I just ordered a new set of printed business cards. Did I waste my money on this time-tested marketing and networking tool? Are they going the way of the dinosaur these days? I have noticed more and more people not having them. The LA Times wrote this week about the trend of people turning away from business cards. "Your business card is your website," one young business owner said. Read that story here.
But maybe the business card as we know it is just evolving. Maybe a combination of printed cards, digital cards and storage capabilities, a website and just being open to reaching people in different ways is what we all need.
What do you think? What kind of cards, apps or services are you using these days?
Today my guest columnist is Jorge Cordova of WSI Digital Experts. He explores this topic and writes about some great digital tools. His post is below:
By Jorge Cordova
If you worked in an office environment as recently as twenty years ago, you might remember your sense of surprise when telexes, typewriters and fax machines reached obsolescence in relatively short periods of time.
Could printed business cards be next?
Printed cards date back to the reign of Louis XIV in France. Though they remain predominant in the business world, today even the most beautifully designed business card says “old school.” If you are looking to refresh your company’s image, cater to a younger market or simply want to impress your clients, you’ll probably want to consider mobile marketing replacements for the traditional business card.
Here are three which I have found most popular and useful:
Bump. As the name implies, instead of exchanging business cards, you literally bump your smart phone with the person you want to exchange contact information with. The free app on your phone senses a bump, sends your contact data to the Bump servers in the cloud and transmits it to the phone that bumped yours. One plus is that it’s multi-platform so an iPhone could bump a Blackberry, for example.
Cloudcard. Instead of sending a digital contact, Cloudcard allows you to send a personalized iPhone or Android app to the recipient. The app icon can be your picture or company logo. Your personalized app can include your contact information, a map to your business, link to your website, and even a video. Cloudcard is not free, it is currently priced at $3.00 a month.
Card Munch. For those still dealing with a lot of printed business cards, this may be the best option. It is a free LinkedIn iPhone app which allows you to take a photo of the business card and it will be transcribed, associated to their LinkedIn profile and show you what connections you have in common. Unfortunately though, it’s not available for Blackberry or Android phones.
King Louis would be happy to know that it might be a bit early too say adieu to your paper cards, but if you are looking for a “wow” factor, there are a growing list of options at your disposal.
Jorge Cordova has worked in electronic commerce for more than 15 years and is currently a Digital Marketing Consultant for WSI Digital Experts. You can follow him on Twitter: @WSI_JCordova or contact by email jcordova@wsidigitalexperts.com.
Read Jorge's earlier post on Pinterest here.