10 Nifty Tips for Better Business Cards

Not having a business card is as bad as using an eMail address that ends in AOL.com It's just not professional.

With domain names costing less that 9 bucks a year, there's no excuse for anyone in business to have an AOL.com address. With business cards costing less than 9 bucks at the big box store, there's no excuse for anyone in business not to pass them about.

Here are BIG Mike's 10 Nifty Tips for Better Business Cards

Don't Do It At Home
For what you spend on blank microperf cards and the time to get it right, you could pay to have them look professional instead of home baked.

Get your Own Logo
No logo at all looks better than a logo from a clip art book. Same with cards with bars of color or circles. Your card should be you, not something from a can.

Put YOU in the Middle
Your name is the most important part of the card put it in the middle and big enough to see without granny glasses.

Forget the Beeper Number
No need to list cell phones and beeper numbers. If you want a customer to have them, it is far more impressive for you to hand write it on the card ("I'm giving you my private cell phone number...")

Throw 'em Away When ANYTHING Changes
Don't be a cheapskate. Spend the bucks for new cards rather than penciling in corrections. Be professional.

Keep it Simple
One phone number and one eMail is enough. Be sure to put your website on the card, too. Some cards work great without a street address. Do you need it on your card? Why?

Use Both Sides
The back of the card can be used to reinforce your selling proposition. Think of your card as a little newspaper ad. Use both sides.

Stick with White
White, glossy, shiny cards say "Business". Pastels and swirls say "Avon Lady".

Never Leave Home Without One
Always carry a supply of cards. You never know. And keep them handy in a ready pocket, not tucked away at the bottom of a bag, so you can present one with a flourish on demand. Keep a backup stack in the car.

Present It With A FLAIR
Practice offering your card with BOTH hands. It makes a BIG impact. You goal is to get people to remember you and save your card. Do that by using both hands.

For more on business cards, get my article "What Does Your Business Card Say". Click the link to send a blank message BizCardSay@BigIdeasGroup.com

BIGIdeasGroup.com">http://BIGIdeasGroup.com

Subscribe to "BIG Mike's BIG Ideas" Newsletter MailTo:subscribe-956603364@ezinedirector.net

MORE RESOURCES:

First migrants land in Italy under post-Salvini coalition deal with EU

EU ministers pledge support as 82 disembark from NGO boat, ending Salvini’s entry ban

Eighty-two migrants have disembarked in Italy, marking a break from the era of hardline immigration measures pushed by the former interior minister, Matteo Salvini.

On Saturday night, the migrants were transferred from the Norwegian-flagged rescue boat Ocean Viking, operated by the French charities SOS Méditerranée and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), to a coastguard vessel before being taken ashore on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa.

Iran denies launching drone attacks on Saudi oil facility

Foreign ministry counters accusations from US secretary of state with threats to US bases

Iran has dismissed US accusations that it was responsible for a swarm of explosive drone attacks on the world’s largest petroleum processing facility in Saudi Arabia that disrupted more than half of the kingdom’s oil output and could jolt global supplies.

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebel group claimed responsibility for launching waves of drones at state-owned Saudi Aramco facilities early on Saturday morning. But the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said there was no evidence the drones were launched in Yemen and accused Iran of “an unprecedented attack on the world’s energy supply”.

EU officials reject Boris Johnson claim of 'huge progress' in Brexit talks

PM’s upbeat account dismissed as Jean-Claude Juncker warns time is running out

EU officials have rejected Boris Johnson’s claim that “a huge amount of progress” is being made in Brexit talks, as Jean-Claude Juncker warned that time is running out.

Juncker, who will stand down as European commission president on 31 October, is expected to ask Johnson to spell out his ideas for replacing the Irish backstop when the pair meet over lunch in Luxembourg on Monday.

'Liberate Hong Kong': protesters defy police ban to march on seat of government

Police fire teargas as London urged to press Beijing to uphold ‘one country, two systems’

Hong Kong riot police have fired teargas and deployed water cannon on pro-democracy demonstrators in the latest episode of political unrest to rock the city.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators defied a police ban and marched toward the seat of the government, chanting “Resist Beijing, liberate Hong Kong”.

