I run a small business and do a lot of networking and I’ve noticed that people aren’t really handing out business cards anymore. Do you still use them?
That absolutely depends. In my experience, business cards are still super important and a polite thing to provide.
Business cards are useless unless they’re bone with silian rail lettering
I use paper business cards all the time. They’re fun and cheap.
Also, plain boring unimaginatively-designed business cards are so ubiquitous that if you’re using a design that’s at all interesting yours will easily be way ahead of most of the other business cards people will get.
I once got one made from very thin steel. You could have used it as a weapon in an Asian martial arts movie. But I was really scared of even touching the thing because it was so sharp.
Hacker Kevin Mitnick had a famous metal business card for his computer security firm which was a set of lockpicks. The lockpicks really worked if you knew how to pick locks.
Patrick?
No, this is the Krusty Krab.
Depends on the demographic you are interacting with. When networking with other professionals it is probably easier to just scan a QR code to a file of contact information. A quick import and you’re already in my contracts.
In terms of being able to leave the information somewhere, cards work well. Attaching to a project portfolio, handing to someone so they can pass it on, leaving as a support contract after a project is complete, etc.
When networking it’s easier for me to quickly pocket a card and deal with it later than take my phone out and scan a QR code.
Literally yesterday I was given a business card with a QR code on it haha
Did the QR go to their website or did it have their vcard on it? I do the latter, and the former annoys the hell out of me, because it’s way harder to type a bunch of contact info than to type a fckin URL.
Also yes, this means I have business cards. I don’t use them much but they’re handy for leaving with other business owners in case they want to contact me (hopefully, to order!).
Por que no los dos?
Business cards should have QR codes for both the website and the contact info. And they should be labelled.
My logic is:
a.) Two QR codes could confuse some scanners… or some people
b.) In the vast majority of cases, it’s faster to type the URL than it is to scan a QR code to go there.
But sure, there’s no reason you can’t do both! And if you do, they should definitely be labelled. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk 😅
I have so e personal and professional cards that also have a qr code on them. It’s been a good way to not get lost in an address book with a thousand names
Maybe NFC cards would work better than QR and normal cards
NFC cards are far more expensive than printed paper business cards.
You make one and each time your client ask for contact infos you use the card to give 'em your phone number/email/website instead of giving a card to each client
I feel like a business card is something physical to hand people so they have it to look back at later. If you’re just looking to NFC tap your contact info onto people’s phones, why wouldn’t you just use your own phone to do it?
This reminds me of something tangentially related. Sometime around the turn of the century I worked at a small business where some vendor came in to solicit interest in his business’ services, and left a working CD-ROM business card. That mildly impressed the manager because CD-ROMs were still pretty fancy and nobody there had seen a business card like that before, and when run the card had some simple Flash-like slideshow thing with a little video clip or two about their business (which was still impressive when you couldn’t really have embedded video clips on your average dialup-friendly website.) Around a week later that same vendor returned asking for the card back because “they’re pretty expensive to make and I want to give it to my next prospect,” and the manager’s impression of him went from mildly impressed to thinking this guy was too hilariously amateurish to bother engaging with.
A NFC is just faster than with the phone or with voice, i am looking at the pratical side of it tho, i hate those business cards because i have to type the phone number anyway
What if there’s a QR code on the card? Then it’s basically the same amount of work as getting that NFC tap.
They still make sense for local business, I think. I get and hang on to the service industry cards I get(HVAC, driveway grading, roofing, etc.)
I used them a lot in my previous job. From 2015 through 2019 I was a tech for maritime systems such as radios, radars, autopilot, etc. Most of our customers were commercial clients, and when something doesn’t work, knowing who to call saves a lot of time and money.
So whenever I left a ship after a completed technical visit, or commissioning a new bridge system, I left my card.
nope, businesses still have them on a local scale. We get them at careers fairs too.
I don’t use them often, but I think they’re still useful. Mostly at work meetings and when I’m at conferences, exchanging business cards is probably the easiest way to quickly share contact info
In Australia business cards are rare (I cannot remember last time, if ever I have seen one).
Realestate agents and other honourable folk share these still.
Popular in Japan still too, but that is unrelated to the lovely folk previously mentioned.
I have a box of 500 i got in 2015 with 475 left.
That being said I’m not a salesman that see many new potential customers every week. I got a pile of other peoples business cards in my desk drawer and I’ve used them a few times to order some parts.
I have some but on one side are my details and on the other is a QR code with all my details for a phone contact.
I work at a print shop and produce business cards all the time, like two or three different business card orders on a typical day. Most of my customers are in finance.
I sorta like them but don’t like having to have them on me or keep hold of them. So while I like them I don’t want to have to deal with them. Still I sorta like having formality like japan in some ways just to make interactions easier.
Yes, even if it is for just scanning them.
I still use them as well. Feels more professional to hand out a card than to start spelling out my phone number.
