Information Your Commercial Construction Business Card Needs

January 28, 2016

When it comes to marketing your company, you want to represent your business in the best light possible. Your company’s brand needs to look professional on all levels, because you want others to know how awesome of a kick-butt job you do! That can include huge advertisements like billboards and TV commercials, and even the small materials like business cards.

Information Commercial Construction Business Cards Should Have on Them:

1. Contact Information

Duh. How else do you expect them to get ahold of you? Your contact information includes your:

Name

Of course, you need your name. First and last will do just fine!

Phone Number

But which phone number- office or cell? That is up to you. How do you want clients to contact you? I would suggest putting your office number on your business card. As for cell phone numbers, keep in mind that they will actually call you. If you’re in a sales position, or a position that you talk to clients and potential clients often, you may consider putting your cell phone number on the card. Regardless, if you don’t want people to have your personal cell phone number, don’t put it on there. If there are a select few you want to have your cell phone number, you can write it on there for them.

Address

Unless you want crazy stalkers showing up at your house, I do not mean your home address. The office address is what we’re going for here. People need to know where to find you in case they want to stop by. If your business’ home base IS your home, you may want to include a P.O. Box. The same is true if you want people to send snail mail to a P.O. Box, instead of to your office, make sure to make that clear on the card.

Email Address

Since email is the go-to form of communication in the business world, you want to include this important piece of information on your business card. In 2013, business email accounts had a total of 929 million mailboxes. That’s expected to be 1.1 billion by the end of 2017, according to Radicati.

Website URL

Considering you’re getting this information from a web design company, I have really high hopes that this one is a no-brainer. We worked incredibly hard to produce a website that proves your company is awesome, so show that bad boy off to your clients. Plus, they’ll be able to find everything they need to know about your business there, including your company’s services and products (which is a major).

Job Title

Whenever I receive a business card, I always look to see the position that person holds in their company. It gives whomever you’re talking to an explanation as to what you do.

Here’s an idea!

Consider a general business card. This card can come from any employee. For example, if you have a lot of workers who don’t usually have customer interaction, but may from time to time, you should consider getting a general company business card. This card won’t have a specific name on it, but it will still have the company’s name, address, office phone number, website, etc. If you decide to make one of these, make sure to leave an empty space somewhere for the workers using them to put their personal contact information when handing it out.

2. Your Company’s Name

People want to know what company you’re working for…There are too many snarky comments to make here, so I will just go to the next item.

3. Logo

Your logo is a graphic mark, emblem or symbol used to represent your company. People should be able to recognize your company just by looking at the logo. Just like your company’s name, you logo is your company’s identity, so use it! In the case that you don’t have a logo, go ahead and skip this item. If you’re in need of a logo, or if you are thinking about creating a new one, check out our Logo Planning Kit E-Book.

4. Tagline

I’m lovin’ it. Yes, McDonald’s. We all know that one! Their tagline is recognized by almost everyone living in a first world country. If you have a tagline, show it off! Make people recognize your company by your creative hook. Our tagline is “Delivering results with purpose and pride.” Our clients know that when they come to us they’re going to “get their pride on.”

5. Picture

Depending upon your company, you may have a picture to put on your business card (I’m not talking about your logo). This picture may be a finished product you’re really proud of. If you’re a bridge building company, you may want to show off that you built the Golden Gate Bridge (only if you actually did, of course).

Another type of picture considered for a business card would be a portrait of you. This is done a lot in the real estate industry. Consider adding a photo of yourself if you are in a sales position, because you want people to recognize you. Now, if you’re a general brick-layer in the company, a portrait may not be necessary.

Does my business card need to be double-sided?

That answer all depends on your company, and what you want to have on your business card. If you have a lot of information you want to put on your card, plus a picture of a completed project, I would consider a double-sided business card.

Some people worry about the price of the double-sided business card. Depending upon the printer you decide to use, it may not be expensive at all. Some printers do double-sided cards for the same price as a single-sided card.

If you’re considering making a general company business card, consider making yours only one-sided. This  leaves room for individual workers to put their contact information on the opposite side.

Other things to consider:

Professional Finish

One professional finish we often use is a gloss finish. We all know how dirty the construction industry can be. Whenever I get inside my father’s work truck, I am blown away by how much dust can pile up in a matter of a day, let alone a week. I practically need my inhaler just to ride in it. That’s something to consider when creating your business cards.

If you know you’re going to leave your cards in the truck, put a gloss finish on them. Then you can just wipe the dust right off on your jeans and feel confident handing out a clean, professional business card to potential clients.

There is one downside about having a gloss finish though- you can’t write on them with ink pen. Sharpie markers are the only thing you can write on gloss finish with. So, if you know you write on your business cards often, don’t get a gloss finish unless you always have a Sharpie on hand. You can do a gloss front and matte back on your cards, allowing you to make a quick note on the back while keeping the front shiny and clean.

If you decide that you don’t want a gloss finish because of the reason above, it’s a good idea to just keep your business cards in a Ziplock bag. That way they can stay clean in your truck. Just don’t forget to zip the bag back up after every time you open it!

Color

You want people to be able to read what’s on your card. If you have a light background, you’ll want dark colored text. If you have a dark background, light text is in order. Think opposites. Same goes for if you plan on writing on your cards; keep a light background so your ink pen or Sharpie will show up.

You’re ready for business!

Now that you know what your commercial construction business card needs on it, don’t be afraid to shoot us a call for an estimate on designing one for you! We can make sure your brand is consistent throughout all of your marketing materials, including your website. Keep an eye out for more upcoming posts about what other commercial construction marketing materials should have on them!