Pomp, thin crowds and mixed feelings as Robert Mugabe is buried

The bands played but the funeral of Zimbabwe’s ex-president was a strange affair in a divided nation

At just before 11.30am, the thousands of mourners in the vast bowl of Zimbabwe’s national stadium stood and the casket carrying the mortal remains of Robert Gabriel Mugabe began its short journey across the green grass to the podium where it would lie during the long, hot hours of the funeral.

A military brass band led the procession. Then came the bereaved family and Mugabe’s successor, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, followed by foreign dignitaries, before a small crowd of ministers and officials from the ruling Zanu-PF party.

Trump blasts calls for impeachment of Brett Kavanaugh after new allegations

New York Times details new claims against supreme court judge
Castro: ‘Kavanaugh lied under oath. He should be impeached’

Donald Trump came storming to the defence of Brett Kavanaugh on Sunday, after the publication of new allegations about the supreme court justice’s behaviour while he was a student at Yale led to renewed calls for his impeachment.

'It’s all lies': Tunisia heads to the polls amid widespread disillusionment

The economic crisis and security fears have dominated the presidential campaign

Seven million Tunisians headed to the polls on Sunday in the country’s second presidential election since its 2011 revolution, faced with a crowded list of candidates, uncertainty and widespread disillusion over the country’s progress in the past eight years.

Twenty-six candidates are running in the unpredictable first round. They include the media mogul Nabil Karoui, who is in prison on corruption charges that he denies, the prime minister, Youssef Chahed, and Abdelfattah Mourou, who heads a first-time bid on behalf of his Islamist inspired Ennahda party.

‘We don’t care who wins’: young Gazans see little choice in Israel’s elections

On Gaza City’s quayside, Palestinians fear that Benjamin Netanyahu’s rivals in Tuesday’s poll are as belligerent as he is

As reflections from the quayside lights twinkle in the water below, the fisherman Maher Abu Hazima takes a five shekel coin from his pocket and holds it face up. “That’s Netanyahu,” he says before turning it over with a flick of his wrist. “And that’s Gantz. They’re the same.”

Demonstrating that his contempt for politicians is not confined to the rivals for the premiership in Tuesday’s Israeli election, he adds with a laugh: “Like Fatah and Hamas.”

Lifestyle website for Muslim teens is covertly funded by the Home Office

Two SuperSisters employees resign after discovering links to counter-extremism strategy

A Muslim online lifestyle platform targeting British teenagers is covertly funded by the Home Office’s counter-extremism programme, the Observer has learned.

The revelation about funding of the project has led to a row between its owners, a former Muslim employee and its Muslim audience.

'Americans are waking up': two thirds say climate crisis must be addressed

Major CBS News poll released as part of Covering Climate Now, a collaboration of more than 250 news outlets around the world to strengthen coverage of the climate story

Two-thirds of Americans believe climate change is either a crisis or a serious problem, with a majority wanting immediate action to address global heating and its damaging consequences, major new polling has found.

Reclaimed lakes and giant airports: how Mexico City might have looked

The Mexican capital was founded by Aztecs on an island in a vast lake. No wonder water flows through so many of its unbuilt projects

Ever since Mexico City was founded on an island in the lake of Texcoco its inhabitants have dreamed of water: containing it, draining it and now retaining it.

Nezahualcoyotl, the illustrious lord of Texcoco, made his name constructing a dyke shielding Mexico City’s Aztec predecessor city of Tenochtitlan from flooding. The gravest threat to Mexico City’s existence came from a five-year flood starting in 1629, almost causing the city to be abandoned. Ironically now its surrounding lake system has been drained, the greatest threat to the city’s existence is probably the rapid decline of its overstressed aquifers.

