MARKETING CORNER

Does Your Realtor® Business Card Stand Out?

By Anna Spooner on October 9, 2015

Sometimes a stack of business cards is like walking down the streets of a major city – a mass of sameness, where everyone blends in with each other. Until… wait? Who is that? Someone – a street musician, uniquely dressed bohemian, or another unusual figure – catches your eye. You notice.

When you hand out your business card, you don’t want it to disappear in a sea of similar looking cards. You want to be noticed. That’s the whole point of handing out a card, right? Here are three ways to make your card stand apart from the crowd.

Color

For some reason, certain professionals think that black and white cards are the only ones that portray a proper business image. Far from it! Black and white is boring, and will definitely get lost in the crowd.

Instead, use color! You don’t have to use neon, unless it fits your image of course, but use colors that are part of your branding. If your brand doesn’t already have specific colors, consider the psychological impact of different options. Here are some ideas:

• Red: can portray strength, energy, and excitement, but too much red can bring feelings of aggression or strain
• Blue: an intellectual color, blue brings feelings of trust, serenity, logic, reflection, and calm. Too much blue can come across as cold, aloof, or unfriendly.
• Yellow: an emotional color, yellow brings out optimism, confidence, friendliness, and creativity. Too much yellow, however, brings feelings of fear, irrationality, and anxiety.
• Green: brings feelings of harmony, balance, refreshment, rest, and environmental awareness. Too much green will bring up feelings of boredom and stagnation.

Custom Design

There’s nothing worse than handing out your card and having someone say, “Oh, you use Vistaprint! I had that design once.” I actually saw this happen to someone at a networking event! Custom design is key to having your card stand out. Yes, your broker may offer you a special rate on business cards if you go through their printer – but will having cards that look the same as every other Realtor® in your office be worth it?

Standing out will help you make a good impression in any networking situation, especially if it’s crowded or a lot of cards are being passed around. Having a custom design that perfectly captures your specific brand and type of service is also vital – a picture really is worth 1,000 words! Make sure the picture you’re handing out is custom designed just for you.

Professional Printing

Having print-at-home cards sends a message that you don’t believe enough in your business to have professionally printed cards. I’m not saying this because of Printerbees – I’m saying this because it cost me business long before I started Printerbees!

Obviously, I would love it if you used Printerbees to get your Realtor® cards printed. We love Realtors®! In fact, we just added 166 new business card designs to the website, and we’d love to have you come check them out. But even if you don’t use us, I want you to succeed. And to succeed in real estate, you need professionally printed cards.

Some Realtors® see business cards as a necessary evil and spend as little money as possible on them. Those Realtors®, unfortunately, aren’t going to get much for their investment. When you really want to make an impact, you need great colors, custom design, and profession printing. We can help you if you’d like, but even if you don’t use us, go out there and stand out!!

How do you make sure your business cards stand out? Share in the comments!