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Let me preface this tip with the fact that as a young person, I absolutely hated name tags and refused to wear them. Now I wear them daily and to all of my networking events.
An inexpensive but effective marking tool can be found in the form of a name badge. A good choice would be a name badge with your name, a ‘tag’ line and your business name. If you are not familiar with what a ‘tag’ line is, see below.
It is a phrase or catchword that becomes identified or associated with a person, group, product, business, etc., through repetition: Entertainers often develop tag lines, like Ted Lewis’s “Is everybody happy?”
If you are unemployed, simply wearing your name with a tag line on a name badge on a daily basis can attract people to talk to you and even open doors to jobs you might not find online or in the newspaper. Wear your name badge to networking events, to work, while shopping; I even have one customer who wears his to church. Several of my customers acquired new business opportunities recently while doing their personal shopping, because their ‘tag’ line intrigued another shopper to ask about their business.
Name badges come in a variety of colors, shapes. You can express yourself by select your favorite fonts and colors. Company logos can be incorporated onto badges as well. Call me if you don’t have a name badge for you or your company, and, I can help you get them printed so you can take advantage of this inexpensive marketing tip to grow your business.
There are other values to wearing a name badge and having other see it. One is called “branding”. (see article on Branding below.) Another good reason to wear a badge is that it puts other people at ease at functions you attend. We all have moments where we recognize someone, but the name just won’t come to us. If there’s a name badge, then there is no panic as you can see the person’s name and address them by it.
On a personal note, my husband laughed at me this weekend when I wore my name badge to the Home Show at the Sarasota Convention Center. Several people thought I was a vendor since I was wearing a tag. Others asked me about what I do and as a result, I will be doing some print work for several of the vendors that had booths at the Show. I had half a dozen of my customers exhibiting there and was able to see the marketing materials I had printed for them to use at the show. BenchMark had printed business cards, flyers, brochures and pens for our customers to hand out over the weekend. I enjoy seeing the final products and seeing them work for our customers.
I never thought of your perspective on name tags. I think my name tags were always so tacky. Do you have a website that has your options for name tags? Could I take your comic strip and send it to my co-workers? Perhaps I could start a new trend at work!
De
De, Name tags can be fun, colorful, tasteful, professional depending on the setting. I have them in all colors and different styles. I don’t have them on the website although I have some pictures of different styles I could post. I also have a notebook and two display boards that I can show customers. I can get several more notebooks full of badges and bring them to show you. I am doing high numbers of badges this past month or so. My fellow networking professionals have heard how much additional business is being gained because of a quality name badge with a tag line. Please let me know if you’d like to see some badge samples. Lyn
I wear my name tag all the time. You are so right! People ask about it!
Good for you, Debra! Isn’t it amazing something so inexpensive as a quality name badge can do for your business. It’s an awesome way to elicit others to start talking to you about what you do. Plus, you never know when you’ll meet that person that will help you take your business to the next level. Thanks for your input, and I’m glad your name tag works for you!