Manage Customer Expectations With Your Business Card

Sam Leader of Flying Solo offered this story on setting expectations for customer contact: she got an immediate---though automated---company email reply that promised someone would "get back in touch soon". Months later she still hasn't heard from them. She notes her frustration isn't because they didn't reply, but because they failed ...

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March 19, 2008

Build a Better Business Card #02

Summary Business: More Than Coffee! Lounge, Restaurant Pluses: Strong and simple layout, suitably soothing colors, readable font and text, effective graphics Minuses: Too much text, blank back What's great about it I love the mood of this card. The flowing lava lamp background appropriately resembles cream being stirred into coffee. The logo is a series ...

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March 12, 2008

Beating Corporate Flunkies at the Name Game

It's unavoidable. You'll be attending a conference or seminar and be introduced to a "Director of East Coast Operations", a "Vice President of Development, United States", or a "CEO of Everything, Everywhere". So what do you, Master of Your Own Microbusiness, introduce yourself as? Who the heck are ya? You own your business, ...

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March 6, 2008

Build a Better Business Card #01

Business: A Tangled Skein, Retail - Craft (Knitting) Pluses: Strong and simple layout, affordable high-impact color, appropriate font and text, effective graphics Minuses: Text lacks hierarchy, blank back What's great about it I love the straightforward layout of this card. The business name is the "headline", and is aligned to the right and gives ...

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March 5, 2008

Business Card Gallery Showcase: Beyond the Template

Thanks to Microsoft's Design Gallery, VistaPrint, and others, there's no shortage of business card templates---quantity and variety aren't a problem. The problem is: there are only a handful of truly eye-catching business card designs among the hundreds of templates provided. Unfortunately, these gems will also appeal to other folks with good ...

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February 17, 2008

No logo? Find one at the morgue…

"The first thing you do when you start an organization is get a logo." ~ Colin Powell, former US Secretary of State To be creditable as a business you absolutely, positively have to have a logo. Corporate giants are so enamored with logos they spend millions on the perfect ...

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February 12, 2008