10 Ways to Revamp Your Ineffective (and Boring) Business Card

Here is quick read on how to stand out with your business card.  i think it is very applicable to the restaurant business and wanted to share ~ Jonathan

10 Ways to Revamp Your Ineffective (and Boring) Business Card
by Noah Rickun

I just returned from a week in Phoenix, Arizona, where I attended an industry conference and had the chance to rub elbows with roughly 1,500 potential partners, vendors, and customers. As I unpacked my bag, I grabbed the stack of hundreds of business cards people gave me and I found myself struggling to remember who some of these people are. A handful of the cards have handwritten notes on the back (I always write something to jog my memory if I know I intend to follow-up after the show), some have photos on them, but most are indistinguishable from the rest. Isn’t the point of a business card to provide a tool for follow up after meeting someone for the first time? A business card should reflect your personality. If you’re boring, have a boring business card. If not, then here are 10 ways to revamp your ineffective (and boring) business card:

1. Be creative. Especially with the title. Have fun and call yourself something that will make people smile. Don’t be a salesperson, be The Sales Cowboy. Don’t be a Customer Service Representative, be a Customer Loyalty Specialist. Don’t be a receptionist, be the Director of First Impressions. Don’t be an assistant, be the Chief Executive Assistant. Don’t be an Account Manager, be The Princess of Profits. Got it?
2. Be clear. About what you can DO for someone, as opposed to using a nondescript and professional (think, faceless) title.
3. Be memorable. If someone lost your card, would they call and ask for another? Or would they not even realize they had lost it?
4. Be valuable. Provide a tip, an idea, a link to more information, or a code for online redemption.
5. Be different. Be so different that ANYONE you give your card to shows it to EVERYONE they know.
6. Be “WOW-able”. If people say, “WOW! I’ve never seen anything like this before,” then you know your card is working for you.
7. Be easy. Include your office phone, your cell phone, fax number, email address, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts.
8. Be shapely. If your card is the standard size and shape, it fits nicely in a pile of all the other cards people forget about. Make your card a different shape or size so that it stands out — and stands alone. A great card can’t be put in a pile.
9. Be YOU. Put your picture on your card.  And not your high school yearbook picture—make sure your picture looks like you do.  If you’ve changed your hair color, lost or gained more than a few pounds, or aged more than a few years, get a new card.  You want people to look at your card and remember meeting YOU.
10. Be independent. Worried that your boss won’t pay for your new cards?  Or that your boss won’t allow you to make creative cards?  Ask for forgiveness rather than permission.  And you probably won’t have to ask for forgiveness when you bring back success stories as a result of all the new connections you’ve made with your creative business card.  About the money—you can now buy business cards online in large quantities for less than the cost of that new shirt you bought to wear at the tradeshow.  Your boss didn’t pay for your shirt, did he?  Invest your own money in the most important person in the world – you.

As I began sorting the cards in my hands, I made two piles:  one for scanning and filing, and one for immediate follow up.  Guess which pile is bigger?  I’ll help you. From the hundreds of cards I started with, I kept twenty on my desk. There are two ways to get into my short stack—the one that means I’ll be reaching out to you within a week after meeting.   You need to offer GREAT value when we meet or you need to have a GREAT business card.  If you have both, you’re guaranteed that I (and most everyone else you meet) will want to get in touch quickly.

Think you’ve got a great business card? Email a copy to noah@gitomer.com and, if I agree, I’ll post it on my blog at www.rickun.com.

Noah Rickun is a Speaker who presents to companies on sales, customer loyalty, and attitude. His seminars are both engaging and memorable. For bookings, please contact his friendly office at 704-926-5582. Click here for more information on Noah Rickun or visit www.rickun.com.

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Tough Times Call for Innovative Ideas

These are no doubt tough times for every industry but it seems the Restaurant Industry is taking it a little harder than most.

I read today from the NRA 5 lead articles all talking about what restaurant companies are doing during these tough times. All the stories had to do with shutting restaurants or layoffs. Those are tough calls and I have been on the front lines of that. I am still one of the guys that signs the front of the check in my restaurant business so I know what it is like having people counting on me.

I led a call today with some real high level restaurant owners. A high level conversation developed with ideas for battling the economy, “Creating Your Own Economy” as I like to call it! No one is giving us a “bailout” we have to be smart and aggressive and bail out ourselves during tough times.

Here are a few of the topics and some details I noted:

Email is a popular marketing communication tool, very economical and effective… How effective? I cautioned being too reliant on any one media and discussed the effectiveness of email marketing. You may be missing out if you don’t utilize email marketing strategies. Even if you are capturing their information you may only be getting a potion of customers giving you their email and then only half are deliverable or get opened. It is realistic to think that you are only hitting 25% of your list. So if you are effective only hitting 25% how effective would you be if you hit 75%. The biggest suggestion I have is to mix direct mail into your marketing at some level, at the least get a quarterly communication out.

The bottom line Email works and is cost effective, use it as part of your marketing, not all of your marketing.

A twist on a birthday mailer. We all agreed that a birthday mailer for a restaurant is a must. Here’s what a colleauge suggested, Kyle suggested ways to improve our cover count with his recent change to his birthday mailer. Birthday customers get their EntrÈe Free when 2 customers dine. However, when 4 people dine, they receive the entrÈe and a cake. When 8 customers dine, they recieve a free entrÈe, 1 free cake and 1 free appetizer.  What a great way to drive up the size of birthday parties!

What type of ideas have you used to bring customers into your restaurant? Chime in, we’d love to hear from you!

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