| |
| |
|
Marketing Information |
|
|
|
Business Cards and Business Etiquette
One of the very basic conditions of being a successful businessman is to get people (your existing or prospective customers) to like you and a very basic requirement for being liked by people is to have proper business etiquette. We all like to be in companionship of well-cultured people and etiquette is one of the most important components of culture. Understanding business etiquettes help you to deal confidently with your customers and business acquaintance and build up a good rapport in no time. The scope of business etiquette is vast and beyond the scope of this article, however, we can definitely discuss one very common but extremely important etiquette issue that businessmen often comes across; exchanging business cards. In most part of the world, business cards are used to provide or get contact information and other necessary personal details of your business acquaintance, however a lot depends on how the business card is handed over or the way the receiver treats the business card that he receives. There are certain countries that have a set norm about receiving and giving business cards however, the general etiquettes of business card exchange that is followed all over the world can be summarized in the following points. a) Always get your business cards printed in very high quality paper and get the designs done by professionals. A business card is not just a piece of paper carrying your contact information but it's a branding tool for your company. b) Business cards an internationally accepted means of providing the necessary personal details to your business acquaintance. When you are going for a business meeting or a social gathering make sure you have good number of business cards with you. c) Try to exchange your business cards either at the beginning or at the end of the meeting. d) Whenever you receive a business card, make it a habit to study the business card and comment on it. If you have any doubts always clarify the doubt before putting it away. This shows that you are paying proper importance to the person who hands over the card to you. e) If you are traveling to some foreign country where English is not the primary business language, it is advisable that you get the backside of your business card printed in the local language. It is also expected, that while handing over the business card to some one you keep the side with the foreign language version on top. f) Do not try to thrust your business card at anyone with whom you are hardly acquainted. Business cards are exchanged only after both the parties express their interest to be in contact with each other. g) It is good to add a tag line or mention the USP of your business on your business card, but make sure that in the process, you do not turn it to a mini billboard. Other than this general etiquettes of business card exchange, there are certain etiquettes that are specific to certain countries. Two of the most remarkable instances are found in China and Japan. In China, it is the general etiquette to hold the business card in both hands while offering it to somebody and you should never write on someone's card unless you are told to do so. It is customary in China, to mention your title in the business card and it is preferred if you have one side of the business card printed in Chinese with golden fonts as gold is considered to be an auspicious color. In Japan, the accepted rules of business card exchange are somewhat opposite to China. Here business cards are always received in two hands but can be offered in one hand. Business cards are treated with the same respect as that of the actual person. Business cards should mention the title of the person as much emphasis is given to status and hierarchy in Japan. Business cards are one of the most powerful marketing tools for your company. If you know how to use the cards to their best advantage you can be sure that they will give you multiples of what you have invested to get those business cards done. Ray Smith is a marketing Expert with years of experience in different industries and specialized knowledge on branding and internet marketing.
MORE RESOURCES:
Marketing - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
How To Make More Money The biggest crime in small businesses today goes unnoticed by most outsiders. It is not reported in the media. The Top Seven Marketing Mistakes In my view, nearly all government statistics about reasons for business failures are nonsense.Undercapitalization, inexperience, or poor management are usually blamed for all business disasters. The Benefits of a Marketing Plan What is a Marketing Plan? Marketing is to do with matching the features and benefits that your products and services are able to provide with specific customers and then telling those customers why they should buy them from you. Your marketing plan details how to do this. In Sickness And In Health I recently drove by a business that had a sign out front that read "Closed due to illness". This meant that the cash flow would stop until the owner was able to return to work. Learn How to Market Your eBusiness in Real Time: Dissect, Study, Emulate Everything you will ever need to know about internet marketing is plainly available to you everywhere you go on the internet. All you need to do is dissect, study, and emulate these methods and you invariably will become just as successful as the people who created them. Calling All Carbon-Based Lifeforms Many businesses want to market to all carbon-based life forms. They won't take the time to really understand their audiences from geographic, demographic and psychographic perspectives. No One Gives A Damn About Your Business. Unless You Give em A Reason To The good news is that there are thousands of people looking for what you offer. The bad news is that those people are extremely tough to attract not to mention that your very livelihood depends on it. Practice Marketing: How to Answer What Do You Do? to Increase Prospects, Publicity and Profits "What do you do?""I'm a CPA. What do you do?""I'm a stockbroker. Resistances To Marketing a Practice-Part 1 If you are a therapist, counselor, or an alternative or complementary health practitioner (naturopath, homeopathetic doctor, massage therapist, body worker, etc.), in all likelihood, you are not only uninformed about effective marketing methods, but you are also likely to have some negative feelings about self promotion and marketing. One-Two-Three Punch Marketing Printed material is just as important today as it was before the Internet. With sp*a*m getting out of hand, it's a wise choice to rev up, update or create printed material, ads, catalogs, direct mail, press releases, letters, templates and the like. The Illusion of Print Mail Services If ever there was a lazy way to easy profits in mail order it hasto be the concept of letting someone else do all the work foryou. In theory, it works like this: You send a camera-ready circular or ad to someone who advertisesa print/mail service and they will print and mail it (along withmany others) to 1,000 to 25,000 names on their own list. 3 Quick Robotic Online and Offline Marketing Strategies to Help You Work Less and Make More Money What is Marketing? There are many text book answers to this but I like these two definitions the most.To be successful, you have to understand what marketing is, and how to advertise. Are You Attracting or Repelling Prospects? There are basically two ways in which you can either attract or repel prospects. I call these Attraction Marketing and Repel Marketing. The Seven Deadly Sins of Ineffective Nametags Your nametag can be your best friend. It can be a lifesaver in meetings, trade shows and events to start conversations when you meet groups of new people. So What Do You Do? Once you have the attention of a business prospect, at some point in the conversation, the prospect will ask you, "So what do you do?". In most cases, you will only have 60 seconds, to catch the interest of the prospect. Budget Your Branding It is very important to regularly monitor your advertising activities in the process of brand building, to realize how much they are contributing to the bottom line. Expediting marketing expenses wouldn't generally lead to a stronger brand name. Market Research - How Good is the Data? "Make money for taking surveys"," Cash for your opinion", "Make easy money at home".Everywhere you look there is a company willing to pay people to participate in their surveys. Overcoming Resistances To Marketing a Practice-Part 2 In Part 1 of this article, "Resistances to Marketing a Practice" the seven most common resistances helping and healing professionals (counsellors, therapists, naturopaths, homeopathetic doctors, massage therapists, body workers, etc.) have to marketing a practice were identified. Marketing Strategy - Spell Out Your Unique Value I attended a "Sales Focus" seminar a few years back in which the speaker asked this key question. "Why, based on all the competitive alternatives available to me, would I want to buy from you?" What a great question. Developing a Contact List- Part Two In a previous installment, we spoke about how to come up with a list of persons you currently know. Although everyone on that list will not necessarily become your client, everyone can lead you to clients.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
