It's In The Cards!
by Anita Pagliasso-Balamane
Author of "How I Made A Small Fortune as a Home-Based Travel Agent"
(www.redticketproductions.com)
President, Ticket To Travel (www.aticket2travel.com)
OSSN Western Regional Manager
Email: sanjoseca@ossn.com
Phone: 408-531-9228

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DESIGN IMAGE AND BRANDING

My travel agency's name is Ticket To Travel, so I designed my business cards to look like a bright gloss red ticket with notches cut out on both ends. I have arranged all the pertinent information on the card in the style of a performance ticket. Because of their uniqueness and bright color, my business cards actually become an easy topic for starting a conversation and brand my business by using my ticket logo.

We are in the business of selling dreams, adventure, relaxation, romance and fun. Your business card design should match your business model. Is your specialty or niche leisure or corporate? Cruise or adventure? Family or senior travel? All-inclusive or FIT vacations? Make sure your card conjures up these types of immediate images.

Here are a few ideas:

Dive specialist -- Cards cut in the shape of dive goggles.

Honeymoon specialist -- Cards in the shape of a heart with a Caribbean or tropical theme and color palette.

Cruise specialist -- How about cards in the shape of a ship?

If you still want to use palm trees, why not make it the shape of your card?

If multi-color processing is too expensive, have standard type cards printed on gloss coated, colored paper stock rather than white.

USE 100% OF THE SPACE

If you paid for a full-page ad in a paper, you wouldn't leave it half blank. Consider using the entire card, including the back. If you need more space, fold-over cards can be used effectively as a mini-brochure to point out what makes you different from every other travel agent, including a brief description of credentials, such as CTC or ACC.

Many people who receive cards like to jot memory-triggers on the backs of cards. Why not cleverly print your own memory message on the back, such as the following:

Met at:__________________

Date:___________________

Note to self: Call for planning our next vacation.

Offers outstanding customer service, pricing and personal expertise. Most grateful for referrals.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Remember: The main goal of a business card is to make an impression and give an easy means to contact you for future business. Include a business phone number, email address, and Web site address. You may want to include a cell phone or home number. Giving out this type of personal information builds trust when trying to establish a new relationship. Since almost everyone now communicates through email, I no longer find it necessary to include a fax number.

MESSAGE

Don't forget to convey what kind of business you are looking for. If you put the title "Travel Agent" under your name and you only sell trips to Hawaii, you will waste this advertising opportunity and your time having to tell someone you don't book airfare to Cleveland.

DON'T CUT COSTS

My business cards are more costly than the traditional stock cards; however, I can't recall a time that I handed it to someone and didn't receive a comment about how nice or unique they are, thereby accomplishing my goal to get the client to look at the card and the information offered.

This is not an area where you want to cut costs by printing your own on perforated template business card stock purchased at office supply stores. The quality rarely looks as good because the material is flimsy and the perforations aren't finished, leaving ragged edges. Cheap-looking cards do not portray professionalism or seriousness about your business.

I realize that I have given a lot of ideas for a very small printing area, so you must choose your words and images carefully. Decide which information is absolutely essential and persuasive! Just as important, too much information can dilute your message.

Lastly, make sure that you invest in the best business card design that you can afford, as this will be your introduction to a new client and the low cost per card will be money well spent.

(Note: This article was previously printed in Agent@Home Magazine.)

Anita -- OSSN's West Coast Regional Manager -- has just produced a CD titled "Anita's Toolbox for Home-Based Agents" containing dozens of her most popular forms, letters, and guides. This CD will allow you to download her MS Word documents for your own personal use and customization. To purchase the CD or the book "How I Made a Small Fortune as a Home-Based Agent." go to www.redticketproductions.com.