The Old School Networking Tip That Still Works

I was reading an article in the Economist recently, and it was talking about how the business card isn't dead and won't be, in fact, at any point soon. And I found this really interesting because we do live in a world which has become increasingly paperless. We live in a world where we have decided to connect so much online. We we have lost the art of writing the letter for the most part. Even making notes on paper for so many people seems somehow archaic. And yet they argued somehow the business card still has a place in this world. And I found this really fascinating because I have had the dilemma for years over whether to carry a business card. I have my own company, of course, travel a lot. I meet a lot of people. I've never, you know, I'm not part of a big company where they automatically get me business cards made. So it's always been a personal decision to me. Do I carry around business cards? And I've always heard on the side of saying, no, I don't want to carry a business card. Well, here are some of the points the article made. Firstly, that there is something important about taking something tangibly, tangible away from a meeting with someone. When you can go home and empty your pockets and you see their business card, it's a reminder of that meeting or a reminder of that function where you met that person, that it acts as a physical reminder. The other point I would make personally that I have noticed. It's one thing if you just meet one person in a meeting and you decide to write their number in your phone or email them there and then so they have your details. It's quite another thing when you're at a function where you're meeting a lot of people at once. If you met five people all in one go, it's very difficult in that circle of people to say, you know what, let me take all of your numbers and then pass your phone around and do it that way. Now there is, I believe, I forget the name of this app, but there's an app or there's a to service. There's something where you can just touch your phones and you both have each other's contact information. I forget what that's called. But even then, even then, it doesn't give you that physical thing to take to put in your pocket and to remember that person by. There is something about the tangibility of that that makes a difference. My gut says it's probably worth spending a little bit of money on your business cards. that it's important that they don't look like crap. Especially because I don't think you need to be giving your business card out to everybody. This is where I'll, you know, I want to ease back a little bit. I don't believe in carrying around tons of business cards that, you know, when you go to some function, you're now giving out this card to a hundred different people at a time, as if it was some sort of pamphlet or flyer to advertise your services. I don't see a business card as an advertisement. advisement in that traditional sense, because then they do just become trash. The moment someone gets home, they're just throwing away your cards along with everyone else's who they didn't know or care about that night. To me, the business card serves its function the most when you actually create a moment of connection with someone. And after that connection, after you realize both of you would actually like to stay in touch, for some reason, you give that person your card. Or in this situation, if there's five people there and the reality is you've made a connection with one and you only care about giving your business card to that one person, you may give out five so as not to create awkwardness and to make everyone feel like you equally want them to have your details, but you've really given it for the purposes of that one person. So that's it. I will speak. see you soon. Thank you for listening. Come join me on Facebook. Facebook.com/CoachMatthewHussey and I'll see you then.