I met this young guy the other day … turns out he was a “content writer.” Since I hire writers from time to time I asked for his business card. He stood there and for five minutes told me why Internet marketers didn’t NEED business cards. I vaguely recollect that he was on LinkedIn and had his own website were the top two reasons why he didn’t need a card.
The main gist in his litany of excuses was that because Internet marketers were on the Internet (duh) they didn’t need to market in the real world.
WRONG. STUPID. SHORT SIGHTED.
The thing is, he actually expected me to remember his name … and remember the name of his website, which was different from his name.
He actually thought I would look him up on Google. OK … tell me this BOZO … if I can’t remember your name how am I supposed to look you up?
I’m sure SOME of you have had this experience. You are introduced to someone … and three seconds later you can’t remember their name. Has that EVER happened to you?
Houston, We HAVE A PROBLEM.
The bottom line? Don’t be STUPID. You could be losing business because you don’t have business cards. Get yourself a nice big stack of business cards. Business Cards are still one of the CHEAPEST forms of marketing and advertising there is.
So … I know you’re going to say, why didn’t we just hook up our phones?
We did … his name was now on my list of 325 other names. If I can’t remember his name, how can I search for it?
Here is a real life example of a Super Smart Entrepreneur.
Over a year ago I went to a friends place. She was having a ladies “pamper night,” and had hired a hairdresser, and a manicurist. She had purchased dozens of do-it-yourself facial kits so we could all plaster green goo on our faces and laugh at our own embarrassment.
Long story shortened … The hairdresser was amazing. She gave a little gift bag filed with goodies to take home. The package included her business card, which was as high quality as she was.
I put her name into my phone’s address list.
A month later, my hair was a mess. I remembered her FACE but not her name. I remembered her business card and quickly flipped through my Rolodex (yes … a Rolodex) There she was. I went through this process another two times before I managed to imprint her name on my brain, and before I made adjustments to my smart phone address file so I could look her up under any number of tags.
People Will Just Throw My Business Card Away … So Why Bother?
Yes, they might. There are more dreadful things happening in this world. And if they do .. so what? You can get 1000 cards for $20 if you want to go cheap. That’s two cents a card.
You could also go crazy and have some fun with your cards. Create a card that people will keep forever.
Watch this … you will laugh, wack your head against the refrigerator and laugh again. How can YOU make yourself memorable?
I know that some of you might have something to say. I’m listening! Go ahead and post a photo of your card.
PS. The most money I ever made in four days was the result of a business card!
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