The only reason some people have business cards is because you have to have something with your name and phone number to give to interested people or clients so they don't have to memorize the details or write them on a piece of paper soon to be lost or discarded.

But it's time you started to realize your business card is an advertisement for you and your business. People will assess you by that 90mm x 55mm piece of paper.

Some people have been doing this for years. Doctors, lawyers, banks, insurance companies and the like generally produce clean looking cards that are printed two colors on expensive white, textured card, maybe with a few expensive embellishments, such as embossing or gold foiling. They are advertising their success and professionalism. Their cards usually stand out because they are well designed and expensively produced. Yet they don't they to compete for attention - how many doctors' or lawyers' cards do you have in your card holder? These cards are passive, you go looking for them because YOU want to contact the person.

A business on the other hand is competing to get people to phone them, people who are regularly being given cards by similar businesses. Are many clients so loyal that they'll always phone you? A business card that just sits there quietly waiting to be found is sooner or later, going to lose you business. You need a salesman in every business card holder that shouts "HEY YOU, HERE I AM, PICK UP THE PHONE AND RING THIS NUMBER."

Yet it's not as difficult as you might think, if you're open to new ideas. A pet shop or vet could print paw prints or a huge snake on a card, a mechanic or gardener could use a thumb print or two, a real estate agent or builder could die cut a card in the shape of a house that opens up, a pest controller could print cockroaches or drill termite holes, a glass etching company could produce "glass" cards, a confectioner could produce small chocolate bards with specially printed wrappers, a driving school could print tips for safe driving, a laminating company could laminate the cards and a stamp or coin business could stick real stamps or coins on their card.

Some ideas are costly to produce so you might need two cards - one for important contacts, one for everyone else. However most simple, strong ideas will work without spending much more than usual.

The Rural Innovation Centre produced a two color card which had a bull filling most of the space with a red line across it saying "NO BULL." It was aimed at rural people, spoke their language and always stands out. Yet that was just one of a dozen ideas they were considering.

Another rule you must remember is to be pertinent. If you get attention by putting naked women or the word SEX on your card and then say "now that I have your attention," unless you're selling bay hair removal or sex aids, you're going to attract the wrong people and offend others along the way.

Other ideas include running your information diagonally or printing it very small in the middle of brightly colored cards (be sure it's pertinent) or having a number of similar looking cards that are actually advertisements similar to your press ads.

Cards can also be cut in different shapes - triangles, squares or long and thin. They also have backs which can be printed on, but be sure to put something on the front telling the reader to turn it over.

If you can't find a strong idea just promote your logo or business name - make it big, die cut it, emboss it, foil it, Verco it or repeat it all over the card. That's if your logo is worth showing off, if you're going to say something about the business be sure you say something good.