'Irrelevant': report pours scorn over Google's ideas for Toronto smart city

Independent panel criticises Sidewalk Labs over ‘frustratingly abstract’ proposals for new tech-oriented neighbourhood

A controversial smart city development in Canada has hit another roadblock after an oversight panel called key aspects of the proposal “irrelevant”, “unnecessary” and “frustratingly abstract” in a new report.

The project on Toronto’s waterfront, dubbed Quayside, is a partnership between the city and Google’s sister company Sidewalk Labs. It promises “raincoats” for buildings, autonomous vehicles and cutting-edge wood-frame towers, but has faced numerous criticisms in recent months.

Diesel cars emit more air pollution on hot days, study says

Emissions rose 20-30% in Paris when temperatures topped 30C, raising urgent questions as the climate gets hotter

Emissions from diesel cars – even newer and supposedly cleaner models – increase on hot days, a new study has found, raising questions over how cities suffering from air pollution can deal with urban heat islands and the climate crisis.

Research in Paris by The Real Urban Emissions (T rue) initiative found that diesel car emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) rose by 20% to 30% when temperatures topped 30C – a common event this summer.

Barcelona's car-free 'superblocks' could save hundreds of lives

Report predicts radical scheme could cut air pollution by a quarter as other cities including Seattle prepare to follow suit

Barcelona could save hundreds of lives and cut air pollution by a quarter if it fully implements its radical superblocks scheme to reduce traffic, a new report claims.

A study carried out by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health calculates that the city could prevent 667 premature deaths every year if it created all 503 superblocks envisaged in its initial plan – up from the current six schemes.

Edward Snowden on 9/11 and why he joined the army: ‘Now, finally, there was a fight’

In an extract from his memoir, the US whistleblower shares his experiences on the day the twin towers fell – and the aftermath that led him to join up

Whenever I try to understand how the past two decades happened, I return to that September – to that ground-zero day and its immediate aftermath. To return means coming up against a truth darker than the lies that tied the Taliban to al-Qaeda and conjured up Saddam Hussein’s illusory stockpile of WMDs. It means, ultimately, confronting the fact that the carnage and abuses that marked my young adulthood were born not only in the executive branch and the intelligence agencies, but also in the hearts and minds of all Americans, myself included.

I started working as a web designer for a woman I met in community college class. She, or I guess her business, hired me under the table at the then lavish rate of $30 an hour in cash. The trick was how many hours I would actually get paid for.

Johnson's 'bonkers' plan for £15bn bridge derided by engineers

Experts says PM’s proposal for bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland fraught with problems

Engineering experts have poured cold water over Boris Johnson’s “bonkers” plan to build a bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland for £15bn.

The prime minister – who first touted the idea of the 20-mile-plus bridge last year – put a price on his proposal for the first time last week, saying it would “only” cost the multibillion pound sum.

Five things we learned from David Cameron's memoir

Extracts from former PM’s book reveal thoughts on Johnson, Gove and referendum regret

Extracts from the former prime minister David Cameron’s memoir For the Record have been published in the Times and Sunday Times. Here are five things we learned from the book.

Reporting on Hurricane Dorian: 'It was a scene of complete devastation'

New York reporter recalls challenges of covering a disaster as huge as the category 5 storm that ripped through the Bahamas

How do you start an interview with someone who has just lost everything?

With the floodwaters just receded, the stench of mould beginning to creep into the hollowed-out buildings that survived two days of pummelling winds, and bloated corpses still being recovered, that was a question I was forced to grapple with last week in the Bahamas.

Hong Kong police fire water cannon at protesters throwing petrol bombs - video

Officers also fired teargas at the demonstrators, who had gathered outside the government office complex on Sunday. The latest violence came after tens of thousands defied a police ban and marched toward the seat of the government, chanting: ‘Five demands, not one less.’ For the past three months, Hong Kong has been gripped by the most serious political crisis in decades, triggered by a proposal to allow extradition to mainland China

‘Liberate Hong Kong’: protesters defy police ban to march on seat of government

Barnaby Joyce and Tony Abbott decry ‘infanticide on demand’ at abortion rally

Former PM and deputy PM deploy incendiary language to describe decriminalisation bill being considered by NSW parliament

The former prime minister and deputy prime minister of Australia have claimed at an anti-abortion rally in Sydney that a proposed decriminalisation bill has nothing to do with decriminalisation.

