A great business card is like a great suit: 10 years later it still looks pretty good. Do you think that rule of thumb applies to your business card? In fact, how much thought have you given to your business card lately? Small as it is, your business card is a powerful ambassador of your salon or service. In a sense, it’s everything your business is, boiled down to a 2-inch by 3%-inch piece of paper. In just an instant, it can create either a favourable impression, or it can make a potential customer look elsewhere. In short, your little business card has a lot of responsibility.

That being the case, have you properly prepared it for its mission? Here are some things to consider. In creating a new business card or eval­uating your current one, first ask a few questions: What kind of an impression do you want it to make? Do you want it to look highly sophisticated or warm and friendly? Should it have a richly feminine appeal or be unisex? Would you like it to look traditional and well-established or young and cutting edge? Also, do you want your business card to work as a mini-brochure, listing every conceivable service you offer, or be boldly minimalistic in its message?

The best answers to these questions must come from you, the person who knows your business best. For starters, who is your clientele? Are they primarily under 30, or do you serve more mature customers? Are men becoming an ever-larger part of your business, or is that unlikely to become the case in your community? Do you need a card that’s all things to all people, or are you really trying to target a younger, more daring crowd?

Carefully considering these questions will help you hone in on the kind of card that will work best for your business. In fact, a good exercise is to sit down and write a list of qualities you’d like your card to communicate based on your salon’s image. Your list may include such adjectives as friendly, highly personal, avant-garde, classic, youthful, well-established, feminine, unisex, corporate, neighbourhood, specialist, or generalist.

Needless to say, the qualities your business card projects should correspond to the actual qualities customers will find in your salon. Your business card is your “promise;” your service is how that promise is fulfilled.

Making your business card stand out from all the rest is something else to consider. Today, we call it “cutting through the clutter,” and it’s an important challenge all advertisers face. (Remember, your business card is an advertisement for your business.)

Once upon a time, it might have been enough to hang out a shingle that said “Haircuts” or “Salon.” But today, most of us face a lot of stiff competition, and that’s why we need to differentiate our businesses from other similar enterprises. You must try to identify and offer that elusive “value-added” service or something extra that makes people want to come to you, not the salon across the street. What differentiates your business from others may be the range of services offered (“The Northside’s Most Complete Beauty Salon”). Or perhaps yours is “Brookfield’s Friendliest Beauty Care Center.” Perhaps you have a specialty that’s worth touting, such as “European-style Nail Care” or “Personalized Beauty Treatments for Men and Women.” In other words, give thought not just to your business card’s message but also to its personality. And if there isn’t one particular service or quality that makes your salon different from all the others, it’s still worth emphasizing such things as “expertise,” “personal service,” or “full service.” They are always reas­suring to a customer or prospect.

If your salon offers a wide range of services — everything from hair care to facials to massage — you may also want to consider having more than one business card. For example, develop a card that focuses on hair care, another for nail care, and yet another for skin care. You can cross-market the hair care cards to your facial customers and vice versa. That way, your business card won’t be overburdened with messages, yet it remains the excellent marketing tool it was meant to be.