In a social media, smartphone crazed age, it makes sense to think that people are easily connected. It also makes sense that people want to reduce the clutter in their lives as much as possible. (I know I do!) So this leaves me wondering whether it could be time to ditch your business card.

Websites, LinkedIn and other accounts do a great job keeping our business contacts at our fingertips, but after a recent experience I realized how vital business cards really can be. Let me explain:

I connected with someone recently and had all intentions of following up with him to get on his email list. It was a nice meeting and he gave me his business card. I stashed it in my purse, but then it happened…LIFE. I found myself busy with work and family. My meeting was out of sight and out of mind. Fast forward to 2 weeks later. It’s the weekend and I’m cleaning some junk out of my purse. I find this man’s business card. So you know what I do? I shoot him an email right then and there! And I don’t believe my story is unusual.

This experience gave me 3 main reasons to continue using business cards. 

• First and foremost, they serve as a reminder!

• Thoughts, ideas and names get forgotten if there isn’t something tangible in your hand. (I know          I’m terrible at remembering names, how about you?)

• People don’t want connecting with you to be a difficult task. They aren’t always proactive about          hunting down your contact information. There’s nothing wrong with making it easier for them!

So if you’ve thought it was time to ditch your business card, maybe you should think long and hard about it. Weighing all the pros and cons and taking your individual industry into account.

 

In my next post, I’ll bring you some tips for creating effective business cards. Until then please let me know where you stand. Should we ditch em or not?

Image courtesy of  Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net