Six HOT Business Card Networking Tactics

Your business card is not just a wallet or pocket filler. You should really maximize its use by trying to hand them out as often as you can. Here are a few ways you can give others your business card, which you might not have thought of before.

1. Leave your business card at your local coffee joint. You don’t need to leave a card all the time! But more than once is also ok especially if you haven’t done so in a long time. If they don’t have a bowl for business cards, which is a bit unusual as most do, then talk to the floor manager and suggest it! The same goes for a local restaurant you often frequent.
2. Insert your business card when mailing bill payments. Hey, when you receive your bills, you get advertisement, right? So why not apply the same? This is not a matter of ‘getting even’. It’s a matter of simply getting yourself out there. You never know on whose hands your business card will land.
3. Include your business card when emailing resumes and / or when sending a Thank You note after a job interview. A business card is just that small, yet extra push you need to ensure you’re always in the minds of recruiters and potential employers.
4. Hand over your business card even to co-workers. When you visit a branch of your office or attend a convention or business gathering with co-workers you don’t normally come into contact with, then there’s no harm in handing over your business card.
5. Insert your business card in presentation materials you use. If you find yourself making a presentation to a group, one of the best ways to ensure you give out your business card to everyone attending the presentation is to insert it in the materials attendees will use. This way, you don’t have to ensure that you meet and talk to each and every single attendee just to hand your business card.
6. Hand over your business card during gatherings at home! Who says you can’t mix business with pleasure? When parents come over for your kid’s birthday, be ready to discuss careers and hand over business cards. Do the same when you’re picking up your child from another kids’ home and you happen to talk to the child’s parent(s). If someone new arrives in the neighborhood, you don’t need to throw a party but what about a bouquet of flowers from your garden with… yes, your business card thrown in?

A business card can be a very powerful tool. Maximize the times you can pull it out and hand it over to someone and you’ll be surprised at how business opportunities seemingly pop out of nowhere for you.

Article created on 6/16/2008

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