Everyone will agree that business cards are a necessity in today's business, but how many of us realize that our business cards are more than just a source of information, but also a form of advertising?

Most business cards tend to get relegated to drawers, boxes, or card folders, at least when they're not eventually cleaned out of wallets and round-filed to the garbage disposal. The key to creating successful, useful business cards is not only to create advertisements that catch people's attention, but also to have business cards that people are going to remember and that they are going to keep.

People have tried almost every trick possible in order to keep and maintain people's attention. Whether it was a photo business card, or something made on metal, plastic, lexan, acrylic, or some other material, businessmen have strived to create a business card to captures the client's interest. But no matter how novel your business card idea might be, if your product or service doesn't meet up to the expectations of the client, it doesn't matter if your business card can sing, it's going to end up in the same waste basket as the rest.

People have also tried creating business cards in different shapes and sizes, hoping to have their cards stand out above the others, but these tend to annoy clients more than anything, and really, the best hope of a non-standard business card is probably in its effectiveness in being drawn from a barrel for a free business lunch.

One interesting variation on the business card is the business card magnet, which comes in the same size and shape as a regular business card (along with the same contact information), but it has one advantage over its standard printed cousins--this business card actually has a useful purpose. Promotional business card magnets offer a unique quality that allows these cards to be slapped on to fridges and filing cabinets, allowing them to be seen by more than one person, something which you can't expect from a regular business card.

Business card magnets can be placed in visible locations (hopefully not next to your stack of diskettes), giving greater visibility than can ever be expected from a traditional business card, and they have a purpose (ie. securing your latest press release). When your business cards become promotional items, you're giving yourself one more advantage over your competitors, killing two birds with one magnetic stone.