Does your business card suck?

CHICAGO, IL - As someone who's self-employed, I'm a jobseeker.  That's right.  Everyday, I'm out there looking for a job to do, and the job I do is finding people jobs to do.  Everyday I wake up broke.  Everyday, the market determines my paycheck based on the value I create for my clients.  Every frikkin day.  And I love it.

Anyway.  The guy below seems like a piece of work, but he raises some very valid points about business cards.  The coolest business card anyone ever gave me looked like a real plastic laminated driver's license -- except that it was a "creative license."  Funny.  And I kept it, and later used the company, the owners of which became my personal friends.  I forget how many other business cards from creative-types I have in my top desk drawer.  Dozens.  And that's the point of this post.

On the back of my next business card, I'm going to list the names of (some of) the companies for which I have closed searches ... A&E Television, Adidas, American Signature Brands, Ashford.com, Backcountry.com, Boot Barn.com, Columbia Sportswear, Crutchfield.com, David Weekley Homes, David’s Bridal, Dean & DeLuca, Design Within Reach, DSW Shoes, Golfsmith.com, Kennametal, Magellan’s Travel, Montgomery Ward®, MusiciansFriend.com, Peruvian Connection, PrintingForLess.com, REI.com, Restockit.com, ShopNBC.com, The Thompson Group, Williams-Sonoma, etc.  After all, I'm known by the company I keep.

Jobseekers: Do you have a creative business card that CLEARLY and UNIQUELY transmits your value proposition?  Better get on that.

Comments

[Jon Payne]

Hi Harry,

Good chatting earlier. I see from the comments below that the first guy sort of missed the boat here. I place quite a bit of stock in anyone that earns their living based on the value they create through commissions, growing their own business or other performance-based model. When your income is based on your performance there is no room for slacking, and no way to hide out if you are simply not earning your keep. I only wish this approach was even more common practice than it is.

On another note - that guy is hilarious. And I couldn't agree more... its about being "effective", not being "liked". Being liked may be part of that, but don't lose the end-goal. His style was engaging. I watched the full two minutes very attentively. That's rare.

[Michael Zipursky]

Harry, love the way you put that! Every consultant or one-man/woman show definitely understands the feeling of starting from scratch everyday. That's why many find it hard to make success in those circumstances - an extremely powerful drive must be with you each day to keep you going and motivated.

On the business card front - standing out and giving people something to remember is definitely of value. What a lot of people miss though, is that if your business card is 'overly creative' it usually becomes too big or too small to fit in a business card binder - and then the person you give it to usually puts it in the trash. That doesn't mean a b card can't fit the standard size and still make a lasting impression.

[Harry Joiner]

I do wake up flat broke every day. No savings. No brand equity. Drowning in debt. No future. Candidates and clients won't return my calls. My wife and kids mock me openly -- just like Lester Burnham in American Beauty. Every day is a total, miserable uphill slog. [Not really.]

[Elliot Slater]

If you wake up broke every day then you are not managing your resources (time, money, marketing, etc.) well at all. Do you work every weekend? Christmas Day? Perhaps you're not creating the value that you think.