Picture this: A business card with real impact
Mark A. Kellner I was recently at a conference hosted by a technology company. The participants were experienced businesspeople, and we all had gone through that basic ritual, exchanging business cards, hundreds if not thousands of times. Yet when I gave my card to people, their eyes lit up, their expressions changed, and I was questioned about it.
Mark A. Kellner I was recently at a conference hosted by a technology company. The participants were Yet when I gave my card to people, their eyes lit up, their expressions changed, and I My card doesnt identify me as a self-made millionaire, nor does it glow in the How did you do that? was the usual question. My answer elicited almost universal surprise. Such is the impact of photorealistic color, even among the technocrati. Precedent for this exists, of course. For at least 20 years, employees of Eastman Kodak In the 1980s, the photo business card, which usually cost 10 cents each in lots of The rise of personal computing and desktop publishing, from the Apple Macintosh (circa On a recent visit to a federal agency in Southern California, a smart PC user almost The addition of a photo to a business card, even in the most stratified of situations, Of course, a photographic business card need not bear the photo of an individual. It But the combination of text and photo on your business card creates a stronger Creating such a card once took a lot of time, but today it can be done in minutes. All The software has templates for business card layout and printing; the paper will help And at your next meeting, you can be the subject of discussion as everyone wonders how Mark A. Kellner, of Marina Del Rey, Calif., has been writing about information
experienced businesspeople, and we all had gone through that basic ritual, exchanging
business cards, hundreds if not thousands of times.
was questioned about it.
dark. What is has is my photo on it in full colorthe same photo you see at left.
Co. have toted business cards that were actually photographic prints. Selling pictures is
Kodaks game, but the impression the cards made wasand issubstantial.
1,000, was favored by real estate agents, car sales reps and entrepreneurs. Agents or
print shops sold the cards, and it took a week or three to get the finished product. If
you wanted to make a change, the whole processand costwould be repeated.
1984) to Microsoft Windows 95, made it possible for computer users to create and print
their own business cards, and do it fast. Templates and paper from companies such as Paper
Direct Inc. and Avery Dennison gave users a range of options for ad hoc card production.
certainly produced the card I received at his office.
can be a real plus. In my case, it sparks conversation. For a manager in government,
its a way to really put a face on what can seem a faceless bureaucracy.
could show a building, such as a state capitol, or something related to the job performed
by the individual.
impression on the recipient than a text-only card.
thats needed is inexpensiveless than $100software such as Adobe Photo
Deluxe or CorelPrint Office, photo-quality perforated card stock from Kodak or Avery
Dennison, and the requisite printer and ink.
render a great image.
you were able to take a common stationery item and make it something extraordinary.
technology since 1983. E-mail him at m_kellner@earthlink.net.