Get Your Digital Business Card

 

Digital business cards have been around for a while but I have noticed a great number of people, myself included, have been slow to adopt this option. Well let’s get with it.

There are a number of options available and maybe at some point I’ll do a comparison but for now I have chosen to begin with swft.id because . . .  “they gave me a offer I could not refuse” . . .free!  Yep, nada . . . no cost . . . zip. So why not give it a try.

Let’s begin with why you need a digital business card. Well you don’t “NEED” one but here is why it is a good idea.

First of all it can be stored on your smartphone and transferred digitally so it assures that you always have a business card with you, making you ready to share your contact info when the right opportunity arises.

In this case “CONTACT INFORMATION” is the operative term. If you expect a potential prospect to contact you they need to know how to do that. Now you can direct them to your webpage but probably your webpage does not necessarily include your direct number, cell number, or direct email available for the whole world to spam you. Likely you only have a contact form, a generic email address (at best) and a business phone that is used primarily by those trying to sell you something. If you’re like me, my mobile number is reserved for real people, friends and prospects.

Also at this point I really want to get the person to have my information and make a follow-up appointment with me, that is my immediate goal. The digital business card keeps your new contact focused on connecting with you.

The SWFT CARD has a number of field options available including various phone numbers (mobile office etc), email, photo of yourself, company logo, company website link, social media icons,  a text field, AND a place to embed a video AND place to embed your calend.ly (or other appointment calendar option.) I particularly like the video option since my business is video marketing and video production. I also like the calendar as that is the action I want them to take in most instances.

Sharing the card is easy. There are a number of options including your unique URL which will be swft.id/yourname. Alternately you can use a QR code saved on your smartphone which your prospect can scan with their phone, or for a small fee you can order a plastic card with an RF chip. Which your contact only needs to tap with their phone to fire the SWFT.id link bringing them to your unique business card landing page.

A hybrid alternative might be to add the QR code to your printed business card. That way they can have an analog version and still connect digitally or connect to your calendar if they want to.

Now if, like me, you’re an avid networker and/or avid LinkedIn user I think this digital option is particularly useful because in most cases I want to have a quick follow-up meeting with new people I have met. But sending them to my calend.ly page is kinda boring and my website might be a bit overwhelming. Afterall I am not necessarily pushing hard for a sale at this point. Right now I just want to further our conversation and this digital business card landing page seems much less threatening or intimidating.

This is still somewhat new to me too, so take a look for yourself and let me know what you think. If you want to connect with me personally reach out via the email address you see in the graphic and I’ll invite you to connect officially.

 

 

 

Business Card on Social Media

Certainly we are all making more business contacts via social media these day. If you’re wondering if business cards have a use in this environment, take a tip from this fellow in Chicago.

A user on NextDoor.com asked if anyone had a recommendation for a someone to paint 3 bedrooms and a hallway.  Another user responded by showing a picture (front and back) of a business card for a local painter. This was a perfect easy way to transmit the necessary contact information while also conveying the brand information of the referral.

If you are searching for social media content to post on Instagram or LinkedIn or whatever why not simply take a picture of your business card in an interesting place like a local landmark or near a job you have completed.

Business cards are not dead. They are still very useful for sharing important contact information within the context of your brand image. If you post a picture of your card at twitter tag @RenoWeb or on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/renolovison/ or on Instagram Reno Lovison.

 

UPDATE: Here’s another businesscard I spotted today at NextDoor. It is sideways but still useful.

 

 

Zip up a card in your digital file

Among my numerous professional and avocation activities is writing theater reviews for ChicagoTheaterandArts.com which I then repurpose as content for my podcast at ChicagoBroadcastingNetwork.com. 

It is general practice that the producers of the various theatrical productions provide publicity photographs that can be used by the reviewers. This week my downloadable package of photos for Orson Welles’ Dracula by Glass Apple Theatre in Chicago included a digital business card from the company’s artistic director. In the many years that I have been doing this I do not remember anyone taking this simple action.

Including a digital copy of your business card along with other digital assets is a perfect way to share your contact information in a form that fits the medium. In this case the image of the business card easily displayed in my download directory and provided me an opportunity to save the contact information conveniently alongside related information in the project’s digital file.

