Striking a Pose for your Business Card
Pictures may hold their value in words, but the jury seems to be divided when it comes to figuring if they are worth their weight in gold when it comes to business cards.
Deciding whether or not to include your picture on your next business card is therefore an important decision every serious entrepreneur will have to make. Luckily, there are guidelines that can help make the decision a little easier.
Knowing how your business card will be distributed and figuring out where they are most likely to end up is a good starting point. If you are going the mass-distribution route and are comfortable mailing out your business card to every last home in a 5-mile radius, a little face recognition probably couldn't hurt.
Unless your photo is giving away more than your bargained for.
Allow me to explain. We live in a very visual society rife with television and street ads. It's no secret that photos - much like flashy logos and other graphics - will go a long way in affecting how strangers and prospective clients respond to your business card. And more often than not, these will be reactions that go far deeper than commenting on the type of tie or makeup you wear for the picture.
It's important to note here that one of the biggest advantages to having a picture on a business card is that it will help to build instant trust. Pictures can be a great way for clients to become acquainted with you before they ever have a chance to meet. Judging by the proliferation of real estate business cards with photos, this rule seems to hold true.
But while photos on business cards foster name/face recognition and ultimately facilitate a person-to-person interaction, there are also certain disadvantages you need to consider as well; the most important being that photos will almost always lead to pre-judgments that may be irrevocable.
As human beings, it's in our nature to judge people based on things like gender, skin colour and age. Not only this, but if you happen to be wearing the wrong expression or shade of lipstick on the day of your photo shoot, you might just lose a prospective client because of it. And the worst part is you would never even know.
Because it is hard to tell how people will react to a picture, it's important to weigh all the advantages and disadvantages before smiling for the camera...it just might not be smiling back.
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