Guide · updated
What to put on a business card
Put six things on the front: your name, your title, your company, one phone number, one email address, and your website. Everything else (a tagline, social handles, a QR code) goes on the back. A card with fewer lines gets read; a card with twelve lines gets filed.
The front
- Name, the largest text on the card. If you go by a nickname, use it; the card is for the person you just met.
- Title, in plain words. "Owner" beats "Principal Experience Architect."
- Company, with the logo if you have one. Cardie will generate a simple mark if you don't.
- One phone number, the one you answer. A second line is fine if an office line really matters.
- One email. If the address is long, it is worth shortening it on the domain side rather than the card side.
- Website, without https:// or www.
The back
Logo, a tagline if you have one that means something, and the website again. If you add a QR code, the back is where it belongs; a QR on the front competes with your name. See QR code on a business card.
Leave off
- A street address, unless customers visit. It dates the card and takes two lines.
- Fax numbers and social handles nobody will type. Put them on your digital card instead.
- A photo on a standard card. It reads as a realtor convention and rarely prints well at that size; a digital card handles photos properly.
- More than one typeface or more than one accent color.
Credentials and license numbers
Realtors, contractors, nurses and financial advisors often must show a license number. Put it after the title ("Realtor · DRE 02145678") so it is on the card without being the first thing anyone reads. Cardie's realtor and contractor templates are set up for this.