Best Hubris

Yesterday, I was handed a business card. This isn’t unusual. In fact, I get them all the time, which may be what made this one stand out so much. It was laminated. At first, I thought, “What a great idea!” After all, getting your business card to stand out is a major goal of any entrepreneur. But, as always, it is important to look at all the angles.

What Do Your Clients Want

Again, standing out is your goal, but what do your clients or prospective clients want? Just because you are an Internet savvy technology hound who keeps all your contact information in a high-tech contact management system, doesn’t mean everyone is. Believe it or not, there are still a lot of businessmen and businesswomen out there who are old school. They keep their business cards in something you may of heard of called a Rolodex. The standard Rolodex punch probably has enough umpph to get through a laminated card, but I’m not certain everyone would try, and unlike you, they don’t want your card sticking out like a sore thumb when they go flipping through. A different color, or a bright graphic is fine, but a plastic card is like those stupid ads in magazines that keep you from flipping through. If it’s irritating enough, they’ll yank it and toss it.

One person I talked to said they didn’t care about these kind of people. After all, if they weren’t more savvy than that, he didn’t want their business. Um…Hello? If you were going to bet your house against the age of a random senior manager at a Fortune 1000 company, would you bet over 45 or under? Me, too. Young and hip is cool, but older still has more of the power.

What about your tech savvy clients? Does your thick laminated card fit through the business card scanner they use? Does it feed properly? Does it scan, or does the light get reflected?

Then, there are those who are power users of business cards, like to keep them in business card holders. First, in a small one in their pocket, and then in some sort of binder. Your laminated card might be just big enough not to fit, or to make the premium leather holder they spend a pretty penny on not close properly. So, they throw it in a bag or briefcase where it gets lost forever.

Finally, you have people like me. I like to jot a note down on a business card sometimes. It might just be a reminder of who they are, or where I met them. Sometimes, it’s even more important, maybe the name of the product I should be looking at, or a price, or a local supplier. Either way, if I can’t quickly write it on the business card, then, I’ll probably just try and remember. I don’t want to take those odds.

How To Stand Out Good

Having the business card stand out is most definitely a good goal, but there are better ways to do it. Color is a great way. You can write, scan, file, on cards of most any color. Slightly nicer paper or embossing are good ideas too. Also, take advantage of all that space on the back. A quick tip, or link to a web site, or something else your clients will find useful can all improve the common business card.

For Mr. Laminated, I remember the card, so good job. The only problem is, I don’t think I have it around here anymore…

I was thinking, for some reason, this morning about the movie Catch Me If You Can, with Leonardo Di Caprio and Tom Hanks. In the movie, Leonardo’s character impersonates a lawyer. In order to do so he has to pass the state bar exam. This is the only thing that Tom Hanks’ character can’t figure out. Leo finally tells him that he just studied for two weeks and passed. My wife is a lawyer and is dubious of that claim.

Be that as it may, I have always been able to learn things from books. I learn them so well, that I can retain most of it and can therefore pass tests pretty well too. I got a certification in Netware back in the day, having never touched the product (just read the study book). I also got a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) certification without taking any of the classes. More recently, I was able to get my Certified Financial Planner (CFP) certification by just taking the “accelerated” courses my firm offered. The “regular” course of study is over 3 years and the accelerated took just 12 months. The catch is that I quit before we finished, so I did the last 3 classes on my own. Although I signed up for online training I never did anything but read the books they sent me and do the practice questions. I passed the first time out. The failure rate on that test is something like 45% and over 50% for first timers, so it’s nothing to sneeze at.

Business Coaching & Business Consulting, but no paper skills

The reason this is intriguing to me is that we offer business and management consulting and coaching. What makes us different is that our techniques and procedures are very much grounded in real world tangible every day skills whereas most others offering similar services seem to work with much more “soft” skills. For example, a manager getting the advantage of our coaching gets real tips on how to manage his people. After all, this is what being a manager is all about. When I say “real tips,” I mean actual language that can be used to diffuse a situation or actual disciplinary actions that should be taken and so on. Others ofter “team building” or “goal setting.” Don’t get me wrong, we do that too, but that is where we start, not where we end.

So, what is the deal with the movie? Despite the experience and skills that we bring to the table, and the much more useful and sought after techniques we use, we don’t necessarily have the kinds of things that certain people look for on paper. For example, my experience comes from consulting and contracting in dozens of companies and seeing many management styles and many failed business strategies. But, my degree is in Biochemistry, and my only job title that matches the service is my current one. (I’ve done plenty of this type of thing before, but my title was always something more technical.) So, to certain people (usually those who have never met us, but who have to sign off on the request) it doesn’t look like we have the proper stature. Enter the CPA.

CPA = Big Paper Skills

The CPA exam is a multi-part exam which has multiple study guides availible for it. I don’t know everything, but I know plenty about business, math, taxes, and so on. I’m not saying I already know everything, but I do have a very firm grounding in the concepts. Using the aforementioned learning from reading skill, I’m confident I can pass the CPA exams and then put on that piece of paper that I have not only real world experience, but also that I am a Certified Public Accountant. I’ve got some research to do, but hopefully this is something I can make happen in between my four businesses, the book I want to write, the products I want to market, and …

You can remember a lot of firsts in your life: the first time you rode a bike, the first time you kissed a girl/boy, the first time you got arrested. The list could go on. Until very recently however, I had forgotten my first business. Maybe it is because it was so short lived and ended with out anything to show for it. You see, I was once on the cutting edge of the Internet. It’s true. I started using the Internet in college when there was no such thing as a browser. Back then, Internet meant Unix command line, and it meant anonymous FTP. Finding something out there was a combination of luck and networking.

I used the first browser on Windows when you had to install Winsock (the TCP/IP protocol) manually because TCP/IP didn’t come with Windows, all you got was NetBEUI (known throughout the computer world as NetKablooey).

Anyway, my first business was a startup to design and implement web pages for local businesses. How good of timing was it? Well, let’s just say it was 1997 and I had to explain to most people what the heck the Internet was and why in the world they would even care. Most people I talked to couldn’t get it. “So it’s like TV?” (If you ever get bored, read the first Internet cases to come before the Supreme Court and laugh your butt off at their questions as they try and understand it.) So, I was there perfectly poised to be on the front edge of the Internet boom. Just a small business with 50 clients would have been snatched up for a $1 million. So what happened? Well, I never got going. You see, selling web sites is no different than selling anything else. You have to talk to the people you want to sell to. I had one business where I had an “in” because I knew a guy working with them. I spent a week building up my courage and practicing what I would say. Every time I looked at the phone I got major butterflies in my stomach. When I finally called and they didn’t say “YES! That would be AMAZING!” on the first call, I hung up and never called back. I never called anyone else either.

The point of this is simple. If you are going to go into business you have to be able to sell. These days, I need never pick up the phone. I can do fine just responding to posts and ads, and so on. But, to be big, to make the big bucks I’ve always dreamed of will take a little bit more. Frankly, I’m still not ready for mass phone selling. I cold called my way through 5 years as a professional financial planner, and I hated every second of it. Still, this time will be different because I love what I do and I am determined to succeed. My plan? Become an expert recognized in the fields I want to work in. How? By writing and publishing insightful, original, and useful advice and commentary. That is what Best Hubris is all about.

What’s your plan for marketing success in your business?

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