Before you get mad at me for what I just said, please look now at one of your business cards and check the following:

- Do you use the back side to generate more sales through a shocking offer or guarantee, loyalty or referral program, or any of the 11 best marketing strategies to attract new customers and retain your current customers?
- Do you add a call-to-action on the back side to clearly tell your prospects what you want them to do so you can generate more leads and, therefore, close more sales?
- Do you use a full-color artwork to add impact and differentiate from other business cards in your prospect's Rolodex?
- Do you show your photo to remind your prospects who you are?
- Do you have your slogan on the front, close to your business name or logo, to communicate what your business and positioning are?
- Do you have a slogan at all?

If your answer to two or more of my questions is NO, then sorry but… your business card sucks.

Don't get mad at yourself now. It's not your fault. Business cards have been used for the last 100 hundred years not as a sales tool but, on the contrary, just as a formality and a way to give out your phone and e-mail.

Still, a well-thought-out business card is one of the most powerful - yet inexpensive - sales tools you could use to boost your sales and profits almost overnight.

To transform your business cards into a sales tool all you need to know is: How to Create and How to Use business cards that sell.

HOW TO CREATE BIZ CARDS THAT SELL:

You create the best Shocking Offer to promote your business and you print it on the back of your business cards.

Do you know what a shocking offer is and how to create the one that's right for you?

A shocking offer is so outrageously beneficial for your prospect that it's almost impossible to say NO.

The following are the 11 best marketing strategies to develop the Shocking Offer that best suits your business:

1. Free e-book or report (the one I use)
2. Free subscription to e-newsletter
3. Invitation to free seminar
4. Free consultation
5. Free trial
6. Trade-in offer
7. Shocking guarantee
8. Membership Club
9. Referral Program
10. Loyalty Program
11. Reminder for Appointment

The first seven are the best marketing strategies to attract new customers. Almost everything is free because your goal is to make their first step toward becoming your customer extremely smooth and easy to take. You make your profit from their recurring business. Now…

HOW TO USE BIZ CARDS THAT SELL:

The way you use biz cards that sell is exactly the opposite of how you've been using business cards for your whole life!

You put your biz cards that sell to work for you bringing new and recurring customers while you are doing something else. Even while you are sleeping!

It's all about leverage. Once you have a powerful marketing message on the back side, your business cards work as a flyer or a postcard. Even better. Because business cards are saved for future reference while considered a personal communication, instead of just another piece of advertising.

Isn't it amazing? You will not need to be on one side of the business card, handing it to someone on the other side, in order to get their business.

The following are the 6 Most Powerful Ways to Use Biz Cards that Sell to Boost Your Sales:

1. Create joint ventures with other business owners who share your customers while not competing with you. Hand out and mail each other's business cards to your contact database along with a personal letter and an endorsement.
2. Give a prize to your employees when they bring a new customer because of handing out their biz cards that sell.
3. Add four or five cards to all follow-up collaterals and outgoing mail.
4. Create a Referral program on the back side with prizes for the referrer and the referral and mail some among with a personal letter to your contact base.
5. Create a Loyalty program - buy X number of my products and get ONE free. Print X circles on the back side and hand out these cards to every customer with the first circle already perforated.
6. Display them in your store/office along with a sign promoting your marketing strategy. Use them profusely while networking and every time you meet anyone.

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