Photos on business cards--yay or nay?

[raeoflyte]

I have worked on the support side of the mortgage business for 10 years and have finally taken the plunge to get licensed and start originating. Wish me luck!

So my first question for the good people of YM is what do you think of photos on business cards? Should I spend the money to get a headshot from the get-go or hold off until I have money coming in and then reorder business cards with them? I always think photos are kind of cheesy, but it is rare to see one for loan officers or realtors without them.

[milee]

I'm with you on the feeling that the vast majority of those cards with pictures are cheesy.

It probably comes down to how attractive you are. If you're a stunner, it might bring in some business. Studies have shown that people automatically assume all sorts of positive things about attractive people.

On the other hand, if you don't photograph well or if you're average or funny looking, I think it probably isn't a great idea.

And for the love of all that is holy, please don't do one of those pictures with you and your foo foo dogs dressed up in a sweater.

[Regis]

If you're going to be meeting in person with those who you would be giving a business card, I wouldn't put my picture on it.

If you're cold-calling and mailing information with your card and don't intend to meet in person, I would put it on.

People like dealing with others where they can put a face with a name.

And personally, I take the business card information and put it in my contact list. The actual business card is then thrown in the round file.

[bean29]

And personally, I take the business card information and put it in my contact list. The actual business card is then thrown in the round file

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I am always amused when I meet the person and realize the photo is at least 10 years old.#

[raeoflyte]

I'll do some in person visits to real estate offices, but realistically lots of people work from home, so most things will be over the phone and email.

Our family photographer can make me look great--which is probably why she is so expensive! ;D I think I'll skip the photo 'deal' that they are running right now and just wait until our next session with our photographer and ask her to include a couple business shots for me.

I love to make fun of people's pictures. Guess now I'll get to enjoy the karma of that coming back to bite me.

[Deleted]

There was a real estate auction by my house yesterday. One of the realtors pulled up in a car with her photo on the door. That seemed redundant with her actually sitting in the driver's seat.

Plus, she kind of violated milee's funny looking rule.

[happyhoix]

Hmm, in my business it's rare to see one with a picture on it. There is one business associate who gave me one with his picture on it, and he looks like he's posing for a mug shot. So I'm not impressed with it, but then I'm not in real estate, so what do I know.

[CarolinaKat]

Most RE Agents in this area put a head-shot on their buisness cards, as well as flyers. My aunt, who was a very competitive agent until she 'semi-retired' said that the pictures help them feel like you're just not some evil corperation trying to take their money, but a person who will work with you. Also she did TONS of cold calls/mailings and made SO MANY contacts that way that it was helpful to be a 'familiar face'. If someone wanted to sell something, they knew her name/face.

In my industry, NO ONE does the head-shots on business cards.

[tskeeter]

rae, real estate seems to be the only industry where photos on business cards is a common practice.

You can expect photo business cards to be expensive. Printers hate them because real estate agents seem to think that the printer should be able to take a cheap, crappy photo and make them look like a beauty queen. Because of this, Dad used to about double his markup on photo business cards. He said the additional markup made it worth his time to deal with cheap real estate agents that wanted fancy business cards 250 at a time, and then complained about the type style they had chosen, how their photo reproduced, that they didn't like how the colors of ink they had chosen looked when they came together on the card, etc.

If you want to control the cost of your business cards, stick with black, basic blue, or red ink. Printers always have black ink on a press, and most run blue and red one day a week. Any other color will cost you for the pressman's time to clean the press to change it over to the color you want, then a second cleaning to change the color back. You'll also pay for the time to mix any ink that isn't readily available in the color you chose. Stick with one color on the card. Each color is printed separately. If you get a three color card, you'll pay for three passes through the press. And each color of ink must dry between passes through the press. You'll pay for the additional handling associated with three drying steps rather than one. And live with one of your printer's standard card stocks. If you insist on a special color of card stock, a special finish, etc., your printer will have to place a special order, and may have to make a special trip to a different paper supplier to get the card stock you want. And your printer will have to buy as much stock as comes in a standard size package, not just what is required to printer your order. The extra running around, hassle, and excess materials will all cost you a bit more.

[Sum Dum Gai]

Anything you can do to set yourself apart from the rest of the herd.

In real estate that would mean not putting your photo on your business card. It seems like everybody in that industry does it.

[raeoflyte]

Thanks Iggy! Some moments I wonder what have I done, and other times I wonder why I waited so long. ;D

Tskeeter--great info! I think my company only allows us to order from 1 company--and now I know why our business cards are only in blue. ;D I'll check out what the options are.

[Deleted]

Tskeeter is describing traditional, embossed cards. I don't think you have that issue with digital printing.

[Formerly SK]

There's a house for sale on my street and the realtor's pic is on the for sale sign in the yard. It takes up about half the sign. And it isn't even a nice photo - the girl looks about 22 and is wearing a tank top and is probably a size 18 with long stringy hair. It's bad enough to put your pic on the sign, but THAT'S the look you went for when you did professional pics?

Course, I checked out the MLS pics of the house and they are horrible (complete with plugged-in vacuum in the middle of the living room pic - really??? You didn't think to put it away before you took the picture?).

[tskeeter]

Apr 30, 2012 18:31:27 GMT -5 @craftysarah said:

Tskeeter is describing traditional, embossed cards. I don't think you have that issue with digital printing.

I'm sure that you are correct, Crafty. Digital printing can reduce the extent to which multicolor is an issue. But it is still true that additional complexity adds to the cost, sometimes dramatically. And people often don't understand how much what they dream up adds to the complexity.

[2kids10horses]

Realtor business cards are very inexpensive. There are lots of printers who have all the logos and "styles", and they expect to have photos.

Assuming you are with a "name brand" mortgage company, you should have lots of options. Also amazing they can do them almost overnight.

I had my head shot done at Walmart. They're geared up to do digital photos for business cards.

You will also need a "name badge" to wear on your business suit. You wear this anytime you are out in public.

The key to success in the retail real estate business is name recognition. "Who ya gonna call?" They call someone they know. The average person doesn't have any way to judge whether you are a good REALTOR or mortgage broker or not. They will call you if you make it easy for them to remember you.

Your best source will be to market yourself to REALTORs. You prepare flyers for Listing Agents to put in homes detailing the financing available.

Remember, that as a mortgage broker salesperson, you are going to be asking people for their most intimate financial information. You HAVE to look, act, and be TRUSTWORTHY. If you are afraid of putting your face on your business card, when everyone else does, it will say to the borrower that you are hiding something. Not good.

You have no choice. You HAVE to have picture cards.

And a name badge, too.

[raeoflyte]

Thanks 2kids10horses! Right now I am preparing my list of real estate offices that I am going to market myself too. I like the financing flyers idea and I'll offer that right away in my intros.

My plan right now is to offer CE for real estate agents for some of their tricky listings like condos and fix and flips. As I have some more money coming in, I was thinking also to sponsor sales meetings for smaller offices, and talk to the agents for just 10 minutes or so about issues that they are seeing--and how we can handle that! Hopefully then they will start to feel comfortable to send some buyers my way.

[Deleted]

In my area Realtors & Mortgage Brokers both put photos on business cards.

Do yourself a favor and get a professional head shot if you are going to do that. It's part of your brand, don't treat it shabbily. My DD is a photographer, but I still pay her to do my headshots for LinkedIn and stuff like that. I want the pro level editing if I am putting myself out there.