What to put on my first business card?

Question

Newbie here trying to get as much as possible right from the beginning.I want to start networking and need to know what should i put on my business card. What words should be used that could make me stand out from others. I'm going to start off birdogging/wholesaling for at least the first 6 months.Thanks in advance for any responses.
          
          Tamarra

Eric Medemar · Answer

I would recommend email, phone and name.

But, If I were you I would get yourself a website or at least a domain prior to getting your cards printed.

Most of my students notice an immediate  gain in influence once they've got their website up and running.  You can build your own for next to nothing.

Good luck

Jeff S. · Answer

Name
Mailing Address
Cell Phone Number
Email Address

Iâ€™m not being facetious, Tamarra, and I donâ€™t think Nick was either.  Where is your time most valuable?  Use your business card design time to find profitable deals.  Youâ€™ll be remembered by your conversation, sincerity, intentions, and ultimately, your reputation.  Not by a business card.

Donâ€™t sweat the title, color, font, photo, email address, or anything else.  Add â€œReal estate Birddogging/Wholesaling â€œ  under your name if that makes you feel better.  Nobody cares.  Really.  They just want a way to contact you if youâ€™ve impressed them.  Take their card and follow through with a â€œIt was nice to meet you at â€¦â€ email, or better yet, a phone call.

You can buy pre-scored Avery business card stock at Staples and download a 10 x 2 template from their web site.  Fill out, print at home, and revise anytime -- which I can kinda see youâ€™ll be doing often. :wink:

Good luck!!

Jeff

Michael Quarles · Answer

Hello and good to meet you...

You will eventually want to use two different business cards.

One is your advertising card and one is your professional card.

I use to get on stage across the USA and invite someone who had a business card to come up on stage with their card. I would then make them close their eyes and hold out both of their hands.

I then would place my business card in one hand and theirs in the other... Then ask them to pick the best business card... With their eyes closed..

I have yet to have someone pick their own card... It is about more then what it looks like..

Anyway here is something I wrote on the topic a few years ago... Hope it helps...

Business cards are yet another secret weapon in obtaining ample customers and beating out the competition thatâ€™s so prevalent in this industry. They come in many different styles, and even in different sizes. A few people have tried to establish a few new sizes; some to success, some in vain.

A business card should leave a lasting impression, allowing for repeat referrals â€“ in other words, getting the most from efforts, all of your efforts.

A lot of people have business cards but donâ€™t really know why they have them other than to hand out at cocktail parties or use to jot down quick notes and telephone numbers. Iâ€™ve seen other people with nice-looking cards, but they are only willing to give them out selectively as theyâ€™re â€œtoo expensive to just toss around.â€ But these are, at best, poor uses for this potentially powerful marketing tool.

Business cards are commonly viewed as a one-to-one ratio of effectiveness. What I mean by this is, what is typically expected from a card being handed out is that only the individual who receives the card might respond by calling the printed number or visiting the web site, if itâ€™s even listed on the card. This is a shortcoming of intention in how they should be used.

Business cards work best when theyâ€™re handed out aggressively in conjunction with the right personality. Hereâ€™s the information behind why business cards can work far beyond the one-to-one ratio:

Youâ€™ve heard the expression, â€œYou canâ€™t make a first impression twice.â€ The way you deal with people is your ticket to making sure that your first impressions are well received. The way your business cards communicate is your means for a lasting one.

As I mentioned earlier, there are different types and sizes of business cards. But thereâ€™s only one design that works best.

Self-Made Business Cards
Weâ€™ve all seen, and are possibly even guilty of using at one time or another, the homemade business cards; the ones that have the perforated edges and rough print. Blank card stock is available from stationery stores that allow you to print your own business cards. Although todayâ€™s color printers can print in good quality, these just donâ€™t cut it in the real estate business.

For one thing, your first impression needs to show that youâ€™re a professional. No one is going to feel comfortable about recommending a non-professional. Itâ€™s going to be difficult convincing anyone that youâ€™re a â€œproâ€ with cards youâ€™ve printed yourself.

Realize that when someone refers a person or business to another, they are putting their own reputation and relationship on the line. If the recommended entity messes up in some way, itâ€™s the referrer who will feel personally responsible.

Self-made business cards just donâ€™t cut it. And to top it off, when they get wet, the ink smears.

I am not saying that saving money shouldnâ€™t be an important aspect to running your business â€“ and I know that you feel the same way â€“ but letâ€™s look even further at how expensive these â€œmoney-savingâ€ cards really are:

If the seller of a house, due to the poor image that a real estate investor had presented, decided to sell his house to a different investor whom he felt could perform, and that investor made $52,000 in equity, then in my opinion those â€œinexpensiveâ€ do-it-yourself business cards really cost $52,000. Now those are some very expensive business cards!

I talk a lot about highest and best use of your time; â€œhighest and best useâ€ applies to your marketing as well. You need to be professional, and this certainly includes your business cards.