Many people feel that business cards are passé but I contend that they are relevant and in fact continue to be reimagined in many ways.  The value of the traditional business card format is the fact that you can convey your contact information utilizing your logo, type style, colors and additional message in away that expresses your unique brand.

So before you zip that file why not include an image of your business card to add a personal touch to your digital package.

**Note: I have obscured the email address and phone number for privacy.

 

Editor Adds Writing Tips to Business Cards

Author, editor and writing coach Arnie Bernstein includes a writing tip or quote from a famous author on the back side of each of his business cards. Part of his social media strategy is to share writing tips branded as “Your Daily Word” which can be found at LinkedIn and other platforms. This use of his card’s reverse side seems an ideal way to reinforce his services and add value to his personal encounters.

Each card has a different message on the back so essentially every recipient gets one at random from a pool of choices. Bernstein accomplishes this by printing the cards himself on his Epson WorkForce inkjet printer using Avery Clean Edge matte white card stock, with 10 cards per page. The cards are microperforated and easy to separate so they don’t look ragged on the edges. A link to software with templates provided by Avery makes it easy for you to design your own card. His tips are numbered, suggesting to the recipient that this is just one of a large number available, sending a subtle message that the editor and writing coach is full of great ideas.

Writing Tip #83 Proofread out loud. The mind plays a trick. You know what you wrote, so when you proofread silently, you miss “too” when you meant “two.” By proofreading out loud you will “hear” your errors. And consider this: a missing letter in “public” can lead to unintended embarrassment. Proofread out loud to kill mortifying prose!

Writing Tip #94 Avoid the adverb “very.” It slows down and adds nothing to your sentences when they should be strong and declarative. As Mark Twain said: “Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very;’ your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.”

Bernstein says that this marketing technique is “inexpensive and the quotes make them stand out from the pack. So if they connect on some level, then they work. People still want business cards, which are also safer than sharing info via airdrop. I don’t put my Venmo on my card. Save that for after I get the client/connection.”

Utilizing the back of your business card is not uncommon, in fact doctors, hair salons and others often use this space for appointment reminders. Including team schedules and calendars is also a popular technique [page 49-50 “Turn Your Business Card Into Business”] that encourages people to retain and refer to your card over a period of time.

What tips could you share related to your business or service? How about a daily affirmation, joke or puzzle? Think about using this idea as a way to surprise and delight people you meet. Who doesn’t enjoy cracking open a fortune cookie and getting a secret message? This can be a similar experience.

Imagine a small group of people at a networking group each getting a different card and sharing the tip or message they received. What a great way to get people talking and even better the conversation is centered around you.

Think of this available blank space as a real word (rather than digital) social media opportunity. Use the same principles. Resist the urge to sell. Think in terms of sharing, connecting and building rapport with your recipient. Likely they have received the gift of your message in person so it is a chance to reinforce all of the goodwill you have garnered through that personal interaction.

Keep in mind, networking is not about selling, it is about connecting. The goal of a new encounter is to have your new contact walk away remembering that they met you. They only need to have a vague notion of how you might be of service to them or someone they know – – but they do need a mechanism to be able to find you when they need you, and a business card is often the best device to make that happen.

Most of the business cards you distribute will be discarded but they are inexpensive and in most cases they have already done their job of helping you make a memorable impression. Even the act of discarding your card means a person has to review your information one more time to determine if keeping the card has value or not, so that’s one more impression you have made. Of those that are retained, the only card that matters is the one that delivers a client back to you and I virtually guaranty that investment will be a thousand fold.

Well, this is just one more tip you can use to “Turn Your Business Card Into Business.”

Singing Bear Proves Business Card is Not Dead

My message for years has been that business cards exist simply to communicate your contact information to prospective buyers of your product or service.

This simple and well conceived concept by Singing Bear Shop proves that business cards are alive and well even in the Internet age. An image of their business card has gone viral because it is clever but also because it succinctly delivers the essential message they need to deliver.

Of course I would prefer if it said what they do. Maybe they want to intrigue you enough to go visit and find out. That’s not a bad tactic but if you borrow this idea you might want to add a bit more information above the schematic or on the opposite side of the card.

