“A Ballsy, Brilliant Business Card Design” – that’s what the man said

I was a little bit surprised when the guy in the print shop instantly came over to me with my business cards, big happy head on him and said  “A ballsy, brilliant business card design“. I was a bit surprised, a tad relieved and felt pretty good about my new business card design.

Since this new website and WordPress Development/Social Media Management business has come to life (and, I’ll have you know, it is thankfully, quickly, picking up pace) I knew one of the things I needed to get sorted pronto were some super swanky business cards. I wanted to have a business card design that people would remember and so I enlisted the help of my numero uno designer – Elena.

I told her that I wanted the business card design to reflect this new site and, more importantly, reflect one of the aspects of social media that you’ll hear me harping on and on about – being the purple cow.

Business Card Design – Meet Purple Cow

The purple cow concept was created, or at least popularised, by a thought provoking guy called Seth Godin. In a nutshell, the purple cow concept is about being different. Nobody stops to look at regular moo cows because everyone has seen them before. What people haven’t seen however is a purple cow and you can bet that people would stop their cars to see a purple cow. In social media I think it’s important to try be a bit of a purple cow – do something different in all things you do and start doing things differently from your business card up. Below is a a short video of Godin talking at TED Talks about his purple cow concept – well worth the watch.

“Never take a photo without a banana again!”

My business card design for example –  and that photo of me with the banana – has stirred up a lot of chatter amongst my friends and family. No great shakes you might think however now a large portion of my family and friends know what I do (whereas it might have been the next Christmas meet up or similar before some of them would find out). My granny hated the idea, my father didn’t really “get it”,  some friends loved it and others suggested “never take a photo without a banana again” but ultimately the unusual business card design helped me get the word out.

I hope the word continues to get out.

Let me know your thoughts on what makes a good business card. Have you come across any examples of the purple cow concept that made you go “wow”? Enjoy the short video and comment below!