The humble business card. So small, yet so powerful. Let's call him Ernie. 

Not all our business comes from the internet. Some of our most powerful connections can come from actually meeting a real 3-D person – and handing over Ernie (your business card).

Not just because they can use Ernie to look on your website or contact you directly. Ernie can help the conversation along. Ernie can explain what makes you special.
 

An Ernie scenario 

You're alone at one of those business networking things. This one is even more horrific than usual. There's a sea of people, but none of them familiar. Those who already know each other clump together like survivors on a life raft. Meanwhile you're paddling along hoping for someone to shuffle over and create some space for you. 

This doesn't happen, of course. Bastards.

Fortunately you come across another lonely paddler, Dolores. Talking while paddling can be hard work. At least you both look engaged.

You try to explain to Dolores what you do for a crust, but the waves are getting bigger and the room is getting louder. Dolores is looking puzzled. So you end up pulling out Ernie and passing him across like a floatie. It works. Dolores' eyes light up. Why? Because:

• Ernie answers all her main questions:
  -  Name of your business
  -  What you do that's different and how you can help (in your tag line)
  -  Your name (qualifications/credentials, if necessary) and where you can be found 
   
• Ernie looks fabulous  
  You immediately go up several notches in Dolores' estimation because the cardboard is firm (emitting confidence) and the design is easy to read, engaging and professional. 

• Ernie is a visual cue
  This can make all the difference, because many of us are more visual than auditory in how we receive information.

Dolores asks for another Ernie because there's someone else she knows who is likely to be interested in what you do. Hey, this networking thing isn't so bad after all…

After the networking thing

Back at the office, Dolores checks out your website (the web address is on Ernie, of course). The logo on Ernie is the same as what appears on the header of your website. Dolores immediately knows she's in the right place. Ernie is part of the family. You go up a few more notches in Dolores' estimation. Branding continuity is a beautiful thing when it comes to building confidence. 

Once Dolores has checked out your site, she adds your details to her contact list and slides Ernie into her business card folder. If her contact list is ever lost (computers are great when they don't send your hard drive into an abyss), she knows Ernie is there as a quick reference.

And there's no need to pull out Ernie from the folder to get all the details, because all the important information is on one side. Super easy. Unlike some, this Ernie slides in nicely to the folder. He is just the right size. The ones that aren't the standard dimensions always get thrown out because they don't fit into the filing system.

Other people's flyers, brochures and presentation folders are cumbersome things to keep. Ernie is much easier, so he's saved from the circular file.

So what have you learned from this tale?

• Have an Ernie that clearly states your name, your business name, what you do and why you are special (conveyed by business name and/or tag line), and how to contact you (if you don't want to put your actual location down, have a PO Box address – just a phone and email looks half-baked)
   
• Make sure all these details appear collectively on ONE side of Ernie
   
• Have an Ernie that's well designed, well printed and on decent, firm stock (i.e. cardboard)
   
• Have branding continuity from Ernie through to your other promotional materials 
   
• Don't make it hard to put Ernie in a wallet… 
  …business card holder or presentation satchel (they often have a plastic pocket or 4 cut slits to slide your Ernie in there). 
   
• One exception to this rule above… 
  …was a photographer who had a concertina design for her business card, making it an immediate portfolio of her work. Six panels all up. Spiffy. And still using the regular dimensions with firm cardboard (but not too thick to be cumbersome).
   
• Make sure your Ernie is inflatable (just kidding)

3 extra quick tips 

1. Be careful with die-cutting
   i.e. fancy-trim irregular edges (e.g wavy edge). It can look impressive but be expensive. Unless you're a printer or designer, it's probably not worth the expense. I'd generally opt to use the money for internet marketing development.
    
2. What to do on the back of your Ernie
   Don't repeat the information you already have on the front.
   Instead you can:
   (a)  List some key benefits. 
   (b)  Keep it blank so you can scribble additional information on it. 
   (c)  If you have the kind of business that involves regular appointments (e.g. a massage therapist) you can use the back to write the next appointment details and give the card to your client.

3. "I remember faces, but I don't remember names"
   Okay, photographs on business cards is usually a tacky look. However, I have seen one with a semi-transparent b&w image that looked incredibly sophisticated. It was representing a shmick graphic design company. Consider it.   
    

Printing a professional business card is fast and cheap. Don't print them out on flimsy card at home. You will look unprofessional and that's going backwards. You're better off not giving a business card at all. 

Don't have your brand worked out?

Read my other posts on branding design:

• Briefing a logo designer
• Logo basics that even some graphic designers forget

After these simple steps, you can go forth and proudly offer your fabulously professional Ernie – and even enjoy paddling around those crazy networking events. Bon voyage!

This post was written by Megan Hills.  Megan is a writer, cartoonist, marketing consultant who quite likes hanging out with Ernie. Find out more about Megan.

