Photo Business Cards - Are They Right for You?

The use of photo business cards is a tactic professionals employ in a number of industries. If you’re considering printing a photo on your next batch of business cards, it’s wise to consider all the ways it could hurt your business, in addition to helping the business. As long as the benefits outweigh the drawbacks, a photo business card could be a way to set your company apart from the competition.

Benefits of Photo Business Cards

Photo business cards are most popular in industries where having a personal relationship with your clients is everything. Common professions that print a photo on business cards may include:

• Agents
• Attorneys
• Hairstylists
• Insurance agents
• Interior designers
• Investment representatives
• Marketing professionals
• Mortgage lenders
• Real estate agents
• Title company professionals
• Trust officers.

For these professions, using photo business cards helps build facial recognition and name recognition with clients. It’s also a way to gain the trust of new clients. Even though it may be a first meeting, clients can feel as if they already know you because they’ve seen your picture when they got your business card.

Printing photos on your business cards is also a way to add color and interest to the basic contact information. If the card stands out from your competition, prospective clients may call you first.

Disadvantages of Photo Business Cards

A primary reason some professionals don’t like photo business cards is the cost. Not only is the printing of color cards more expensive, you must also pay for professional photography sessions to get a suitable headshot. While the photography is an investment because you can reuse the images on multiple batches of cards or business literature, the increased printing cost will be an ongoing expense.

Photo business cards can also give customers the wrong impression of your business if you aren’t careful. Hairstyles and fashion change over time, so it can harm your business to use a card with an outdated photo of you. Maybe you got a bargain on the printing costs and ordered thousands of cards at once, but customers can assume you don’t go through very many business cards because you don’t do much business. In most cases, this is the last impression you wish to give.

Other Options for Photo Business Cards

Photo business cards don’t have to include your picture. For some companies, printing images of happy people shaking hands, smiling kids in a dental chair or any other relevant images can offer better results than a headshot. The primary difference with this option is that you may have to pay actors, obtain model release forms or purchase stock photography to use for the business card printing.