One of the products we offer as a company is business cards. Business cards are a tried and true method to leave your contact information with people you meet in the business world, be it clients, fellow business people in networking situations or even for  family members or friends to keep or pass along.

However we are not always in a business situation or sometimes giving out a traditional business card gives the impression of being stuffy or you are only attending a social event to make yet another business connection. Just as it’s not appropriate to wear a coat and tie or other business attire to a weekend barbecue or other casual gathering neither is it entirely appropriate to take and hand out business cards in those situations.

This idea is not entirely new. HAM radio operators have been know to pass out cards with their radio call sign and I’ve also seen Christian lay people hand out cards with an encouraging saying or favorite bible verse. We always recommend our clients include their business web site address and e-mail on their professional cards so we have similar recommendations for social cards. These days they are many opportunities to interact in a more relaxed manner on the Internet. “Micro-blogging services like Twitter are becoming more and more popular as well as social networks like Facebook and MySpace. Ning and Mahalo have also added a social feature to their web sites as well. I do recommend that if you are going to hand out “social cards” you act responsible in the groups you advertise being a part of. Even in a casual setting it’s important to act professional.

Remember, a lot of people are turned off by the fact they may be just another potential customer and nothing else. People however do tend to respond positively and give business to those they consider friends and can trust.

Jeff Pulver recently wrote an article called, “Will Business Cards still be used in 2015?“, He makes some great points. I think however their will always be a need for traditional business cards but it’s important to break out of the mold and tell people how they can connect with you in a more casual sense if appropriate. If you are considering ordering traditional business cards from us please consider ordering a second set of cards to let people know about your personal blogs, social network accounts, micro blogging accounts, etc. This is also a good idea for local networking groups to offer their members. This will not be appropriate for everyone but you might be surprised at how new and often longer lasting business relationships are fostered through casual connections. Think about it, how often have your clients come from family, friends, former classmates, fellow club members, etc?

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 29th, 2007 at 9:18 am and is filed under Compelling Content, Innovation, Print, Tips, branding, networking, social networks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.