Is your networking up to scratch?

Take a look at your networking material, whether it’s your business card, leaflets, brochures or whatever, and consider these few pointers:

• What kind of material (card, paper, plastic) is it made of? Does it look cheap or expensive? Does it reflect the quality you want to portray?

• What colours have you used? Are they appropriate to your product/service? Don’t use your favourite colours if they are not suitable to your business. Also, be aware of how legible they are, eg red or yellow on a white background (does it disappear?), pale text on a dark background (may be trendy, but how easy is it to read?), combination of opposite colours (jumpy or what?).

• How unique is your card? If you got it off the internet, do you run the risk of meeting someone else at a networking event with the same design? Alternatively, if you designed it yourself, is it instantly recognisable as being produced by a home printer? Is it bland, ordinary, uninteresting, boring? Could it catch a prospective customer’s eye?

• Does it say what’s in the tin? How many times have you taken a business card home and you can’t fathom or remember what the company is about? If your business name doesn’t reflect the nature of your product/service, do you have a strapline or description to help the recipient? Does your logo also help in recognition?

Now for the action - if you (or somebody else you know) are not providing positive responses to these questions, and you would like to have marketing material that is professional, attractive and effective, then - go ask Alice!