That’s Your Business Card??? by Barbara Safani
I attend a lot of networking events. And at this point I’ve seen every mistake people can make when it comes to business cards. Here are my favorites.
Distributing an old business card and updating the contact information with a ball point pen.
Sharing business cards where the job title or company name has been removed using white-out.
• Offering a cocktail napkin or ripped piece of paper with contact information in place of a business card.
• Giving out cards that were hand made using cardboard and magic markers.
• Offering a resume in place of a business card.
• Giving out someone else’s business card and writing the contact information on the back.
• Distributing business cards with no email address.
Are people who network this way memorable? You bet. But not for the right reasons. Your business card is an integral part of your professional identity. Your pitch, you clothes, your manners, your resume, and your business cards are all part of your brand and the details are important. You don’t have to pay a king’s ransom to create professional and tasteful business cards and your message can be simple-name, contact information, and your professional identity will do.
Ed Note: Barbara is a career/jobs expert and is the author of Happy About My Resume: 50 Tips for Building a Better Document to Secure a Brighter Future. She contributes often to CareerSolvers.
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Thanks Barbara, and an interesting look at networking groups. Networking groups don’t really work for me, and I’ve likely made and received all these mistakes in other groups I attend:-) It’s just that when you meet a like-minded person, you often share wider interests, and find a sense of service to others rather than a frantic exchange of business cards.
On the other hand I have met people who hand out perfectly sculpted cards, and then work networking groups like a tiger works a fresh bone.
I’d rather get a sincere name on the back of bark than a freshly minted card from a person who uses people for personal profit.
What do you think? I’d be interested to hear what you think we have made of “networking groups” in the past few years.
I think I pretty much agree with you, Ellen. i have noticed the older I get the leess imppprtantt biz cards re to me. Maybe I need to have velcro on th back, that way I can just attach to my clothes, so I dont forget or lose them?
I have noticed too that THE first thing you can do positive for a new employee is to have their business card waiting for them when they arrive on the ir first day//
Small printers report that the VERY first thing a person does when starting his or her own bibusinesss it order biz cards. About fifity percent never pick them up, which is why they alswasys ask for cash uppfront.
Me…I would just wish that they would make the type bigger and bolder. Graphic artists…just you wait til you are over 40, er, 50, you will see the importance of big bold printt.. Right ellen?
BTW< I can spell, for some reason my comment thinggy is brokenn, sorry everyyonee.
Hey GL, I was not going to admit this was all about age!!!!!!!! Dang – you gone done it again!
The Velcro idea could double as a name tag:-) at some groups too. I tend to be attracted to people who look for ways to support, and I’ve learned to get to know others less by cards and more by a genuine offer of support for the MITA Brain Based Center. Sometimes folks ask for stuff we cannot give but usually it’s my bridge that allows me to like what I meet on the other side of initial exchanges. You?
Great discussion you raised here Barbara. Cool!
I know it is about age, heck, I even have a flashlight magnivfying glass so I can decipher the cool, but unreadable biz cards.. This and movies and television shows that mumblree oare pett peeves.
that…and software like this…grrrr.
Movies and TV shows where the characters mumble…
Hi Ellen and WWDS!
I hear what you are saying…authenticity trumps a pretty card and I do agree. But the card is a nice way to promote yourself and show that you care about how you present yourself. For me, I like to see the cards because they give me clues regarding the person’s style, professionalism, creativity, and attention to detail. And WWD, you may be on to something with that Velcro idea-hey you never know! Thanks for reading!
Barb,
I simply love this post. Making a business card change is so easy! If you lost a job, create your own business card. Give yourself a title. Provide your sound bite – in the sense of Twitter. 140 characters. Or 7 to 9 words.
You can use Publisher and print them yourself OR you can go to FedEx/Kinko’s OR Vistaprint.com. Cheap, easy, professional.
- Wendy Terwelp, networking coach
- http://www.knocks.com