Choice of business card and office stationery should be given top priority. In a world obsessed with image, and the attainment of wealth and success, it is essential your business looks good on paper. It is the first link between you, your trade / organization / company and prospective clients. You don't get a second chance to make a memorable first impression.

Your business card is a powerful advertising tool and an investment in your company's future. Advertising and make no mistake, your business card is an advert, can be traced back to the ancient city of Pompeii. In the 1700's archaeologists excavating the long buried metropolis, were astounded to find many of the crumbling walls covered with hand-painted adverts proclaiming the virtues of various taverns.

Prior to the invention of the printing press city merchants employed town criers to ' work the streets' extolling the benefits and services on offer. Your business card is your personal ' town crier', an effective and cost efficient way of advertising your business. The power your 8x5 centimetres of quality card has to convey the advantages of doing business with you, is astonishing. Be precise, try not to blur or fragment the professional image you wish to portray.Your choice and style of business card, letterhead and brochures should be a coordinated endorsement of the unique service you, your company and employees proffer.

Never leave home or office without your business cards. They are key to a productive networking strategy. Always have them to hand - always hand them out. Networking is a constituent feature of successful marketing.

An office furnished with state-of-the-art fittings and technology will look impressive but a total waste of money if you fail to ' communicate ' your business message to would-be customers. Bait them with an imaginative business card. Be precise, do not blur or fragment the link between you and potential business. Professional looking business cards incorporate essential key elements: distinctive logo, creative use of colour, easy to read text. In the cut and trust of business and budget restrictions you have to be head and shoulders above the rest. Set the standard, dare to be different. Your business card and office stationary are your building blocks to success. Buy the best you can afford. Save money by cutting out the middleman. Surf the Internet, a phenomenal choice of designs and print options are just a click away. A legion of specialists geared to guide you through the selection process at your fingertips.

Whether you are setting up a new company re-vamping and re-branding the same rules apply. Invest in creative, well designed business cards and stationery. Research the Internet for value for money deals.

Written for Goodprint Ltd, providors of instant online business cards and other business stationery.