Square Business Cards?

In years gone by when people stored business cards in Rolodex's or other card holders a size other than 2.25" x 3.75" would have been unthinkable. But now that most cards end up being digitized in some fashion I think a unique size can make sense. Nice work Mark Olson and/or Christine Scarinzi.

SpinCard Takes a Stab at Killing the Business Card

...Takes a Stab at Killing the Business Card - get it? See what I did there?...

Well anyway, they're at it again. Trying to kill the business card!

According to the founders, SpinCard is a mobile app that gives each user a six-character code, or spin. That way users can give a new contact at a networking event the code. The new contact enters in the code to Spincard app and it immediately shows a picture of the user, their contact info and links to their social media outlets. Users can then sort through contacts by flipping through head shots of users."

The fly in the ointment here is the same as most other options. 1) You have to have the app and critical mass is tough to achieve and 2) Your data is then in yet another database that you need to manage / access / worry about.

Unique business cards work because they are simple and allow the recipient to handle as they see fit - Add to their database, stick in a rolodex (youngsters - google it) or discretely toss it in the trash.

"Driving" Results in Auto Sales

Auto sales. A tough industry to be sure. (Are there any easy industries? Didn't think so.)

Like any industry it's easy to get caught in a rut. Doing the same things the same way because - well, that's what auto dealerships do. Right?

Mike Purvis and Kyle Battis of Strategic Automotive Marketing are the guys to call when you are ready to shake things up. They will bring you new concepts and industry best-practices that will jump start your sales.

They can help you improve your marketing efforts in all areas including: Mobile, Social Media, Pay-per-Click, SEO and more. These guys are marketing superheroes. (They have unique business cards to prove it!)

Business cards can't be killed - But it doesn't mean people won't try!

A company called TouchBase has introduced a business card who's contents can be instantly imported by your phone by waving the card in front of the screen. Pretty nifty.

In my day job I am involved with RFID technology and assumed it was that or Near Field Communication (NFC) but NO.  The TouchBase cards—which feel exactly like any other business card—are embedded with a distinct pattern of conductive ink that mimics a multi-touch gesture on a smartphone's display.

Which means - and here comes the catch - you have to get your business cards from TouchBase and I assume they must maintain a database of their card purchasers contact info.

Read the article from Gizmodo

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
Founder of ShowOffCards.com home of the world's most unique business cards

I lost my page one rank for "Unique Business Cards"

I lost my page one rank for "Unique Business Cards" - and I don't like it one bit.

When I started ShowOffCards.com in 2005 I knew I would never get a page one ranking for the very broad "business card" keyword. Too much competition. Plus, since ShowOffCards are WAY MORE Expensive (and WAY MORE effective) than regular business cards I decided to focus on the keyword "Unique Business Cards" since anyone searching on that phrase would - I assumed - be more likely to pay more for something unique.

Long story short, I focused on that and used all the legal tactics I knew to get ShowOffCards.com associated with Unique Business Cards. It worked. I climbed to page one and consistently was floating around spot one through three. Sweet. And the customers were rolling in.

Fast forward a couple of years, throw in a recession, a loss of personal motivation (I kind of got burned out on card design) and a site move and now ShowOffCards.com is now on page three, 7th listing down. And let's face it - page one is where I need to be.

So today, I embark on a personal challenge to move back up in the rankings. Stay tuned for updates.

Bing Search Engine Gets It Right

Well, at lest they got one search right. A search for "Unique Business Cards" turns up ShowOffCards.com in the number one (non-paid) slot.

Not sure I'd bet the farm on Bing unseating Google as the search engine king but it's fun to watch them try.

What are YOUR chances of being shot today?

Probability of me being shot today: Zero.

I for one am thankful that our military men and women are willing to do what they do. God bless them all.

Read my Thanksgiving post from last year and to do a little something to support our troops.

ChiefShowOfficer Test Drives MakeMeSuper.com

UPDATE: Come on Kodak! My movie doesn't work now (It did last night). Here I am trying to spread the love and your system fails me...The press release stated a 9/22 launch and I noticed that the site wasn't up until the evening of the 22nd (not a good omen) - and now on the 23rd my video isn't loading. So much for going viral with this one....

