Handing out business cards is the easy part. Ensuring that a prospective client keeps your card is hard. One way to influence the outcome: design.

"We all want to think people will hang onto our cards because we're such wonderful people, but that's just not the case," says Chuck Green, a designer and founder of Ideabook [www.ideabook.com], a marketing and promotion site. Plenty are thrown away, tossed in a drawer, or otherwise lost and forgotten.

If you want your card to be the one saved—and used—it has to stand apart from the crowd. But not too far apart. "People expect their financial advisors to be fairly buttoned-up, serious folks," says Green. "You can be clever, but only so far as your potential clients are open to clever."

Ready to turn your ho-hum card into an effective marketing tool? Here are five design trends, and how to incorporate them:

Unusual Cuts
Steve Patterson, a graphic arts designer known as the "Cardeologist" for his extensive business card collection, has seen his share of unique cards. Some are cut to resemble bananas, pianos and light bulbs. Others are tiny; less than a third of the 3.5"x2" standard. "They really stand out quite a bit," he says.

But an unusual cut can make a card tough for a consumer to hang on to—small cards especially are easy to lose. The best cut adjustments are slight ones, say, rounded edges or a shape that's more parallelogram than rectangle.

Splashy Color
Plain black-on-white cards? Plainly boring, says Diana Ratliff, a designer and founder of Business Card Design [www.businesscarddesign.com]. "Adding color to a card is probably the most effective—and cheapest—way to make a difference," she notes.

Try a colored cardstock, or opt for multiple colors to bring your corporate logo to life. Just don't overdo it. (Hint: It'll be hard for potential clients to take you seriously if your pastel-hued card resembles that of the clown hired for their kids' birthday parties.)

Creative Cardstock
Your business card can be printed on just about any material, says Patterson—including glass, leather, wood, plastic and magnets. What makes these cards appealing is the way they feel, he says. Unfortunately, they're also pricey and unwieldy in bulk. (Just imagine lugging around a pocketful of metal cards.)

The solution: Keep it simple. You can bring a tactile element into your cards with embossed lettering, or textured linen or laid card finishes.

Including Everything
Email and website addresses? Check.

Office, fax, pager and cell phone numbers? Check, check.

Thanks to new technology, there are plenty of ways for potential clients to reach you. Just don't feel compelled to list them all on your card. "A card that's too busy won't get read," says Ratliff—especially if the type is so small it requires a magnifying glass.

Choose what to include based on how most clients reach you, and how you give out your cards. A client who grabbed your card at the local library, for example, might benefit from having your website address so he can read your bio before calling for an appointment. And you probably wouldn't want him to have your cell phone number.

Using Both Sides
Don't forget about the back of your business card, a veritable blank slate. It's a great way to work in one pertinent bit of information you couldn't fit on the front, says Green. You might print your business slogan, a brief description of your specialty, or even encourage consumers to visit your website.

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