Business cards are one of the most under appreciated products in a business person's arsenal - not only do they show people how to contact you, but present a professional image that is aligned with your appearance and in some cases outlook on life. Why should your business card holders be any different? Whether you're looking for a holder to keep your business cards in your pocket, or to display prominently on a table or other display surface, you'll find a range of products to suit your needs.

Whether you're designing a business card for personal use, or professional use, you should always consider the information that you need to include in them. Pare it down to bare essentials if you have too much, or consider printing auxiliary information on the back of the card. Your company or personal logo should be prominent on one or both sides. The design itself should be clean and easy to read - fancy fonts should be limited to readable styles so that your card is legible - you should also be aware that some people consider flowery scripts in detrimental ways to what may be a completely different message that you want to provide. Readability aside, the font should fit comfortably on the page, and may or may not tie into your logo, depending on your company's guidelines on business cards. But how do you know what to include on the front and what do you include on the back?

Austerity and elegance aside, the most important thing in the design of business card holders and display units is ease of use. As long as it meets all of the design criteria, and doesn't damage your cards, business card holders are probably one of the most practical tools you'll ever use out of the office - either on display stands or elsewhere.

While business card holders contain some cards, you should always keep spares in the box that they arrived in, on your person - on a successful night, the last thing you want to do is run out of business cards to hand out, and you should never assume that the amount you're carrying with you will last long enough to create a larger buss about your business. Personal business card holders are designed to be used in conjunction with hidden stores of cards. Whether you keep them in the same pocket or another pocket and keep refilling, or draw from your box and keep your business card holder ones as spare, you will always find that the ones in your pockets are kept clean and safe

Most business card storage and display units are designed to be both slim line and functional. Most are made of moulded plastic, though others may be made of premium materials, depending on the statement that the end user wants to make. Most however are made of plastic and feature some form of prop mechanism (to stand on a desk), link up mechanism (to join two or more units), and more. These display units ensure that your business cards are displayed prominently - there is no distraction due to the design of your cards. Business card holders that impede or damage cards on removal are also less than desirable, so you should always ensure that there is no dust, dirt, grit or other foreign bodies in the holder, that they haven't become warped or damaged in storage and that they perform their function without falling over, coming apart or otherwise failing to remain unobtrusive.

There are other types of card holders - from rolodex style to single card holders that can be used as place holders or display units for a single card. Rolodex style holders are designed to be used at the home/office and create an elegant, easy way to store your collected business cards. These rolodex style units not only allow ease of access, but allow you to 'refresh' your needs, based on time passed and whether you've contacted people. Single card holders are also an integral part of the social business person's calendar. Use them to display your business card prominently where others may have a simple name tag - this prominent display of your business card and logo can be the difference between someone forgetting your name and absorbing not only your name, but your business. Having them on display can also encourage people to ask for their own copy of it.

One major aspect of business cards, are their designs. There are many companies out there from VistaPrint to Moo Moo that allow for unique designs whilst ensuring that your cards contain a minimum amount of information - but the question often becomes 'what information should I give?' Experts suggest that whatever you feel is important to your work should appear on your card - your name and personal logo if required should be prominently displayed on your card. Your most used contact points should also appear. If you're a mobile worker, or have no fixed desk, or no extension that directs to your phone, consider giving your business mobile number. It's of paramount importance that people can reach you without worrying about interrupting you and that you'll reply quickly.

Email addresses and social networking contacts can be included on business cards, as long as it's pertinent and relevant to your work. Your blog URL, again, can be included if it adds something to your work. If you're designing a business card for personal use, you should include any information you feel is relevant to your personal life and information you need to share with your colleagues. Make sure you always keep a supply on you in a suitable business card holder.