Have you revisited your business card lately? What does your current card say about you, does it have all of your essential information?Have you ever shared your card on social media? If so send me a link, if not post it someplace and then send me a link, maybe I’ll share it, feature it here or talk about it on the web.

Put a business card inside your phone case

business card in phone case

I was out for a walk today on a beautiful Chicago fall day. At some point I decided to see what time it was, only to find I had lost my phone. Looking back at the leaf strewn landscape all around I thought, “This is not good.”

Carefully I began to retrace my steps thinking that my best bet was to look around one of the two benches I had stopped at for a while. After all I reasoned that my jacket pocket was too deep for the phone to just fall out as I was walking so it must have fallen out when I sat down. Anyway it seemed logical.

Well yippee there it was not too far away under the bench where I had stopped, nestled in a small pile of golden maple leaves with the brilliant sunshine reflecting off of the newly purchased shiny screen protector.

Anyway it made me muse about how someone might go about reuniting me with my phone if it had happened to be found. Since it is password protected it is not easy to get at my contacts.

That gave me the idea of putting a business card inside the case behind my phone, which I have immediately done. The card has my business landline phone number and my name as well as my email address. You might say that maybe no one would think to take the case off to look for an ID but at least it would provide an opportunity for someone to find me.

If you don’t want to use a business card an alternative would be a piece of paper with the number of a friend or family member who can get in contact with you.

My wife has pointed out that a good idea is also to zip up the pocket on my jacket which does indeed have a zipper for just this purpose.

Organize Your Business Cards with OneNote

Well shortly after the beginning of the New Year I looked around at the mass of business cards I accumulated in 2017.

One of the reasons my collection was unusually large was due to the 100 Day Challenge earlier in the year. As a result of that effort, I met 100 new people in 100 days then went on to meet many more through my regular networking efforts.

For a few years now, I have not had an adequate way to manage the business cards I collect. This is due largely to the fact that I used CardMunch which was purchased by LinkedIn and which they promptly killed shortly thereafter for some mysterious reason, offering no alternative.

My typical routine of late has been to follow up via LinkedIn then throw the business cards in a box or stack them up if I plan to follow-up further in the immediate future.  Not a really good system.

Also, I have not been fully satisfied with any of the apps available because they are either too costly and are often more robust then I need.

I just want to be to find someone who I might have met in the course of networking if I find later that I may require their service or want to refer them to someone.

Often I do not remember their name but I may remember something about what they do and since I am a visual person being able to look at their business card helps me to recall the encounter we had.

Then I encountered OneNote. This is a program that is included as part of Windows 10. If you are a Mac user you can consider EverNote as an option. The first time I encountered these programs I did not really get it. Then I came to realize that using OneNote is not too much different from my box and stack method only a bit more organized.

OneNote is not a database. Think of it as a scrapbook or bulletin board where you can pin or post any kind of media. It can be a picture, a PDF file, a Word file, a video or an MP3 file. You can see them all at a glance and click on any of them to interact more fully. Kind of like a visual interactive directory.

You can open a OneNote workbook and give it a name. Then add pages giving each page a subcategory name. So in the case of my Business Card project, I call my workbook “Business Cards.” In this example, every individual business card becomes a page in the workbook. At first, the page may include nothing more than a picture of the card, but this is where it gets interesting.

Using an app on my smartphone called Office Lens (downloaded for free) I take a picture of the business card. I then easily save the image in my OneNote app whereupon OneNote automatically does a pretty good job of reading the data (using OCR) then automatically creates a page including the original image with the printed data as text above it.

This page becomes the beginning of a dossier on that contact. Meaning that I can add additional notes or related documents, images and files as my relationship with this individual or business continue to grow.

The fact that OneNote OCR’d the card makes the text that was on the card image searchable. So if I only remember that the person I am looking for is named John, I can search OneNote for “John” and OneNote will show me all the pages in the workbook that includes the word JOHN.

Screenshots from OneNote App

I love this system because it is flexible and amorphous. Unlike a database, I do not have to consider in advance what kinds of data I may want to collect. I can make any kind of note and include any supporting material that makes sense for that entity.

This suits me because it is not super organized but just organized enough to help me find what I need and know where it can be found.

