I’ve been meaning to do this for ages and finally got around to it: a business card I can hand out to unsuspecting hikers on the trail.
The tagline at the bottom says “news, links and lore for hikers in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond.” Any suggestions for a sexier tag are welcome.
Lemme know what you think.
Tom, a business card for a blogger is a great idea, especially for those moments on the trail. Being that you author the world’s *premier* hiking blog, you should say so on the card, because that will be the hook that gets ’em punching up your URL.
You may also find that attending events in which outdoor gear is promoted could garner you excellent discounts when you hand out the card – but I don’t know for sure; I’ve not tried it with the hiking side of my particular equation. I can tell you that I sure don’t mind those 30% industry discounts when I flash my cards at tasting rooms and wine events.
winehiker wrote: “Being that you author the world’s *premier* hiking blog, you should say so on the card.”
Not that I don’t think Tom isn’t a talented blogger, but blatant self-promotion of that sort is an instant turn-off enough to make me want to ignore a person entirely.
How about: “Dig your heels into our news, links and lore!”
Difference and differentiation: and thus the world goes ’round.
Like it. Also like Steve’s tagline. Not sure that you need to have the URL as big as the title .. it seems like you’re repeating yourself.
Cards work well for me. Over the last couple of months I’ve probably given away around 20 or so, though not that many to folks on the trail because I haven’t wanted to interrupt them.
I used Moo rather than a business card (100 for $20), partly because I’m too lazy to research a good printers and partly because I like the different, smaller size.
Here it is:
http://flickr.com/photos/yorkie/2286698316/
On the back has my name, URL and “The best trails of Northern California. Served up with generous portions of steaming hot reviews, maps, photography and GPS downloads. All for free.”
If a fellow hiker out on the trail handed me a business card related to more hiking info I would definately check it out… regardsless of what the tagline said.
-SS
A hiking card? Waaaaay to heavy to be carrying around ; )
I admit I have trepidation about the idea of actually showing it to somebody. Telling somebody you have a blog is only slightly better than telling them you have a terminal disease.
Tom wrote: “Telling somebody you have a blog is only slightly better than telling them you have a terminal disease.”
Tom, you’re spending too much time around newspaper folk. I get the same thing around “serious” radio professionals. On the other hand, they seem to be all eager to figure why this podcasting thing is stealing their audiences. For an antidote, read some Jeff Jarvis.
You need a card, at least. But just don’t make it too hyper-promotional.
MANGAN
Have Boots Will Travel
http://www.twoheeldrive.com
I like it. It’s great that you’ve taken the hiking boots pic, the title and strap line of the blog pretty much straight off. That means that when people follow the URL on the card, they know right off the bat that they’re in the right place. Score one for graphic identity.
Steve Sergeant: Agreed. Most people are put off by hype. Besides, everybody says “premier” or “leading”. If you make the field small enough everybody is leading in their field. It doesn’t say anything.
Stuart: Good point about the URL being a bit on the big side. Still, since it’s different than the title, (missing the hyphen) it’s important that it’s not too obscure.
About the tag line, I’m not so sure about the “lore” bit. It doesn’t draw me in. What keeps me coming back is the reviews and photos of specific places in the Bay Area. Also, that a blog contains links is almost self-evident. Perhaps “Hiking news, trail reviews and photos from the San Francisco Bay Area”?
I’d skip the “and beyond” part of the sentence. That you sometimes venture outside the Bay Area isn’t important enough to put on the business card. A business card is such a small space, every word has to do its bit or get cut.
Thanks for all your suggestions, folks. Now I have to get busy and try to implement them.