A picture is worth a thousand words. Who would you hire to landscape your beautiful new home? Bob's Landscaping Company that has a black & white card or Bill's Landscaping Company that has the picture of a nice landscaped garden that he created? A custom designed full color business card can help you beat the competition.

There is a lot to the psychology of color, color affects shopping habits. Impulse-shoppers respond to red-orange, black, and royal blue. Shoppers who plan to stick to budgets respond to pink, teal, light blue and navy. Traditionalists respond to pastels. Bolder brighter colors appeal to those with lower incomes. Higher incomes ore attracted by more subtle colors. These tips must be used when designing your full color business card.

Your business card must have a Unique Selling Proposition. Simply stated a Unique Selling Proposition differentiates you from your competition. If you don't have something different to offer, you better find something or save yourself a lot of aggravation and go work for your competition. It tells your prospects why they should do business with you versus the other guys. No, scratch that; it SCREAMS at your prospects why they MUST do business with you. Don't make it hard for someone to conduct business with you.

Use the back of your business card. If your paying a penny a square inch for the front and the back is only going to cost you 2/10 of a cent per square inch, isn't that a good investment? The back of your business card can be used in several ways. Entice your prospects to visit your business by placing an offer on the back. For example if you own a restaurant offer a free desert or appetizer. If you own an auto repair shop offer a free oil change. Be creative and stick out from your competition.

Print a memory hook on the back of your card. I know a distributor of air purification systems that prints “We Have A Solution To Your Pollution” on the back of his card. The phrase just begs you to ask him to explain it. A memory hook is a catchy phrase that will create enough interest that a person will ask questions. A memory hook also helps your prospect remember you.

Always hand your card to someone upside down. This will cause the person to turn the card over and read it, especially if you give them a reason such as a memory hook. How many times have you handed someone your business card and it barely gets a glance?

Your business card can double as a punch card. The restaurant can offer a free meal after purchasing ten meals or maybe movie tickets. Ask your local theater manager about some joint marketing efforts. The auto repair shop can offer a free oil change after purchasing ten or a free car wash. Again, a joint marketing possibility.

You are already paying for business cards, don't waste them and get the most bang for your marketing buck.