When You Need to Update Your Business Card
Business cards are durable, versatile and long-lasting. However, they don’t last forever. And there are times you need to make a change. Let’s look at the most common reasons why you need to make a change to your business cards.
You’re Ready to Be Taken Seriously
Freelancers and startups may rely on cheap, basic business cards. They may not have the money to invest in high quality business cards, or they may not be ready to make the commitment. For example, there’s no point in ordering a thousand business cards if your logo is still evolving. Nor do you want to buy high quality business cards if your address may change in the next few weeks.
Your Business Contact Information Has Changed
Your business cards need to be updated if your NAP+W or name, address, phone number or website information has changed. Few things undermine the professionalism of a business card like striking out printed information and writing corrections on it. Whiting out the business card information and writing new information on top of it looks like either a scam or cutting corners to the point they’ll question the quality of your work.
Celebrate the expansion of your business by getting location specific business cards. For example, your staff at the new location should have business cards that reference that address instead of the main office.
Your Business Name Has Changed
Business names can change for a variety of reasons. You may have added a partner. This is common for law offices. You might have changed the business name to clarify what you offered or to avoid copyright issues. If your business name has changed, get new business cards. It hurts your credibility to add “and X name” to the partnership at the top of the business card.
Your Mission Has Changed
You need to revamp your business card if your key mission has changed. This is obvious if your business name has changed. It should be obvious if the list of services or products you offer have changed. This ensures that you don’t get a call from someone asking about a service listed on your business card you no longer provide.
You should alter your business card so that it reflects your new mission. If you’ve dropped product sales in favor of consulting services, ensure that the business card’s design reflects that in the logo or graphics. If you’ve added products to your inventory, consider adding that to the list of items on the business card.
Consider getting separate business cards for separate business functions. For example, many lawn care services offer Christmas decorating or snow removal services in the winter. Consider having different business cards for each service so that your branding and word of mouth referrals are more effective.
Your Face Is Your Passport
In industries like real estate and fashion, you have both name recognition and face recognition. It hurts your credibility to hand out businesses cards with a ten year old photo of you on it. Update your business cards every couple of years so that there is no doubt that you’re the person on it.
