Probably one of the most effective and inexpensive advertising pieces you can use for your business is your common everyday business card. This small piece of paper and ink is your personal contact form between potential customers and your company. Not only does it list how you may be contacted but also gives the potential customer an idea of what service you can provide them and a personal contact employee that can make all the difference between who is awarded the user's business and who is not.

Physically a business card is only a stiff cardstock that is small enough to slip easily inside a pocket or wallet. In the United States the standard business card measures precisely three and one half inches by two inches. There is a small fractional size difference between standard business cards globally, however none are larger than three and five eighths by two and one eighth inches.

While the most basic business card is simple black ink on white paper, the range of paper stock and ink color and process choices render an almost unlimited variety to utilize to individualize your company's business cards. This is important to make your card stand out from the rest of a stack, yet should not be so gaudy as to turn off the potential customer. For a slightly more professional look, one can use the thermograph technique that adheres a powder to the wet ink that will bubble up and give a raised effect when heated. This system created fine professional type and logo designs on your card but is not as effective if you are printing a picture on your business card.

Photographic business cards have finally come into their own as the advances in color print technology has brought the price down to easy afford ability for just about any budget. Not only does the photographic business card offer distinctive coloring, it is most effective as a personalizing technique and memory key for people to remember the company representative they were originally in contact with.

There are several critical pieces of information that should be on any successful business card. The company name is of extreme importance unless it is so well known that the logo itself is enough to positively identify who you are working for. The name and position of the person giving out the business card is also a standard requirement. This will not only personalize the initial contact but also give the potential customer a known representative they can come back to for further questions or an order.

The telephone number or numbers of the business are crucial for being able to contact the business again. Depending on the nature of the business at least a company email address should be provided if not the individual's as well. It is often necessary for a customer to find your physical address so that should be included as well. If you are in a difficult to find area then you can utilize the back of your business card to provide a small map to direct customers to your door.

With the increased influence of the World Wide Web, digital business cards have been created that can be attached to any email your company and its employees generate. Since this is a digital card, then you can open up the potential for motion as well as color. Whether you create an animated GIF file or develop an entire mini flash movie to use as your business card this technique will make your company memorable.