The back of a business card is one line that tells a stranger what you do and who you do it for, and an AI you already pay for can give you ten versions of it in a single sitting of about thirty minutes. This is a Skill job: you paste one good prompt, read ten candidates, pick one, and check it. The AI does the range. You do the choosing, because only you know which line sounds like the person handing over the card. Plan for ten minutes to gather your inputs, five minutes for the AI, and the rest for reading the lines aloud, testing one on a real person and fixing the wording before it goes to print.
- Shape
- Skill
- Sitting
- one sitting
The shape: Skill
A Skill job is one prompt, one answer, and your judgment on top. There is no system to set up, no tool to connect and nothing that runs again next week. That fits a business card, because the line changes maybe once a year, and the hard part is a single decision.
The reason AI helps here is volume. When an owner writes their own card line, they usually write one, then stare at it. The first line most people write is the generic one, because it is the first thing that comes to mind. Ten lines side by side let you see which words carry meaning and which are filler. Often the line you print is a mix of two candidates, a phrase from number three and an ending from number seven.
What this shape means for you: the quality of the result depends almost entirely on the inputs. A vague prompt returns ten vague lines. A specific prompt, with real phrases your customers use, returns ten lines that each sound like a business that exists. So most of your sitting goes into the next section, not into the AI.
What you give the AI
Gather these before you open the chat. Write them in plain notes; they do not need to be polished.
- What you do, in one sentence. Not the category, the actual job. "Fix leaking roofs on older homes" is better than "roofing services".
- Who buys it. The two or three kinds of customer who pay you most often. "Landlords with four to twenty units" is better than "property owners".
- What customers say before they hire you. Three or four phrases from real calls, emails or reviews, in their words. These are the most useful input on this list.
- What makes you the right pick. One or two true things a competitor could not say, such as the neighborhood you work in, the one thing you specialize in, or how you work.
- Your website's home page and about page. Paste the text, or the key paragraphs. This gives the AI your current wording to work from or move away from.
- Where people get the card. Networking events, a counter, a job site, a mailed envelope. The setting changes what the line needs to do.
- What you never want to sound like. Words you dislike, a competitor's tone, anything that feels like an ad. "Never say solutions, passionate or one-stop shop" is a useful line to include.
- What is on the front. Your name, title, phone, email and website, so the AI does not repeat them on the back.
If you can only gather one thing, gather the customer phrases. A card line built from a customer's own words reads as true to the next customer, because it names the problem the way they already think about it.
What comes back
Paste the prompt below into ChatGPT or Claude, with your notes in the brackets. It asks for ten lines in three lengths and a short reason for each, so you can see the thinking and reject lines quickly.
You are helping a small business owner write the one line that goes on the back of a business card.
About the business:
- What we do: [one sentence]
- Who buys it: [two or three customer types]
- What customers say before they hire us: [three or four real phrases, in their words]
- Why us and not someone else: [one or two true things]
- Website text: [paste home page and about page]
- Where people get the card: [events, counter, job site, mail]
- The front of the card already shows: [name, title, phone, email, website]
- Never use these words or this tone: [list]
Write ten candidate lines for the back of the card.
Rules:
- Each line says what we do and who it is for, in words a customer would use.
- Write three lines of six words or fewer, four lines of seven to twelve words, and three lines that add a short next step (what to text, which page to visit).
- No slogans that need a conversation to make sense.
- No claims we have not given you: no awards, no numbers, no "best", no guarantees.
- No exclamation marks.
After each line, add one short sentence on who it would work best for.
Then tell us which two lines are strongest and why, in three sentences or fewer.What comes back is a numbered list of ten lines, each with a one-sentence note, and a short recommendation at the end. The recommendation is a starting point, not a decision. If none of the ten work, do not ask for ten more straight away. First tell the AI what is wrong with them ("too formal", "they all sound like a franchise", "number four is close but too long"), then ask for five more in that direction. One round of feedback usually does more than three rounds of fresh batches.