Tony Abbott described the bill as “infanticide on demand”, while Barnaby Joyce described it as “the slavery debate of our time” while also perpetuating a false claim about pro-choice protesters on Saturday.

Global renewable energy initiative aims to bring a billion people in from the dark

Worldwide commission aims to end energy poverty in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia by driving investment in new technology

Electricity could be delivered to more than a billion people currently living without it within a decade by linking up small-scale projects into a giant, environmentally-friendly network.

According to a new global commission, advances in micro energy grids and renewable energy technologies could “dramatically accelerate change” and transform lives in rural areas of sub-Saharan African and south Asia.

Kenyan schoolgirl, 14, kills herself after alleged period shaming by teacher

Teenager who had her first period during school lesson was reportedly branded ‘dirty’ and expelled from classroom

A 14-year-old schoolgirl in Kenya took her own life after a teacher allegedly embarrassed her for having her period in class.

The girl’s death has prompted protests from female parliamentarians and reignited a national conversation about “period shaming” and access to menstrual products.

Indonesia takes steps to improve protection of mental health patients

National agencies granted greater power to enforce existing laws banning practices such as shackling

Indonesia is stepping up efforts to protect people with mental health conditions by affording national agencies new powers to monitor and close down institutions found to be abusing patients.

The country’s human rights commission and its witness and victim protection unit are among the agencies empowered to monitor facilities to check they don’t contravene a 1977 government ban on “pasung” – shackling or detaining patients in confined spaces.

Tanzanian journalist could face up to five years in jail without trial

Charges against Erick Kabendera preclude bail, say lawyers, as national media council claims case has been ‘politically handled’

A Tanzanian journalist charged with money laundering and leading organised crime could face up to five years in jail without trial because bail is not guaranteed in cases involving alleged economic crimes, his legal team has warned.

Erick Kabendera’s lawyers and family also criticised Tanzanian immigration authorities for refusing to return his wife and children’s passports, even though allegations over his citizenship have been dropped.

Hundreds of children die in Philippine dengue epidemic as local action urged

Health ministry calls for greater efforts to deal with mosquito-borne disease at village level as death toll reaches four figures

The Philippine health ministry has urged local officials to ramp up efforts to combat dengue fever after the death toll from the epidemic reached 1,021.

The young have born the brunt of the outbreak, with children under the age of 10 accounting for more than a third of the deaths recorded in the eight months up to August, when a national epidemic of the mosquito-borne disease was declared.

Your period-tracking app could be sharing intimate details with all of Facebook

Women’s health apps are again raising concerns of privacy as a new study finds some are sharing information without consent

Sign up for the Week in Patriarchy, a newsletter on feminism and sexism sent every Saturday.

My young cousin fled the bombs … only to be held in a camp alongside Isis supporters

A 15-year-old girl from my family was among thousands of traumatised innocents dumped at the notorious al-Hawl displacement facility in Syria

In April, a 15-year-old female relative of mine attempted to escape from al-Hawl camp, the displacement facility in eastern Syria that hosts families of Islamic State fighters. My cousin was one of thousands of civilians displaced from areas previously held by Isis and kept at the camp as they fled the group’s last strongholds.

My relative never joined the organisation, nor did any member of her family. But when she was caught, the guards noticed she was wearing a burqa, the face veil that Isis imposed on women living under its so-called caliphate. Since she was no longer living under Isis, the Kurdish interrogators accused her of being a “Daeshiyah” – a pejorative word to describe female Isis sympathisers. Rather than defending herself as a civilian with no association or sympathy to Isis, she opted for a defiant tone: “This is Islam, like it or not.”

