? Is it going to grab the attention of your target audience? If it sits among others on a table does it say “look at me”? If it doesn’t, it needs to. It is a marketing and promotional tool, just like your website, flyers, leaflets and whatever else you use to advertise yourself. Being run of the mill isn’t acceptable nowadays, especially if you want to be a success. Business cards like anything else need a great deal of thought and most of all originality in order to make them worthwhile.

Setting up a new business in Florida is a fairly simple process. Running it is the hard part! You have three options when first creating it, becoming a sole proprietor, partnership, Limited Liability Company or corporation. If your business comprises a single self employed person offering services locally without much in the way of assets or liabilities then sole proprietor is a good way to keep things simple. The downside is that any business debts you may accrue can be collected from your personal assets like your car or home.

A partnership is useful when two or more people want to offer services in an equal manner. It means everything is split evenly between the partners, unless specified otherwise. It is nice to have someone to share the burden of being in business with, but it also means you share the responsibility when things go wrong.

A limited liability company is like a corporation in that it is much more formal and has to have legal documentation filed with the local and state authorities. It is slightly harder to run the administration but protects the business owners from liabilities should things go wrong.

Incorporating your new business offers some real benefits, but is a slightly more complicated process. The main advantage is that it separates your business from the personal, so whatever happens to the business, your car and home are safe. Your directors, stockholders or company officers are also protected from liability for debts should the business fail. The maximum liability for any of you is whatever the business and its assets are worth.

Tax laws are also friendlier when working in a corporation too. The rate of tax is much lower than you would pay as an individual and you can own shares in other companies and receive dividends of up to 80%. If the business expands you can offers stocks, and go public. This is a great way of making money available for expansion or other projects. The downside is that you will not own all of the company any more, and depending on the size or structure will have a lot more accounting to do.

Any of these company structures can be formed online, and maintained online. In fact they can be run completely virtually. All of the branding, stationery, contact information and administration can be bought on the web. The internet has revolutionized creating and running businesses. You can even make business cards online. This has simplified owning and running a business significantly if you are web savvy. Filing and tax returns, accountancy, virtual assistants can also be managed over the internet.

Setting up your own business used to involve meetings with the bank, accountant and at least an afternoon at Town Hall or somewhere. It was a laborious process involving lots of paperwork and administration. Now it can be done with a few keystrokes and a credit card. Never before has it been as easy to go it alone than now.