If you are using Windows 10 on a desktop, laptop or tablet the data will be automatically synced between your smartphone and your other devices.

In my case, I use a desktop computer and an iPhone. I take my pictures with the iPhone using the Office Lens App. Save the image to OneNote. After a minute or two, it is automatically synced with my desktop version of OneNote. This means I have access to the information on my desk and on the go.

Conversely, I find it is easier to make additional notes and correction using the desktop version which is then synchronized with the information my phone.

The best way to understand this is to play with it a bit. If you have Windows 10 you already have the program. Download and activate the OfficeLens app and the OneNote app (both free). Get a few business cards and give it a try.

I consider this solution ideal for dealing with contacts of whom I am uncertain about our future relationship.  I have taken the time to meet them and do not want to squander that investment of time. I want to be able to find them if I need to but I do not want to necessarily include them in my day-to-day contact list. If our relationship blooms, I will move the information over to my regular contact list.

Let me know what you think and what improvements you may have.

 

Throw Me in the Trash – NOT!

This article has some very useful tips about using business cards in a modern networking environment.  Don’t overlook this valuable lead generating tool. Re-think it and use it with purpose. If just one card goes out and brings back some business it will be worth the effort and small investment.

How To Turn Your Business Card Into a Lead Generation Machine

Quality Business Cards Express Value

As technology has advanced the variety of business card options at an affordable price has been rapidly expanding. Thirty years ago, four-color printing was reserved only for the largest or most creative companies who were willing to expend a sizable investment to make a colorful first impression. Over the past twenty years we saw that gap narrow considerably as desktop publishing and digital printing  became the industry standard. Now there was no need to set type, create film separations, and multiple printing plates that inflated costs which could only be marginally offset by larger print runs, which is now ancient history. Other popular add-ons in the realm of creative printing expression included full bleeds, embossing, foil stamping, die cuts, special coatings and of course specialty papers or substrates such as plastic or metal. The desire to make a meaningful or creative first impression with a beautifully produced business card has existed as long as the medium itself but was an elusive goal for the majority of businesses whose budget did not permit them to invest possibly thousands of dollars to that end.

design-graphics-inc

 

Recently I was sent a sample pack of outrageously beautiful cards produced by DGI – Designline Graphics, Inc. For the record I have no affiliation with the company other than their request that I examine and review their work. It is difficult for me to decide where to begin other than to say that from what I can see their four color printing is perfect in terms of registration and basic execution and the variety of additional printing techniques is limited only by the designer’s imagination.

The printer’s basic “silk card” utilizes a special laminated coating that gives it a very smooth or “silky” feel that is water and tear resistant. If this were their only product the company would stand out as unique. The “Silkcards X” is double the thickness and includes a die cut or perforation option that adds a visual and further tactile dimension to your card.  Add foil to make it shine and you will have a card the really stands out from the crowd.

Of course I am not a believer in creativity just for the sake of being creative but I do believe in making a statement that reflects your image, reinforces your message and will help you make a favorable impression. You should begin with that in mind then see which printing processes help you achieve your goals.

design-graphics-cardDGI’s own card skillfully and tastefully incorporates a number of techniques that serves to showcase their skills and abilities including very tight registration; tone-on-tone printing; double thick laminated stock with a multicolor “see through” die cut; edge printing; embossing; and their signature silk finish. It’s a card that makes you want to think about how you can express your own message in a more creative manner.

Another end goal of an effective business card is to create a card that is not only a visual expression of your company but is something that people want to keep. The side effect of a well designed card is that people will “value” a beautiful business card because they appreciate the effort you have expended. If it is really nice they might even be compelled to show it off to others and thus carry your message even further.

As so much of our marketing media today is virtual and ephemeral by design, we might reexamine well produced business cards as a rare commodity designed to be retained and to some degree treasured.  Perhaps it is time to consider that we need to put in more effort. Where as a a typical business card might hover around five to ten cents and basically declares ” I expect that you will discard this sometime soon.” What if you were to spend twenty or thirty cents per card but in return made the statement ” I want to give you something that reflects quality” and says, “I intend for you to keep this.” After all for many virtual companies today this is your front door. This is a statement of who you are and it is a memento of a personal interaction.

Investigate the possibilities at Designline Graphics, Inc.