This past week I had business cards printed for the Big Brand System — the business I founded in 2010. They’ll help spread the word about my blog and business at the conferences and events I attend this year.

Business cards are some of the cheapest printed materials you can have made, and they can be marketing powerhouses if you handle them correctly. Here are five tips to help you make the most of your business card.

1. Include your benefits-oriented tagline

Your business card is a great place to include a compelling reason to do business with you. Tell people why they’d want to work with you over your competitors. Show them the benefits of doing business with your company.

Hopefully you’ve developed an effective benefits-oriented tagline that does this for you. If not, read this post about writing taglines for tips.

2. Give something valuable away for free

One of the best ways to establish a relationship with a prospect is to offer them valuable information they’ll find useful. This can be a free report, an e-course, or a series of tips sent by e-mail.

Your business card is a great place to make this offer. You’ll be taking that first step toward establishing an ongoing relationship when the recipient follows through and signs up for your offering.

3. Make it multi-dimensional

Business cards are cheap to print, so you should go beyond a one-sided standard card. At the very least, be sure to use the front and back of your cards. One side can be devoted to contact information, and the other can make your free offer.

You can also create folded business cards that open up into two panels. This will give you twice as much space to work in, and can become a “keeper” piece where you share information people will want to hold onto. For example, your two-sided card could include:

• A checklist for buying your type of product or service
• Tips for dealing with a bothersome problem your market suffers from
• Reference or contact information your market frequently needs

4. Print more than you think you need

The majority of your printing bill covers all the preparation work a printer has to do to get your job on press. Once the prep work is done, running more sheets through the machine isn’t a big deal.

That’s why it’s always surprisingly cheap to print twice or three times the number of cards you think you’ll need. It’s always better to have more than you think so you can hand them out liberally (see below).

5. Hand out extras

When handing out cards, always give the recipient one or two extras. Ask them to pass your name along to someone who could use your product or service.

The best new clients are the ones who have been referred by someone else. Your selling job is simpler because the person giving the referral does most of your sales work for you!

Make it easy by giving them the “tools” they need to make those referrals. Load them up with those gorgeous business cards and let your friends and colleagues help you get the word out.