Smart Ways to Use Your Craft Business Cards

Get more mileage out of your business cards with these tips on handing out business cards from the CreativeLive blog.

For any business owner, a business card is an affordable and valuable promotion tool. That one small piece of paper contains all the information a person needs to get in touch with someone. If you run a craft business, your business card contains a very important piece of information: your website.

But all of the hard work you put into your business card design will be for nothing if they stay in their box. Here are a few ways you can get your information in the hands of the customers who will buy your products.

Include One with Each Shipment

While many of your online customers will toss their packaging away, a business card adds a professional touch. A few customers will keep the card and even those who don’t will see your branding one more time. If you sell through a marketplace like eBay or Etsy, a business card is essential to encouraging customers to buy from your store the next time they want an item. If they give one of your crafts as a gift, they may even include your card, sending a customer who previously wouldn’t have purchased from a marketplace to your shop.

Display at Local Businesses

Whether you sell your items locally, online, or a combination of both, small local businesses will sometimes let you display your business cards at the point of sale.

Sell to retailers? Consider asking the shop owner to display your business cards.

Focus on expanding your reach by also displaying at noncompeting businesses. Dry cleaners, tailoring shops, restaurants and bakeries, and bookstores are ideal for putting your business cards on display. Grocery stores, libraries, and tourist information centers may allow local business owners to pin their business cards to a bulletin board. Search for those opportunities in your community.

Distribute at Craft Fairs

Craft fairs bring some of the best potential customers directly to you. They already establish an interest in crafts by being at the fair. Set up a display of your cards and encourage everyone who stops by to take a few to hand out to their friends. If you give out free samples, attach your business card to direct people to buy from your website. Include your business card in the bag with any purchase to possibly turn a one-time craft fair purchaser into a loyal visitor to your online store.

Don’t Leave Home Without Them

Opportunities to hand out your business card come at unexpected times. You may run into an old friend at the grocery store or strike up a conversation with the technician at your veterinarian’s office. By having a handful on you at all times, you’ll be able to turn any conversation about your crafts into a future sale. It might even pay off to carry an extra display holder around in case you find a local business that might agree to set them out for you.

If you’ve created a visually-appealing business card that clearly represents your brand, you’ll find customers are naturally drawn to it. Find every opportunity to get your card in the hands of potential customers and you’ll discover that sales increase.

Stephanie Faris

Stephanie Faris is the Simon & Schuster author of 30 Days of No Gossip, 25 Roses, and the upcoming Piper Morgan series.