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Seeing as how ShowOffCards makes people into superhero's everyday, as I was flipping through a marketing magazine today the word "superhero" caught my eye. Turns out that one of the marketing wonks at Kodak decided to see if they could do an "elfyourself" knockoff and create some viral buzz around their online Kodak Gallery.

Pretty good idea actually. What with the whole "You used to put film in a camera Dad?" phenomenon, Kodak has a lot riding on digital pics, so developing a cool place to store them and do stuff with them is essential.

Of course I had to check out the MakeMeSuper.com site and see how they stack up in the superhero development category.

Not bad. Not a lot of personalization options (I would have opted for a pair of not-so-tight shorts) but it's quick and easy to use and the end product is silly and fun - and you can't have too much of that.

I will now leave you with my rendition of Super Scott - enjoy

The Power Of The Internet Reaches Poland

Guess what? ShowOffCards has been written up in Money magazine! Thanks Anna Błońska

Now do not let the fact that this is the Money magazine in Poland rain on your parade. Because hey - it's still Money magazine and apparently Money magazine is big in Poland since it has a google page rank of 6 which rocks in anybody's book.

Now I don't speak or read Polish. And based on my scan of the article I am not sure ShowOfCards was actually mentioned in the article but we did make the accompanying slide show.

So what's the big deal you ask?

Here is the take away. I darn near own the phrase "unique business cards". At ShowOffCards my keyword target is "unique business cards". We strive to BE unique business cards all day, every day. I have "unique business cards" in my blog posts, in the web site copy, include it as the "alt text' on images an on and on. (Heck I just snuck "unique business cards" in five times in this paragraph alone).

When Anna Blonska googled or Yahoo'd or MSN "unique business cards" it's a pretty good bet that we popped up and that is how she came to contact us.

Guess what. That same technique works with paying customers too.

So. What phrase do you own?
What phrase SHOULD you own?

I'ts a lot easier to let customers find you than pay to find them.

Show Off Cards Affiliate Program Goes Live

Make money selling the world's most unique business cards.
Here are the details on making millions* as a ShowOffCards affiliate.







*your results may vary by as much as -$999,950. But you can make a little "mad money".

The Price Is Right. Maybe The Value Is Wrong

According to Seth godin

"Your sales force and your customers may scream that you need to lower your price. It's not true. You need to increase your value. If people don't want to pay, it's because you're not delivering enough value for the money you're charging.

You're not selling a commodity unless you want to."

As usual, Well said Seth.

I sell business cards. You can get all the free business cards you want. I'm not sure what business you're in but I doubt that you have competitors who give their product away on an everyday basis.

I absolutely did not want to compete for customers looking for free business cards (a commodity). So I had to develop a product with some sort of added value. The value I give my customers is:

1) A business card that NO ONE ELSE HAS

2) A business card tells you more than my contact information. It tells you about me. Who I am.

3) A business card that is fun (is your card really fun?)

4) A business card that in and of it self can spark a conversation

5) A business card that screams "I am not your garden variety *your profession here*!"

6) A card, that because they cost a lot of money, offer exclusivity.

Now. If I can take business cards out of the commodity arena. Surely you can do something to make you, your product or your service less of a commodity.

A Unique business Card with 1/3 the Attitude

I bet you were starting to wonder where I've been. I know, I know. I've been majorly slacking on the blog but I have been busy.

While the Original Show Off Cards are a huge success and continue to grow in popularity, there are some people who aren't quite ready for that level of "attitude".

So, not being one to sit around I decided to cut the attitude by a third and developed Show Off Cards Lite. In short it is a vectorized portrait (shown left) of you which is used in full color on one side of your card and as a subtle background on the reverse with your contact info.

Basically, you get the "That's Cool" reaction (hey, you just got remembered!) but you're not "pushing the envelope" quite as aggressively.

Take a look. It's time you did SOMETHING different.

Regards,
Chief Show Officer
ShowOffCards.com