Whether or not your company shells out for business cards, it’s in your best interest to have a set and keep several on your person at all times. Anytime you leave your apartment (and when your roommate has guests) you have an opportunity to build your network.
There’s nothing worse than making a connection with some one, and neither party has readily available contact info.
Last year I ran into a friend at an event. Having just started at a new job, she didn’t yet have business cards. Her solution was to jot down her info over and over again in a mini-spiral bound notebook to distribute. I wondered why she didn’t just type up her info in a word doc and cut and paste a dozen times per page over two columns. Seemed like a simpler and less time consuming way to go. And then there’s my friend who jots down her deets on a post it note. . .it’s not the best first impression you can make, and there’s no guarantee the other person will be able to read your handwriting.
Make it easy on your self and order your own cards. Vista Print literally gives away boxes of business cards, offering 100 different designs. If you want to be a little more creative, visit Moo. While you can choose from a variety of designs on the site, for the same cost you can personalize their products. They offer adorable mini-cards, and you can upload the graphics of your choosing to grace the flipside of the card. What’s really cool is that for every box of 100 cards (at $19.99 plus shipping), you can upload up to 100 images, so you can have each card be entirely unique, or you can stick with one signature image. I’m waiting for my latest order to arrive, using 10 different images.
They just introduced full-size business cards this month. Though a bit more expensive at $21.99 for 50 cards, they offer the same customization options. And until July 31st, you can take 20% of your full-size card order by using the discount code 2TJWUN when placing your order.
Having your own cards looks professional and leaves one less thing to think about when networking socially or for work. Always keep a few in your pocket, preferably the left pocket, so while you shake with your right hand, you can whip out your cards with your left.
As a random aside, I recently ordered a pack of their stickers (uploading about 80 different images) to decorate my new MacBook, which is just too white. It looks like I’ll need to order one more book of them to full cover the white spaces, but I’ve definitely made my computer my own.
Past post on business cards: Golden Rule of Networking
July 2, 2008 at 3:38 am |
An excellent, excellent reminder to everyone that even in the days of Web 2.0 and building “new media resumes,” tried and true networking methods remain very important. I have toyed with the idea of developing business cards simply because it would be handy to have all of my contact information printed onto a single card, though I have also wondered if, with a lack of a year-round job providing a consistent title, I might seem a tad bit precocious…
Nevertheless, thanks for sharing these resources.
July 2, 2008 at 8:39 am |
Glenn,
Mine have my name, number, e-mail address, and blog url.
I don’t have a job title at the moment either. Since I’m shelling out $24.99 with shippping, I can replace the cards whenever should a great job arise, giving me a new job title
I found out about moo, when reading it was really popular with teens — I guess they’re getting savvier with networking too.
July 10, 2008 at 2:25 am |
Excellent article. I just ordered my new cards with Moo. I can’t wait until they arrive.