A business card is the one item I seem to always forget to bring with me to a meeting or networking event. Maybe it’s because I believe I can remember someone’s name and connect with the person later on Facebook or LinkedIn. Perhaps, though, I should just do away with business cards altogether. That’s what entrepreneur Kevin Daum did.
“About two years ago, I stopped carrying business cards to meetings and networking events,” he wrote on Inc.com. “It wasn’t because I was bumping with my smartphone or using Google Glass to identify worthy prospects with face-recognition programming. It wasn’t even because I wanted to save trees. I simply found a more effective way to engage with people I met.”
Daum recognizes that when people request a business card that there is an interest in his job and thoughts. He asks for an email address so he can send them his contact info, and he asks if he can send them an interesting link, too. He says he’s never been refused.
That interesting link, he says, is the key for making a lasting impression. Here are his three strategies for making the link interesting.
1) Make the link useful
“Send the person content you know will have real educational value. If you don’t have any, create some.”
2) Make it entertaining
“Give the person a reason to smile. People do business with people they like. Help him or her like you.”
3) Make it personal
“Show your new contacts that you are a listener who heard clearly what they had to say when you met.”
If you often forget your business cards like I do, now you can follow Daum’s strategy and make more of a lasting impression on those you meet. And please, send us your interesting links!
(photo credit: Tokyo Social Events via photopin cc)
