Or at least we should....
So the question is, "what do I do with all those business cards?"
I have a client that I have been working with for two weeks, well two days, one per week, and this is the very question we've been plagued with. Everywhere you turn, there are cards! As a matter of fact, once we finally wrangled them together (like wild cattle), there were enough business cards to fill a boot box. How do I know you ask? We put them in a boot box for the purposes of sorting through items in the office...
For those like me who dislike extra paper and don't have many business cards, here's what I suggest:
- After you get the card, write on the back (1) where you met the person and (2) anything interesting from the conversation. This will come in handy when you try to contact the person later on.
- Utilize Outlook/Gmail/That expensive cellphone: I put all of the business card information into my email contacts and include a note with the information from #1. This way I can access this information wherever I am, and I don't need the card.
- Personally, I throw away the card. However, I know some people believe in keeping them "just in case". This is where personal preference comes in handy...
For professional networkers with LOTS of cards:
- Decide which business cards you want and discard the others. Of course one can argue that you never know when you may need a specific service, but if you have the business card of your local Red Lobster’s General Manager from 10 years ago, it’s probably safe to toss it.
- Decide the best way to organize the cards for you. They can be organized by service, business name, last name, or even date received.
- If you are tactile person who would rather have the physical business card, using a card rolodex or binders with plastic business card inserts.
- An Excel spreadsheet would be a great way to organize your business cards contacts as well. As more contacts are imputed, you can sort them to your liking.
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4. © BeSpoken Spaces 2009
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