Non-Business-Related Business Cards
Another type of business card thatâ€™s not right for the job is the funny or flashy one. Itâ€™s sometimes folded, sometimes oddly shaped, larger than the standard or even in the typical landscape layout. These can be professionally printed at a place such as Kinkoâ€™s. The owner of the card typically designs them or has someone like their nephew or neighborâ€™s kid, who â€œis really good at computers,â€ do the layout and then takes them to the printer and, splurges for the second color and gets them in three days.
 
Professional is professional, and playful is what it is â€“ playful. Being funny, cute or, even worse, unprofessional in layout by missing the boat in what the business card communicates is a huge mistake and can cost an REI millions of dollars in potential profits. These kinds of cards are inadequate, if not inappropriate, if only for the necessary information thatâ€™s missing from the card.

The Professionally Designed Business Card
The professional business card gets that second, long stare. Itâ€™s aesthetic, pleasing to the eye, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, communicates what it should. Theyâ€™re usually reserved for the elitist of the professionsâ€”mortgage bankers, large accountancies, successful stock traders and legal firms. Some are gold embossed, have raised print and are on heavy, textured card stock; very simple and elegant but powerful and persuasive in look and style, and succinct and persuasive in what they say. When youâ€™re handed one of these cards it seems like itâ€™s almost a privilege to have received it, like you were getting something of value.

I donâ€™t need to quiz you on which of these three types of business cards would offer the best opportunity for you to purchase real estate for profit. Now that weâ€™ve gone over these types of cards, it is very important to understand that what is paramount is the communication. Itâ€™s what you say on your business card that carries the most weight.

To this end, youâ€™re going to be using two types of business cards, and one of them hasnâ€™t even been described yet.

The first of two types of cards youâ€™re going to use is your â€œadvertisingâ€ card, something that will do two things for the receiver:

1.	It is going to tie in and remind them of your other advertising efforts by having a card that looks like your promotional stock: same colors and similar layout

2.	Your card must be easy to find if under a stack of paperwork or mail, or other business cards. Here is an example of what I use:

Would you be able to find my card?

Letâ€™s examine this card for a moment:

Notice that there are two sections to the card. The first section states what I do, the service I offer â€“ I Buy Houses, Ugly Ones Too!ïƒ¤.

Advertising on TV sets you apart from your competition; therefore, I brag that I am not like my competition by using the â€œAs Seen on TVâ€ symbol. The â€œInc.â€, which stands for â€œIncorporatedâ€ you will find is very useful when advertising in a medium that does not allow â€œblind advertising.â€ Blind advertising is when the receiver of the advertisement is never given the legal name of the advertiser. Therefore, when the receiver calls the telephone number thatâ€™s advertised they have no idea who they are actually calling. Because I have incorporated â€œI Buy Houses, Inc.â€ , saying â€˜I Buy Housesâ€™ is not blind advertising. Some people will feel more comfortable knowing theyâ€™re dealing with a corporation, since they are more strictly regulated by the government, and are more readily received by print, radio and television media for advertising with them.

In the second section is my contact and personal information.

Notice that the telephone number is the second largest font on the business card. You want the seller to be able to see the number as they call and not have to search for it.

Notice that I use a vanity number. A vanity number is one that is easy to remember. Like vanity license plates, you pay a little extra for being able to use a specific number. Unlike regular telephone numbers, vanity numbers offer ease of remembering. There are only three numbers that anyone has to remember in the vanity number used above: 1, 8 and 7, â€œ10-10â€ is a cakewalk. The reason I know this is because I believe that an REI business should be run like any other professional business; I took the time and surveyed this vanity number before I started using it just to make sure it was easy to remember. (This number is just one of 10 numbers available to you to help you succeed in your REI career.)

Now notice that I include my name, title and web site address on the same line. I want the house seller to know who I am, my position and where they can go to get more information about my company and me. If you donâ€™t have a web site, we have them available to you for fraction of the cost of building one yourself.

On the next line is my address. Notice that I use the words â€œCorporate Addressâ€. Itâ€™s not that I have multiple addresses, itâ€™s just that I want to give the feeling of success and power to the house sell at every step of the presentation. Remember that â€œprofessionalismâ€ is the key to making a good impression.

On the last line are the words â€œa Home Capital Investment Corp Companyâ€. This does two things: 1) for the sellers, it is telling them that a COMPANY will be buying their house, not some unknown individual who might do something dishonest and then disappear. (DONâ€™T ever buy property under a name that says â€œI Buy Housesâ€. When deciding on a company name, understand who the audience is that you are telling you are an REI. One of the members of the â€œaudienceâ€ includes the lender on the resell of the propertyâ€¦ and holding title in a name that says â€œI Buy Houses, Inc.â€ will trigger seasoning issues every time, where a name like Home Capital Investment Corp. will not.