Labour's #MeToo moment eats away at Ardern's most prized possession – trust | Alison Mau

New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s credentials at home and abroad as a new kind of leader all hang on her next move

It’s just shy of a year ago that Jacinda Ardern stood in the UN general assembly and spoke in support of the #MeToo movement. There was spontaneous applause from the floor for that small part of a much longer speech – it felt like a significant moment.

The New Zealand leader’s trip to New York attracted the usual grumbles here at home – those who could not quite get their head around the very idea of a 38-year-old unmarried woman as prime minister carped about her decision to take her three-month-old daughter along – but the result was the blossoming of an international media love affair. Baby Neve’s appearance at the back of the UN chamber was just the icing on the cake.

How did each candidate in the Democratic debate do?

Klobuchar, Booker, Buttigieg, Sanders, Biden, Warren, Harris, Yang, O’Rourke and Castro – all 10 hopefuls rated

The candidates gathered in Houston, Texas, for the latest Democratic debate represented the top tier of the large field campaigning for the party’s 2020 nomination. But how did each of them fare during a night of policy cut and thrust, some mutual admiration and also some caustic attacks – on each other and on Donald Trump.

Hongkongers sing God Save the Queen in plea for UK support - video

Hundreds of Hong Kong protesters sang God Save the Queen and waved the union flag as they rallied outside the British consulate on Sunday to demand the UK ensures China honours its commitments to the city’s freedoms. The Sino-British joint declaration, signed in 1984, laid out a ‘one country, two systems’ formula

‘We will not surrender’: Hongkongers rally for support outside UK consulate

In troubled waters: telling the story of fish in Vanuatu theatre – in pictures

Fish play a big role in the lives of people in Melanesia; coastal fisheries are not just a source of food and income, they are also central to cultural identity. The Wan Smolbag Theatre Company, from Vanuatu, travels to small fishing villages and performs a play called Twist mo Spin, which tells villagers about the challenges fisheries face across the region and about sustainable fishing

The last rickshaws of Kolkata – in pictures

Kolkata, one of Asia’s great melting pots, is the last place on Earth where rickshaw wallahs still haul people and goods through narrow lanes. With just hundreds left, Palani Mohan’s images capture them as they disappear.

Almost all of the pullers originate from the state of Bihar, one of India’s poorest. They come here looking for work, leaving their families behind in the villages. It’s a hard and lonely existence, and one that is slowly dying out. The government of West Bengal state has described the jobs of the rickshaw pullers as ‘barbaric’, ‘despicable’ and ‘inhuman’. There is no place in the world today, it says, for ‘human horses’. Men with bare feet pulling others for 18 hours a day in the heat and the rain, for just a few rupees. But the city’s residents disagree

Towns in south-east Spain submerged after severe storms – video report

At least six people have died as a result of record-breaking rain during the past two days. More than 1,100 military personnel have been deployed to the regions of Murcia and Valencia to help evacuate thousands to safety after floods submerged roads.

Death toll rises as torrential rain and floods batter Spain

Hong Kong protesters clash after standoff in shopping mall – video

Rival groups of protesters clash in the Amoy Plaza mall in another weekend of mass demonstrations after months of political unrest. Dozens of protesters scuffled at the shopping district in Kowloon Bay, where they traded blows and some used umbrellas to hit their opponents. Police detained several people

Hong Kong enters 15th week of mass protests as unrest continues

Saudi Arabia: major fire at world's largest oil refinery after drone attack - video

Houthi drones attacked the world's largest oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia and a major oilfield operated by Saudi Aramco early on Saturday, sparking a huge fire at a processor vital to global energy supplies. It was not clear if there were any injuries in the attacks, nor whether they would affect the country's oil production

Major Saudi Arabia oil facilities hit by drone strikes

RELATED ARTICLES

10 Great E-Commerce Businesses You Can Start Now
If you've been thinking of starting a business on the web but you're not sure what type of business to start then this article is for you. You could be wasting valuable time trying to make your first move.

Surviving When Clients Arent Rolling In
As the holiday season starts to settle in, the workload for many Micro-Businesses can slow down.Service-based businesses in particular consider this a slow time of the year.

