We shouldn’t even have to say this but as an agent YOU NEED BUSINESS CARDS. Not only do you need them, but you need to make them creative and unique. Try and think outside the box when designing your business card.

Elements to include:

Your Picture: When farming and networking, people are more likely to recognize your face than your name, so you definitely want a picture on your card. But PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not put a picture that was taken a month ago at a friend’s birthday party. Random snapshots are totally unprofessional and don’t inspire a whole lot of confidence. You don’t necessarily need to get a photographer to take your picture, but dress up nicely, find a nice, relatively neutral background, and have someone snap a few shots with a digital camera. Use a photo editing software package such as Adobe PhotoShop to touch up any rough edges (also great to tweak property pictures a bit) and you should have yourself a nice, professional-looking picture for your business cards, without having to pay a dime.

Your Contact Information: This should be pretty self explanatory – always include your name, phone numbers, e-mail and website address on any marketing piece you create.

A Reason to Call: Think of a sentence or two blurb about what you can really do for your clients. If you work closely with a loan officer (and by now we hope you do!), you can mention on your business card that you can assist with financing, such as recommendations on who to use, getting pre-approved, etc. Just be careful on your choice of wording, you don’t want to make it sound as though you actually DO loan services. Think of the services you offer and even if most other real estate agents offer them as well, think up a new and creative way to present these services on your business cards. It really just comes down to thinking outside the box.

A Reason to Keep It: Some people will trash your business card right away. It happens, and it’s okay. But you can think up a marketing idea or two to add to your card that will make it more likely for people to actually keep it. For example, you can use one side of your business card as a coupon. Hook up with a local business or two in your area, maybe a furniture store, or the local coffee shop. Talk to them about offering discounted coupons to their establishments ($75 off a piece of furniture worth $500 or more) and then request that the store get the person’s name when they trade in their coupon/business card. You then collect the names from the store, call the consumers to let them know you’re sending them another card/coupon and open the discussion to ask if they or anyone they know have any real estate needs. Or think about local hot spots in your area and see if you can work out a coupon deal with them. Since you’re sending so much business their way, you might as well try and negotiate a full page ad on their counter top as well. It certainly couldn’t hurt.

Business cards are definitely a must for any professional in real estate. Since you only have a small space to include a lot of information, you need to say what you want to say in as few words as possible. Come up with at least 2 possible designs for your card and then test them out on the people you know. The one that gets the best response should be the one you get printed and start sending out. As always, each time you send out business cards, be sure to ask people if they or someone they know has a real estate need.