"They're real and they're spectacular." - SeinfeldYOU need a business card.
No matter what it is you do, if you want to generate serious interest in yourself and what you have to offer, then a proper business card is the MOST important tool in your promotional material. Think about it: it's portable, customizable and provides everything a potential client/employer needs to know about you, your service and how to reach you. It can be provided on the spot at a moment's notice without fussing with gadgets, buttons and websites, and it's reasonably cheap to print several hundred cards with an eye-catching colour picture and bold, memorable graphics. I got my first set recently for less than $130 (including $30 for a mock-up) and I've been distributing them to select recipients ever since. And here's another important point you need to remember: cards can be handed to people you feel will best be able to take advantage of your service with the bonus of wowing them face-to-face with your pitch. A website can't do that.
My card has the above picture with 'MISS FIT' in big, bold blue letters followed by my phone number. On the back are these bullet points:
>PRIVATE, AT HOME SESSIONS
>LOW-IMPACT WORKOUTS
>STRESS-FREE GUIDANCE
>FLEXIBLE SCHEDULES
>REASONABLE RATES
>GREAT MUSIC
>DOWNTOWN TORONTO
Do you get it? I'm a home fitness provider who - for a little extra - will kick in a relaxing post-workout massage. (I mention the massage part when I hand out the card.) Not bad, right? Response has been positive so far (guys LOVE looking at boobies - go figure) and hopefully this will be the start of a new direction for me.
If you're a struggling actor, put your best colour headshot on the front with your name, number and email, and on the back:
>TALENTED ACTOR
>IMPROV SPECIALIST*
>EXTENSIVE___** EXPERIENCE
>FLEXIBLE SKILL SET
>PERSONABLE AND A QUICK STUDY
>FAVE MOVIE:___***
*You're an actor - improv is your bread-and-butter and you don't have to be Robin Williams to prove it.
**Insert 'stage/ad/live/TV/film (even if you've only done extra work)' here.
***A surefire conversation continuer. "Oh, you liked ____? Didn't you find the ending a tad pretentious?" etc.
Be you a graphic artist, musician, novelist or furniture maker, put your mug/design on a card and go hang out where potential clients/employers eat, workout, attend concerts and party. Become skilled at choosing your 'mark' and devise a way to approach him/her without accosting them. If they're in your vicinity and you sense an opening, you might want to try a line like: "Hi, do you have the time?" (it's lame - I know - but sometimes highly effective), or "I love that ring - where'd you get it?". Hey, you never know who you'll meet the next time you sidle up to the bar in that hot spot hotel and order an overpriced drink that'll cost you a month's worth of laundry quarters. It just might be worth it when the guy whose ear you chewed off the night before wakes up from his bender with your card stuck to his clammy, bloated face.
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