In your quest for increased referrals, your business card is one of the most valuable networking tools you have. It's compact, energy-efficient, low-cost, low-tech, yet, it is the single most powerful business tool–dollar for dollar–you can invest in.
The two main functions of your card are to gain business from the person you give it to and to get your name out to other people, via referral, from the person you gave the card to. Here are Dr. Misner’s 5 strategies to help you make your cards work for you:
- Make Your Cards Accessible in Every Situation. In short, don't leave home without them!
- Seek Situations to Exchange Business Cards. Business meetings,
Trade shows, jobsites, networks and the like. - Contacts at a Distance – Whenever you communicate with someone in writing, send a card if it's appropriate to the occasion. When mailing out brochures, bids and other sales materials enclose several cards in every packet.
- Courtesy Counts – Along with your thank-you note to the person, whose referral brought you a major contract, include a business card to replace the one they gave away, plus several more.
- Misner’s Special Trick of the Trade – When giving out your card, hand-write something on one copy, such as your cell-phone number, a secondary e-mail address, etc. This will give that particular card a greater chance of being held onto.
Tips like these will keep your business cards working for you hours, weeks and even years after it leaves your hands!
By Rebecca Kaminsky & Dominick Giambona
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