I did this 'Rebranding Christmas' cartoon (above) for my other blog site: My Cartoon Thing.   But I want to tell you about where the inspiration came from. It was a conversation with a client who was about to make a very serious marketing mistake.

The butt of the joke in the cartoon is the notion that Santa feels the need to rebrand Christmas.  The elves look less than inspired by the process.  Who can blame them? 

I looked much like one of Santa's elves when my client said to me "It's time for 'a fresh look' to the business".  Sounds innocent enough.  But we had only created the new look twelve months before.  Clients and potential clients might have really only got the impact of it 6 months before.   The 'old' look has only just taking hold, and creating a great response from those my client was wanting to reach.  

Changing now was the worst thing he could do.

Being committed to your brand is vital.  It takes time to build familiarity and trust with your target market.  Give them that time.  Changing your 'look and feel' or corporate identity too soon just confuses everyone.  And all that familiarity and trust you've worked so hard to build goes down the toilet.

If your main brand is working REALLY well over a long period, don't just change it for the sake of changing it.  Consider keeping it as is.  Instead, create a new injection through sub-branding.  That is: brand or re-brand your products and/or services (that exist under your main 'umbrella' brand).

My client's biggest mistake was making it about himself.  He is tired of the look, so he wants to change.  

But it is not about him.  

The branding (and rebranding) process is for the people 'out there' he wants to connect with.

Don't fall into the same trap that Santa did – instead, get out onto your sleigh and talk to the kids.  And have a great Christmas.

You hear a lot about ‘corporate identity’ and ‘corporate image’.  They sound about the same – and sound equally dull – but they are actually two different things.

And it is important to know what these terms mean.  Why?  So when some poncy git starts trying to intimidate you by using them in a meeting or a cocktail party you’ll have the upper hand.

Irony note #1: Marketing is essentially about engaging communication.  But when it comes to basic marketing terms, many people feel a strange mixture of boredom and confusion that sees them wandering off towards any beverage with 90% caffeine content.

‘Corporate identity’

Corporate identity is about how you want your business to look to your target market – i.e. those folks you call clients or customers – as well as those other folks that haven't become customers or clients yet…but you would like them to.  This is generally achieved through the following:

1. Corporate design: logos, corporate colours, uniforms, etc.
2. Corporate communication: public relations, promotional material, etc.
3. Corporate behaviour: values of your business and how those values are demonstrated/promoted

‘Corporate image’

Corporate Image is more about how the marketplace really feels about you.  That’s the scary bit.

Irony note # 2 Marketing is also about clear communication – to be engaging you need to be understood, right? So to clarify these badly titled terms further: it’s okay if you’re not a corporation.  People in small business, even solo traders, still refer to their ‘corporate identity’.  This stems from the corporate definition of ‘unity’, rather than being a corporation in the legal business sense. Interesting note: the word  ‘corporation’ is also a synonym for ‘paunch’.

My suggestion

Perhaps we should be calling corporate identity ‘Please remember me fondly’ and corporate image ‘Do you love me?’.  Much easier to remember, don’t you think?

McDonald’s – example of corporate identity (Please remember me fondly):

If you think of McDonalds you might think of the golden arches or even just the yellow and red colours used in their promotional material. In the past, you might have thought of ‘Ronald McDonald’ or ‘the unattractive and kinda scary red-haired clown’.  But the clown is being toned down the McDonald’s corporate identity.  Why? Because recent years have seen McDonalds strongly marketing to adults who aren’t attracted to food fights by four year olds and accidental urine on slippery slides.  Think of the ‘McCafe’ push: sophisticated cappuccino and bakery treats.  Very different, very swish.  In the commercial, at least.

McDonalds – example of corporate image (Do you love me?):

Customers (or potential customers) might think McDonalds is great because they trust that the food is fast, and their stores reproduce in number like bunnies.  So for a positive corporate image in this case: convenience is key. Or they might think McDonald’s is not so great because they are dubious about the company’s beef patty production or have concerns around nutrition  (and perhaps this negative corporate image is the fault of films like Fast Food Nation and Super Size Me..she inserts into the article casually).  Corporate image can be determined by the marketplace and can be changeable (sometimes depending on our see-saw of our righteousness and lethargy).

Another example of corporate identity vs. corporate image: Apple computers

Apple’s logo image of a bitten-off apple is a strong corporate identity.  You see it A LOT in movies and TV shows lit up on the back of computer screens.  Have you noticed?  That's called 'shameless product placement'.  

But I digress…okay, back to corporate identity and Apple.  More recently the ‘i’ before a word has also become a strong corporate identity: iMac, iPhone, iTunes, i'm-over-it.  How the marketplace feels about Apple has been up and down over the years.  At the moment, the corporate image is strong.  Their iIdentity strategy has been iSavvy.

While we’re on the subject of Apple Computers, if you want a laugh read this article about ‘Mac Monks’ by Charlie Brooker.  It’s all about how powerful corporate image can be.

That’s enough, I’m sure you’ve got the picture.  Anything to ask or add?  Comment below…