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…
Filed under: online business cards
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