Media Training: Seven Ways to Instantly Improve Your Media Interviewing Skills
Imagine if you were going to address a stadium full of people. You'd probably spend hours (if not days or weeks) agonizing over every word you were going to say.

10 Steps for Business Owners to Take if They Are a Victim of Identity Theft
Be aware that 40 million crooks obtained credit card numbers this past year, "Be Suspicious". Also be aware that most identify theft is not reported, especially when it involves family members, so the statistics are off.

Want a Web Site that Turns Lookie Loos into Buyers? Seven Passion Copywriting Tips
Web Site Blues? Need one, don't know where to start? Got one, but aren't getting enough sales? If you need a Web site soon you may be wondering where to start and who to trust. All Web masters are not equal.

Top Ten Reasons to Write a Sales Letter for Each Product? - Part 1
Authors/publishers are great at getting their books written. Entrepreneurs know their products.

10 Incredibly important business basics EVERYONE needs to know BEFORE they start a business!
In my career, I have had a total of 3 businesses myself and a few others where I am in partnerships. Each time you start a business the basics are pretty well the same.

10 Things To Ask Your Accountant
This is a quick checklist of a few things that you, as a new business, should expect to ask your accountant (or potential accountant).1.

10 Tips for Effective Proofreading
Proofreading may not be terribly fun, but it's one of the most important parts of writing.Have you ever read a web page or a document that had typos, grammatical errors, and punctuation mistakes? This reflects badly on you and your business, and you could easily lose a customer over a simple spelling mistake!Here are some tips for quick and effective proofreading:1.

7 Strategies for Handling Last Minute Meetings
Have you ever found yourself having to scramble to organize a meeting at the last minute? Wouldn't it be nice that if and when this daunting situation arose, you were well prepared with all necessary information ready at your fingertips? That's why I've developed the following seven survival strategies to help you plan for the inevitable, because you know as well as I, it's going to happen 'someaday.'Survival Strategy #1.

Seven Questions to Improve Your Business, Your Relationships, and Your Life
Seven Questions to Improve Your Business, Your Relationships, and Your Life One of the most powerful tools we have as humans is our ability to ask questions.� The more adept we are at asking them (and waiting for and listening to the answers), the more effective we will be.

Why Clarity Is Essential To Building Massive Momentum In Your Business
Clarity is an absolutely essential ingredient for you to achieve your full potential in business. Napolean Hill, in his classic book Think & Grow Rich, said "Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.

Never Sell Again: Get Repeat Business and Avoid the Need to Prospect
If you're a business owner, you know that repeat business is critical to your success. It also makes your life much easier because you can count on ongoing business without having to continuously find new prospects and convince them to hire you.

10 Ways to Develop A Free Agent Attitude
Whether you are self employed or you work for someone else, it is useful to have a free agent attitude. The past few years have shown us that working for someone else is temporary at best.

Top 7 Ways to Profit from Foreign Trade
Here are seven excellent ways to earn income from international trade.1.

After Hurricane Katrina - Seven Things You Can Do
If you are like me, you are living some distance from the devastation wrought by Katrina. If you are like me you not physically impacted and can watch the plight of others on television in the comfort of your home.

Top Ten Tips for Online Publishing Success
Use the checklist below to make sure your article, tip, or book excerpt will get published and make you a household name on the Internet. 1.

10 Compelling Reasons Not to Downsize
Almost daily, newspapers, business magazines, radio and television carry reports of corporations, large and small, that are downsizing. Their attention is chiefly focused on the impact to the employees, as they are the ones most acutely experiencing the immediate effects.

7 Super Ways To Drum Up More Sales
1. Use subheads throughout your ad copy.

Advice for New Coaches: 10 Ways to Attract Your First Paying Client and Receive Endless Referrals
Many new coaches struggle to attract their first client. Often, these coaches are so desperate to prove themselves, they'll sacrifice their financial health to coach their first few clients for free.

10 Nifty Tips for Better Business Cards

odrnews.com ©