Business cards: Awesome or old?
Society today is more reliant than ever on technological breakthroughs. Smart phones and internet tablets seem to be dominating our day-to-day activities. In a world where technology seems to be taking over, is there any room left for the lowly business card?
Well, for me and Ash here at Sterling Effort headquarters, we think there definitely is. Nothing beats a well dressed business card and my good friend and colleague Patrick Bateman would like to take a few minutes of your time to explain why:
Joking aside, we didn’t want our cards to be the usual generic bin fodder that most cards in circulation today often are. This thought sparked an idea to put our faces on the front of the cards; a terrifying notion for any who have had the misfortune of seeing us in real life. We therefore settled on the ‘A Scanner Darkly’ idea pictured below.
In our minds, business cards have a certain panache, an amount of memorability to them which an email signature or a text message full of dreary contact details simply does not deliver. We want to be different, be memorable, be the guys whose cards you keep.
So how did we do? Would you banish these cards straight to your bin? Are they quirky enough to make the grade? Or have we simply wasted an inordinate amount of time and money on business cards which have simply been made obsolete by the current technological age? Please let us know.
Disclaimer
Undoubtedly some tree murder did occur in the production of these epic, or terrible business cards.
Tagged ash, awesome, business card, jay
Sterling Effort was created to stuff some financial knowledge into those of us who grew up without being taught how money really works; how to make it, save it and grow it. Our aim is to give you clear and concise information regarding personal finance and hopefully provide some entertainment along the way.
Drew @ ObjectiveWealthOctober 6, 2012 at 3:35 pm
Absolutely top quality cards chaps, they look smart as. I think with all the focus on web content and promotion these days, to actually pass on something tangible to anybody who might be interested would represent a refreshing change. I’d probably be tempted to take a look. You should hire a chopper ride over the big smoke and (accidentally) throw a load overboard. Council litter enforcement might not be too pleased though…
JayOctober 6, 2012 at 5:20 pmAuthor
Thanks for the positive comments Drew! Glad at least one person agrees that they don’t suck
Loving the idea of a chopper ride over the capital, as you say the problem is accountability! And with our ugly mugs/mobile numbers/email addresses on the front, maybe we should say someone broke into the SE warehouse and hijacked the latest shipment??? #seemslegit
Money BulldogOctober 6, 2012 at 10:27 pm
I think they’re spot on Jay! They perfectly represent Sterling Effort and reflect the effort you’ve put in to make the blog stand out from the crowd, Great Job.
Income Report – September 2012October 7, 2012 at 6:07 am
[...] reasons for this. Firstly, advertising revenues have dropped recently and we had to fork out for our ridiculous business cards and travel/tickets/accommodation for the Write On [...]
Miserly InvestorOctober 7, 2012 at 1:23 pm
Guys, they look a lot better than the stuffy old cards you normally see – well done!
But there is one way I believe that business cards can be integrated a bit better into the digital world. The first thing we want to do is get the contact details into our phone or Outlook for example. But how many times do we get around to dealing with that bit of admin and then when you want to write or phone whoever you are scrambling around for the card again, or worse still out of the office.
One solution to this is to put a QR code for your contact details on to the back of the card. Then for those with a smartphone and a QR reading app all you need to do is scan the code and hey presto the details pop up instantaneously into your contacts. Brilliant!
Surprisingly I haven’t seen hardly anyone do this yet. I suggested it to a friend of mine who runs a (modern) law firm and he was so taken with it he had new cards printed off for all his staff right away!
Regards
MI
AshOctober 7, 2012 at 6:07 pm
Thanks for the compliment and the suggestion! We did think about QR codes but we decided against it as they’re not exactly beautiful, they take up valuable space and like you said, they’re not very widely used. QR codes have been around in Japan for a long time where they’ve gained widespread acceptance but the education just isn’t there in this country to propel them into common usage. A lot of people still don’t know what they are. I first worked with QR codes 5 years ago and I think they were developed in the 90s. Much like China and India have ‘skipped’ certain technological changes, I think the UK will probably skip QRs as they are pretty old technology at this point. You’re right though, currently, it’s a decent solution to the problem
Miserly InvestorOctober 8, 2012 at 2:24 pm
Ash,
Some people obviously see beauty where you don’t:
http://www.soehnepartner.com/en/projects/studio-city-hotel
Having one on the back of your card doesn’t seem so bad after all!
MI
Blogtastic: Young At Heart Edition | Objective WealthOctober 11, 2012 at 8:04 pm
[...] & Jay at Sterling Effort have been flashing their new business cards around the place like a pair of secret detectives. The cards look so cool I’m [...]
Marcelo BorsaApril 12, 2013 at 6:37 am
If you sell product, consider including your card with the product when it is delivered to your customer. Same goes for services. For example, if you are an auto mechanic, consider slipping your business card in your customers car visor, or create a sticker business card that will adhere to a discrete area of the customers car windsheild. If you provide regular on-site services, consider a business card magnet to be prominently placed on a refrigerator, or filing cabinet. Keep in mind, you dont need to actually sell product, or deliver service to ensure your business card gets and stays in the hands of others. Include your business card with every piece of correspondence: quotes, RFPs, letters, even photocopy your business card and include it in fax transmissions. When mailing out information, include it in the mailing by stapling your card (if possible) to the bottom or top corner of your letterhead.’