In our line of work (construction and subcontracting), it is generally about word of mouth. Reviews (via Google, for example) are simply a derivative of that. For our business, those reviews have gotten us more work than any other single thing, so far as we can tell (and have been told by customers, more to the point)
The website for the company I manage only tells you what we do, how we do it, and what we do it with. Along with where to find us and how to contact us. The key is getting a good website designer and to give them a plan for what you want and what you expect to achieve. I can give the contact information for you a reputable Florida company that does that if you want to at least test the waters notionally, and I can PM you a link to our website to give you an idea of what I am talking about.
What CS says isn't broadly wrong, but it does not have to be that way, either.
Business cards should say the same thing: who you are/your position, the name of the company being presented, phone number, address (physical and e-mail as it applies), and what the company does. The "branding" should be the company name/font and insignia as it exists. Everything else is basically chaff. The back of the card can be used for any slightly extraneous data (like tag lines, mission statements, nice selling-point data) you wish to include. One thing I do note about my business cards is that are double-thick, which sets them apart from so many others without having to be obvious about it. And they are matte, so I can write my (business cell) number on it as I desire.
Oh, I totally agree it doesn't have to be that way. The problem stems from how many people in
advertising think it needs to be that way, and how influential they are in the community of middle-men. My tyre company example (the smexy supermodels and seductive music filmed in black and white) was chosen
specifically as an example of how senseless some of the 'logic' common to marketing can get.
right there with the exaggerated claims and omitted facts that are ALSO pretty standard for the business of selling the idea of sales.
as a consumer, I don't need a thirty second to one minute music video to sell me, but I'm not the target audience, I'm not really sure anyone actually belongs to the targeted demographic outside of the fantasies of marketing specialists...but I could be wrong. Probably am. then again, these 'marketing specialists' have in recent years generated more than a few Rule 4 violations I can't describe here that have not had the intended effect (More detail, unsurprisingly, is also Rule 4, but on a pragmatic level they ought not to have done that without knowing who they're trying to sell to...)
It's like there's a whole generation of marketers who don't get that "It's not for YOU" is something I (and many other consumers) take at face value and say, "Okay, I'll go with this other guy instead."
(or go without).
there's an obvious disconnect. If I need plumbing services, that's what I look up, and I'll usually go with the guy who's got his business, prices, hours, and availability on his site, not the guy who's got his cousin's abstract art and design homework with a catchy pop tune, but doesn't include those things FIRST.
But I'm probably a weirdo. Maybe the detuned Rod Stewart ballad with the swirling colors means he's a good plumber...but I'll never know it, I'll go with the page that shows business/location/hours/rates, because then I know who and what I'm dealing with. My time is a thing I value, even if I waste the hell out of it, and I think that fits with most people in most markets whether they're doing it for their own business, or for their private use.
