The past couple of days I've been cleaning my office, throwing away as much unused stuff I can and organizing the rest. One of the things I'm organizing is the countless number of business cards I've collected over the years. Although many titles, addresses, telephone numbers, and in some cases companies have come and gone, I'm keeping them all as a resource of contacts and designs.

Looking at hundreds of cards it becomes crystal clear - most business cards are dull and unmemorable. The overwhelming majority are simply name, rank, and serial number.

What a missed opportunity!

Instead of just putting contact information on your card, why not add a message? What I'm talking about is a message to your prospect of your greatest benefit. A short message of what you do for your customer is a great addition to a business card.

The message doesn't have to be long. In fact, it's better if it's short and to the point. For example, if your business is a lawn care service, a simple message like We take care of your lawn so you have more weekend in your Saturday and Sunday can be added to the front of a card with no problem. A customer service trainer could have something like We train your customer service people to increase customer loyalty and subscription renewals.

You get the point...put a message of what you do for your customer on your business card, it's how you want to be remembered and is exactly what your customer is buying.