Hello!
Due to a recent rise in enquiries that we’ve received from new start-up companies, I have been looking more closely at first impressions. You rarely get more than one chance to make a first impression on new people and potential clients so it’s really important that you get it right. Your audience will make a decision about you, and about possibly working with you, based not only on the look / personality of the particular person standing in front of them but also on the look / personality you give to your business; your company’s brand.
Good branding represents the profile of the company it is created for. It is important that the branding remains true to the product or service the company delivers, to the ethos created by its founders, to the personality of its employees and its standard of service. If the brand does not remain true to the company it represents, then that business will not give its target market all of the information it needs to know within the first impression for them to be able to make an informed decision. An opportunity lost.
Branding is also a way of standing out from your competitors. For example, you may offer a very similar product or service to your main competition but you may choose to make your company appear more exclusive through the theme of your branding in order to differentiate your offering.
The king of the first impression is of course the business card. You meet and manage to get your business card into your potential client’s hand hoping that they will keep it and refer back to it in the near future. Whether they realise it or not, the potential client will make a snap judgment about the quality of your business based on this little piece of card in much the same way that you have probably made a decision about Twisted Kiwi Marketing based on the look and tone of our website.
It’s a little piece of your business that you leave with someone telling them how you would like them to perceive you.
There are thousands of clever and creative business card designs all over the internet but pictured below are some of my favourites. They are for all different types of industries and people and although they are all extreme and fun examples, they effectively communicate the tone and offering of the company they represent.
So when you come to reprinting your business cards, stop and think about what message it’s sending out about you, and maybe venture into something a little bit more creative to make sure you stand out from your competition.
Emma x