How to judge it
You can reject most bad lines in a minute. Read each one and cross it out if it does any of these:
- It could be on anyone's card. "Quality work you can trust" fits every trade in town. If you can swap in a competitor's name and the line still works, it says nothing.
- It uses a filler word. Solutions, passionate, innovative, premier, one-stop, tailored. These words take up space and tell a stranger nothing.
- It needs the conversation to make sense. A clever pun works in the moment you hand the card over. A week later, in a drawer, it does not explain itself.
- It claims something you have not proved. "The area's most trusted" or "guaranteed results" is a claim someone can hold you to. If the AI invented it, delete it.
- It repeats the front. Your name and phone number are already there. The back is for the reason to keep the card.
- It is too long to read in two seconds. If it wraps to three lines at a normal card type size, cut it.
Then test the survivors. Read each one out loud, as if you were handing the card to someone at an event. A line that feels awkward to say will feel awkward to read. Print your top two on plain paper, cut them to card size, and hand one to someone who does not know your business. Take it back after ten seconds and ask what you do. If they answer in their own words and get it right, that line works.
What stays with you
The AI writes candidates. These parts stay with you, and no prompt changes that.
The facts. The AI only knows what you told it. If a line mentions an area you serve, a specialty or a way you work, check that it is still true and will stay true for the life of the print run. Cards last a long time in drawers and wallets.
The claims. Some trades have rules about what they can say in advertising, and those rules can cover a business card. If you are licensed, regulated or work in health, law, finance or real estate, check the line against your own rules before you print.
The voice. Only you know whether a line sounds like you when you say it out loud. A line that sounds right on screen and wrong in your mouth is the wrong line, because you will be the one standing next to it.
The design and the print. Type size, spacing, paper and color decide whether the line gets read. That is a separate job, done in your design app or with your printer's proof. Always order a proof, and read the back of the card on the proof, not only on screen.
The match with everything else. The line on your card should agree with your website and your social profiles. A stranger who keeps your card will look you up before they call, and the two should sound like the same business. Our guide to what customers check before contacting a local business covers what they look at. If your profiles need the same one-line treatment, what to put in a business Instagram bio walks through it.
An example, labeled as one
This is an invented business, used only to show the method.
Say you run a two-person dog grooming van in a suburb. Your notes might say: you groom dogs in a van parked in the customer's driveway, most customers are people with anxious or older dogs, and the phrases you hear most are "he hates the salon", "she shakes the whole car ride" and "can you come on a Saturday". You would rather not sound cute or use puns about paws.
From inputs like that, a useful batch might include lines such as these:
- "Grooming in your driveway, for dogs who hate the salon."
- "No car ride. No kennel. Just a groom at home."
- "Mobile grooming for nervous and older dogs. Text to book a Saturday."
The first line names the customer's own phrase. The second leans on what the dog avoids. The third adds a next step but runs long. The owner might keep the first line and test it on someone who does not know the business before ordering. Nothing here is a result; it only shows how the customer phrases turn into the line.
Which version of the line to print
There is one real choice on this job: a plain line, or a plain line with a next step.
| If people get your card | Why | |
|---|---|---|
| At events, where they meet you first | A plain line about what you do and who for | They need to remember you, not act today |
| On a counter or in a bag with a purchase | A line with a next step | They already know you; give them the reason to come back |
| In the mail or left at a door | A line with a next step | The card is doing the whole introduction alone |
If you hand cards out in more than one setting, print the plain line. It works everywhere, and a next step that does not fit the setting reads as a sales pitch.
When you are done
Save the ten lines and your notes in one file. The next time you need a one-line description, for a profile, an event badge or a directory listing, you already have ten candidates and the inputs that produced them.
Of every job on this list, social media is the one that comes back every week, and Boomp is software that does that one for you. See ten posts made from your website, free
