Business cards are one of the most under appreciated products in a business person's arsenal - not only do they show people how to contact you, but present a professional image that is aligned with your appearance and in some cases outlook on life. Why should your business card holders be any different? Whether you're looking for a holder to keep your business cards in your pocket, or to display prominently on a table or other display surface, you'll find a range of products to suit your needs.
Whether you're designing a business card for personal use, or professional use, you should always consider the information that you need to include in them. Pare it down to bare essentials if you have too much, or consider printing auxiliary information on the back of the card. Your company or personal logo should be prominent on one or both sides. The design itself should be clean and easy to read - fancy fonts should be limited to readable styles so that your card is legible - you should also be aware that some people consider flowery scripts in detrimental ways to what may be a completely different message that you want to provide. Readability aside, the font should fit comfortably on the page, and may or may not tie into your logo, depending on your company's guidelines on business cards. But how do you know what to include on the front and what do you include on the back?
Primary information on your business card is whatever you need to provide in conjunction with your job - so your desk information, such as your extension, your email address, and other contact details. If your job title is pertinent to whatever you're sharing, you should share that too. In these cases, you may not want to share anything on the back of your cards - instead you may find that you can write information like personal email addresses, twitter or Facebook usernames, or other information, and you can tailor it to your recipients. In the case of personal business cards - you should consider making sure that all of your personal and visible contact information, including and not limited to your blog url, personal website or portfolio/photography site, links to any social networking projects you use or are part of and if you feel it is necessary, your mobile phone number. Most experts do not recommend sharing your home phone number or address on persona business cards, but the choice is yours.
Pocket business card holders range from slim - holding only around eight or ten cards, these are designed for you to carry your own cards - while others are designed to hold dozens or more. If you consider what you need, depending on the amount of cards you tend to give out at any given event. While it's easy to carry extras in a box that you can also store in a pocket, professional storage of your cards can also be a talking point. Design and aesthetics aside, your cards should be stored in an easily accessible unit.
Most business card storage and display units are designed to be both slim line and functional. Most are made of moulded plastic, though others may be made of premium materials, depending on the statement that the end user wants to make. Most however are made of plastic and feature some form of prop mechanism (to stand on a desk), link up mechanism (to join two or more units), and more. These display units ensure that your business cards are displayed prominently - there is no distraction due to the design of your cards. Business card holders that impede or damage cards on removal are also less than desirable, so you should always ensure that there is no dust, dirt, grit or other foreign bodies in the holder, that they haven't become warped or damaged in storage and that they perform their function without falling over, coming apart or otherwise failing to remain unobtrusive.
There are other types of card holders - from rolodex style to single card holders that can be used as place holders or display units for a single card. Rolodex style holders are designed to be used at the home/office and create an elegant, easy way to store your collected business cards. These rolodex style units not only allow ease of access, but allow you to 'refresh' your needs, based on time passed and whether you've contacted people. Single card holders are also an integral part of the social business person's calendar. Use them to display your business card prominently where others may have a simple name tag - this prominent display of your business card and logo can be the difference between someone forgetting your name and absorbing not only your name, but your business. Having them on display can also encourage people to ask for their own copy of it.
Business card holders and stands aren't constantly in use in most cases - so when not in use, you should store them carefully. Polish and dust your holders before storage, and put your business card holder away in a drawer. You should also always ensure that any business cards you are using are current - it looks terrible if you cross out and write different information on your cards, so always update and 'freshen' your cards whenever things such as your extension, job title, or email address change - alternatively, consider using a 'catch all' email address like Gmail to allow you to keep your email mobile, but not need to update cards at every address change.
You can also use business cards to refer other people to contacts you've made. In some cases 'swap meets' are organised, and in others you may just have an idea of an ideal person for a project or colleagues need. Whether your business cards are a collection of colleagues, service people you've used in the past, or both, ensure you keep them in a business card holder and leverage them to ensure that your business gets the best out of them.
Whether you're designing a business card for personal use, or professional use, you should always consider the information that you need to include in them. Pare it down to bare essentials if you have too much, or consider printing auxiliary information on the back of the card. Your company or personal logo should be prominent on one or both sides. The design itself should be clean and easy to read - fancy fonts should be limited to readable styles so that your card is legible - you should also be aware that some people consider flowery scripts in detrimental ways to what may be a completely different message that you want to provide. Readability aside, the font should fit comfortably on the page, and may or may not tie into your logo, depending on your company's guidelines on business cards. But how do you know what to include on the front and what do you include on the back?
Primary information on your business card is whatever you need to provide in conjunction with your job - so your desk information, such as your extension, your email address, and other contact details. If your job title is pertinent to whatever you're sharing, you should share that too. In these cases, you may not want to share anything on the back of your cards - instead you may find that you can write information like personal email addresses, twitter or Facebook usernames, or other information, and you can tailor it to your recipients. In the case of personal business cards - you should consider making sure that all of your personal and visible contact information, including and not limited to your blog url, personal website or portfolio/photography site, links to any social networking projects you use or are part of and if you feel it is necessary, your mobile phone number. Most experts do not recommend sharing your home phone number or address on persona business cards, but the choice is yours.
Pocket business card holders range from slim - holding only around eight or ten cards, these are designed for you to carry your own cards - while others are designed to hold dozens or more. If you consider what you need, depending on the amount of cards you tend to give out at any given event. While it's easy to carry extras in a box that you can also store in a pocket, professional storage of your cards can also be a talking point. Design and aesthetics aside, your cards should be stored in an easily accessible unit.
Most business card storage and display units are designed to be both slim line and functional. Most are made of moulded plastic, though others may be made of premium materials, depending on the statement that the end user wants to make. Most however are made of plastic and feature some form of prop mechanism (to stand on a desk), link up mechanism (to join two or more units), and more. These display units ensure that your business cards are displayed prominently - there is no distraction due to the design of your cards. Business card holders that impede or damage cards on removal are also less than desirable, so you should always ensure that there is no dust, dirt, grit or other foreign bodies in the holder, that they haven't become warped or damaged in storage and that they perform their function without falling over, coming apart or otherwise failing to remain unobtrusive.
There are other types of card holders - from rolodex style to single card holders that can be used as place holders or display units for a single card. Rolodex style holders are designed to be used at the home/office and create an elegant, easy way to store your collected business cards. These rolodex style units not only allow ease of access, but allow you to 'refresh' your needs, based on time passed and whether you've contacted people. Single card holders are also an integral part of the social business person's calendar. Use them to display your business card prominently where others may have a simple name tag - this prominent display of your business card and logo can be the difference between someone forgetting your name and absorbing not only your name, but your business. Having them on display can also encourage people to ask for their own copy of it.
Business card holders and stands aren't constantly in use in most cases - so when not in use, you should store them carefully. Polish and dust your holders before storage, and put your business card holder away in a drawer. You should also always ensure that any business cards you are using are current - it looks terrible if you cross out and write different information on your cards, so always update and 'freshen' your cards whenever things such as your extension, job title, or email address change - alternatively, consider using a 'catch all' email address like Gmail to allow you to keep your email mobile, but not need to update cards at every address change.
You can also use business cards to refer other people to contacts you've made. In some cases 'swap meets' are organised, and in others you may just have an idea of an ideal person for a project or colleagues need. Whether your business cards are a collection of colleagues, service people you've used in the past, or both, ensure you keep them in a business card holder and leverage them to ensure that your business gets the best out of them.
About the Author:
There are a broad variety of Business Card holders available online and some excellent ones at Card Holder be sure to have a good look around before making a purchase.. Unique version for reprint here: Business cards and business card holder.
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