Letâ€™s talk a little about the colors; I like, no, I actually LOVE red and yellow. Some people like neon green or neon orange; I donâ€™t. If you do, thatâ€™s fine; however, when I researched colors I found that in the real estate business, the colors red and yellow predominately meant saving money. And that was the message I wanted to give to potential house sellers. I wanted them to have a predisposition of me saving them money before they even called me.

To prove my point, Help-U-Sell and Assist2Sell, the nationâ€™s largest discount real estate companies, even paint their buildings red and yellow.

Letâ€™s talk about the other type of card you are going to have.

There isnâ€™t a lot to this card. It has quality paper (it happens to be weaved), and the letters and logo are raised. But notice the slight changes. I donâ€™t indicate that I own â€œI Buy Houses, Inc.â€, the web site is different, although the sites are mirror images of each other, and the e-mail is different as well. Even the font is closer together, offering a more professional look. This business card says â€œSUCCESSâ€ and shows â€œPROFESSIONALâ€.

So you may be asking, why two business cards? Remember earlier when I spoke about the cards the â€œprofessionalâ€ people have? Well, those professionals are the types of people you will be giving this card to. Your banker, your accountant, your broker, your attorney, the hard money lender... anyone who you are doing business with when you will need to raise your level of business to their level. Remember the first impression idea; if you give these types of people the first type of business card, they are going to look at you in a different light. In other words, you need to give the professionals youâ€™ll be doing business with the second type of card because it speaks their language: conservatism, reserved, professionalism... and youâ€™ll give everyone else the first type of card, which promotes your services and brings in business for you.

Keep in mind that most of these people donâ€™t understand what we do and how we do it, and you do not want them to have prejudged you by your â€œadvertisingâ€ business card. You want to make the statement of success.

If youâ€™re wondering whether you need BOTH business cards even if youâ€™re just starting out, realize that the first time someone who has the potential of lending you $200,000 for your next few purchases asks for your business card and all you have to give them is your advertising card, this will be the time you understand the meaning behind the two types.

Business cards, when they are designed correctly and presented properly, are POWERFUL tools in building a network of â€œhouse sellerâ€ referrals and developing professional business relationships. Donâ€™t overlook these â€œsecret weapons of mass promotion.â€ They are your valuable calling cards for success.

Make it a golden rule to hand out three â€œadvertisingâ€ business cards to 10 people a day and youâ€™ll begin to see your business steadily grow. Give one â€œIâ€™m a professionalâ€ business card to your professional business acquaintances every time you see them and youâ€™ll establish a solid team of lenders, bankers, inspectors, experts... who will work for you in your REI business!

Brooke Bailey · Answer

Hi Tamarra
One thing I have learned over my ten years is do something different, be different. Dont put your photo on your card its corny! I used to but I would get calls from men wanting to see properties, ya right. always thin outside the box, dont associate it with real estate, just think outside. Look at other peoples and do it different

Mark N.A · Answer

Eric popped the nail squarely, Tamarra:  get thee a website.  NOW  (I believe your full name is actually available for the moment....).

Then, when you print up your business card keep it very simple and include your website.  You will look way professional.

Oh, and spend some quality time building your website (it ain't all that hard if you keep it simple).

Good luck and keep us posted.

Tamarra Banks · Answer

Thanks but besides contact info, what wording should be used. Ive seen I buy Houses or Will buy your house for cash now. Should i put RE investor or wholesaler.I just plan to go to a meeting in 2 wks and would like to have my own business cards.

Nick J. · Answer

how about a name and a phone number to start :)

Bill Gulley · Answer

Hi, Michael....how fast do you type? You gotta be fast! The last one I read was the longest I've ever seen on BP! Is there a trick to this? LOL

Welcome to BP! You might consider a slogan that works with your presentations and that you work into other advertising so it all ties together. You need a pic! People forget where they got the card and who you are without a pic. Mine had my name, my business name and my slogan with my pic on the front. My email and other contact infor was on the back. Too much info on the side you want them to read can be distracting. As a lady, you need a professional looking pic. So many of the young ladies seem to think that some sexy pose and a seductive grin gets attention....yes it does, but not for my real estate business and any wife might make sure that card gets lost!

My "slogan" was..... For Exceptional Representation that appeared under my name. That was worked into many of the presentations I presented....you should expect exceptional representation....etc. Good luck, Bill

Shane Moss · Answer

Tamarra, I just finished creating my business card.  If you don't want to mess with making ones yourself, I'd suggest an Internet company called Vista Print.  They have "free" business cards.  You do have to pay for shipping and handling, so it's not really free, but it's pretty cheap.

Here's what I put on mine:
LLC Name, My Logo, My name, Address, Business number (I'd suggest getting a free Google number and pointing it to another phone number(s)), an Email address and finally a Website.

Good Luck!

David Breitzmann · Answer

@ Tim,

That is an illuminated point indeed.  It's a balance of "form" over "substance."

It's the idea of duplicating what one sees versus being original and offering something with a bit more sui generis.

What to put on my first business card?

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