Perhaps you think a logo is unnecessary because you already have a business card. Maybe you already have a logo, and you’ve strategically made it occupy more than 90% of the space on your business card. Either way, by the time you’ve finished reading, I will hopefully have convinced you that your business card is not your logo, regardless of which camp you’re in.

1. Let’s deal with you logomaniacs first. Remember that a business card has a practical use. It’s meant to convey information to potential customers, business partners, and open up opportunities. Logos are important but it should not be so large that you have to abbreviate your name and can’t quite fit your contact information on it.
2. A lot of you who just put a giant logo on your business card will use the “B-word” (branding) to justify your logomania. A logo is not a brand, but it is a crucial part of your branding strategy. But we’ll get to branding in a moment.
3. Now for you logophobics: An actual logo makes your own business card much more memorable. Trust me, your plain business card with simple text might look nice, but it’s not memorable. If you were at a major conference, your business card wasn’t the first – or the last – to fall into their hands. A tasteful logo will make your business card stand out.
4. If you ever intend to get into advertising your services in print, online, or even on television, you can’t just throw up your business card. You can’t hang your business card outside your storefront. Having a logo and consistently using it on all your promotional materials will get people to associate it with your business. You can’t do that with a business card.
5. The B-word. A business card is not a brand. The point of having a logo is to help build your brand to potential customers. To illustrate how important branding is, a few years ago, there was a leaked design brief on the new Pepsi logo. They paid several hundred million dollars to a branding company and received a 27-page document outlining why this new logo design would be good for Pepsi. Logos are serious business. This is a beyond extreme example, but it illustrates that branding is important and real companies treat it as such. A logo is the keystone in your branding strategy, but branding is much more than just a logo.

Remember: Logos are meant to be put on business cards, but business cards are not meant to be logos.