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Even in today's world of the Internet, cell phones, iPods and all the other wonderful ways to communicate electronically, nothing forms a bond like meeting face to face. After you've met someone, a great way to be remembered is with a business card.

Carry your cards with you everywhere. I never leave the house without them. I've bumped into people while hiking way out in the wilderness and handed over a card that turned into a job. I've also been to networking events where people didn't have business cards. This wound up being a waste of their time and money.

Your business card is the most important piece of marketing and promotional material you will ever use. This little piece of paper will tell people who you are, what you do and how to contact you. It is the most common item people will have from your business and it must look professional and list every possible way that you can be contacted.

I would suggest that you start out printing your own business cards. This will let you make changes to layout and information without needing to have new cards printed at a print shop. You can use one of the many programs that will design business cards. While I'm no big fan of Microsoft, I do use their Publisher '97 program to create my cards. Then, after you work out all the bugs in your card, you can have them printed up professionally.

If you want a more professional looking card without spending a lot of money, use one of the many online business card printing sites. You can get just 250, and they can be in color and will be on a good heavy paper stock.

If you have a logo for your business, be sure to include it on your card, and all of your other promotional material. It will help to make your business more easily recognizable.

Your business cards should have all the following:

• Precision cut edges. If you are printing them up yourself, buy microperforated stock so no little nubs are visible on the edges of the card.
• Be highly legible.
• If you have a company logo, it should be on your card if it is simple enough to be recognizable.
• Clearly indicate what it is that you do.
• Include your address, phone number, e-mail, website address, FAX number and all other contact information.
• Don't print anything on the back of your card. If you need more space use a fold-over card. That's because almost no one looks at the back of a business card. You can write a note on the back of the card to make it more personal to someone you've just met. It's okay to include a map on the back if your business is a little hard to find.
• It should be standard business card size (2" x 3.5") so that it fits into a business card folder and Rolodex.
• It should be very different from all your competitor's cards so it stands out.

If you have no design skills, or software that will let you design business cards, then hire a professional graphic artist. It's well worth the expense to have a professional looking card that will shine a positive light on your company.

Remember that the main goal of your business card isn't to look pretty or high tech, but to allow people to easily and quickly contact you.