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.

But seriously, the most recent three book reviews at this site were Snowball, Alice Schroeder’s brilliant biography of Warren Buffet, Andrew Zuckerman’s classy portrait book Wisdom (with Clint Eastwood on the cover), and hilarious Men With Balls book by a Deadspin editor. I am in good company.

A trip to Hef’s Mansion is out of the question. I asked, but they said no.

More praise by:

From Barbara Safoni at Career Management Alliance

From Dave Opton, founder and CEO of ExecuNet

From Mike Street at greasyguide.com

Deborah Brown at SurpassYourDreams

Heather Hulman at Examiner.com

Dan Schwabel at Personal Branding

Anita Bruzzese at USATODAY and GANNETT

Alexandra Levit over at her awesome blog, Water Cooler Wisdom.

Naomi Moneypenny at ManyWorlds.

Nick Reddin of Manpower, BOOK OF THE YEAR. wow, Nick, thanks.

Nick Corcodilos of AskTheHeadhunter fame, one of this industry’s most reliable voices said this about DIG YOUR JOB. Read Nick.

From Chris Russell, Secrets of the Job Hunt

From Paul Epps, one of the first bloggers that made me laugh, at EppsNet.

Lewis at Seattle Interview coach wrote a nice post on his blog about the book, too.