5 Rules of Working with Business Cards

Business cards are the key element of networking. There are no good or bad business cards. There are only efficient or inefficient ones. Efficient cards are those that:

  • Help you build a strong personal brand
  • Give people the easiest and most convenient ways to contact you

A business card has two important parts: design and content.

The design of your business card may differ depending on the type of your business, your corporate style, your personal preferences and the clients you look for.

By the way, paper is not the only surface suitable for printing your contacts. You may use a piece of fabric, wood or even stone as a business card – it depends on your creativity!

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A business card in the form of a small flower bed is perfect for a floristic company

What’s inside?

It is important not to overload your business card with information. Even if you have 4 titles, 3 email addresses and 2 websites, don’t put them all on your card. One, maximum two job titles, one telephone number, one email address and one website address are quite enough. By the way, start your website address with www, not with http://

If you work with foreign partners, consider making a bilingual business card: information in Russian on one side, in English – on the other.

Your name, job title, contacts and corporate logo are not the only data that can be printed on a business card. With enough space, you can add your photo and a short description of the goods and services that you offer. For example, “wholesale of concrete” or “knitting to order”.

You can also use a quote related to your business. For example, a lawyer or an attorney can use such a phrase: “It doesn’t matter who has the might, it matters who has the right” (V.Hugo).

So, you have printed your business cards and are ready to distribute them generously. How to make them help you build connections and not complicate introductions? Here are some simple tips for using business cards.

1. Don’t offer your business card until you are asked for it

It is highly inefficient to start a conversation with the words: “Let’s exchange our business cards”. You need to build connection first, explain to your conversation partner how you can help him or her, give them a reason to want to get your card. If you, in turn, want to get your partner’s business card, you may close the conversation with “I would like to contact you in social media, may I ask for your business card?”

2. At the event make sure your business cards are easily accessible, so that you could take one out quickly when you need to

If you don’t have a cardholder, use pockets. You must keep your own business cards away from the ones that belong to other people, otherwise you are risking to handle a wrong card to your new acquaintance.

3. Your business cards must be of decent quality and in good condition

Your card shouldn’t be swept from the floor, or the last one that has spent 3 years in your wallet. Business cards are a part of your personal brand, remember that and handle them with care.

4. Pay due attention to your partner’s business card after you take it

Don’t put another person’s business card in your pocket right away. Study it closely, compliment its design or unusual color. There is a chance of information that can be used as a conversation trigger: “You have offices in Tel Aviv and Singapore? Impressive! I have recently started a business in Tel Aviv too”. And suddenly your conversation goes to another level only because of the business card.

5. If you have only one business card left, don’t give it away, ask people to take its photo on their smartphones

It’s not unlikely that at the end of the event you will meet another person who will ask for your business card. If you have already given away your last one, you will have to look for a pen and a piece of paper to share your contacts with this person. It’s inappropriate and unprofessional. So, if you have only one business card left, don’t give it away, say frankly: “This is my last one, could you take a picture of it instead?”

What to do next with the business cards?

The best way is to add them to special software, for example, ABBYY Business Card Reader. This is one of the best business card scanners. The software transfers data from business cards – names, telephone numbers, email addresses and other information – right to the management system.

Scan a card and add it to your database. If you are used to work in Excel, you can create a contact base there.

Review your new contacts to select those that you would want to develop, and make sure to contact them within 48 hours. Add them to your friends in social networks, write an email or send a text, invite them to a coffee.

Another good contact development service is amoCRM. It automatically pulls all email, telephone, website, chat and messenger requests in an integrated system. No contact will be lost now.

The most important thing: don’t let business cards become a dead weight, transform new contacts to new acquaintances. And so each business card you get will transform into your partner or simply a good friend.

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