Are business cards just a waste of time and money? They are if they easily find their way into the trash. If your cards are not designed attractively, people would simply toss them away and forget about your business all together. In today's tough business environment where everyone is trying to outweigh each other, it is important that you create business card printing that stand out and attract attention in the market. If your cards cannot get attention, then you are really just wasting your time and money in your cards.

Let us say you went to a networking event. You meet and shake hands with a lot of people. Tell them about your business and try to establish relationships with them. At the end of the day you have given your cards to a lot of people and have collected some in return.

The next day you sit in your desk and look at the cards you have collected. You flip through the cards and decided to look into them later. Days passed and when you opened your drawer there are the cards again. You do not have time for them that day so you tucked them away again. After several weeks, you completely forgot about them. Chances are they might have end up in the trash already. Now, it seems that the cards are just a waste of money.

Now, you start thinking are the people who received your cards doing the same thing? Are they disregarding your card and simply throwing it in the trash? If this is what happens, then you could be wasting a lot of your time and money in your cards. But there is a way to change all that. There is something you can do to make your cards become incredible marketing tools.

How? By treating your cards more than a contact card. In order to encourage people to hold on to your cards you have to give them a reason to do so. Put something valuable in your cards. Something they will find useful to encourage them to keep your card. This can be a list of your products or services printed at the back. A location map, store hours, or perhaps a list of emergency numbers in your area. These would surely be something useful to your customers.

It would also help give your customers a good impression of you if you would show them that you are interested in them. After receiving a card, take time to look at it. Ask about their business and what they offer. This would not only show them that you are interested but help you remember something valuable about them that would help you remember them in the future. The next time you talk, you can bring up the information you know to show them that you paid attention to your last conversation.

After the event, do not forget to follow up. You can do this through a phone call, email, or whatever you find convenient. The information you have gathered from your conversation can also be helpful when following up. This would surely make you memorable to your prospective customers.

You see. There is nothing wasted in business card marketing. As long as you are able to design your business card templates well and you network properly, you can be sure to get the most out of your cards.