How To Effectively Use Your Business Cards To Generate Opportunities
Your business cards do not belong in your wallet. Hand them out to everyone you know and maximize on their ability to help you network with key contacts.
Whether you are employed or you run your own business, handing out business cards to any contacts you meet is a great way to market yourself and your business. As a job seeker, you should consider them as a brand and get into the habit of attaching your business card to your resumé. You can generate a lot of opportunities for yourself based on how you use your cards. There are several great tips that can help you to maximize opportunities using your business cards. The first tip is to always ensure you have your cards on you. This way, in case of any chance meetings with key contacts, you will be prepared to sell yourself.
The second tip is to be generous with your cards. Do not segregate who you give your card to. Everyone you meet knows a few other people you don’t know. If you give your sister your business card for instance and she happens to meet someone who knows of a great opportunity, she will simply give your card to the new contact and out of the blue, you will receive a call that could change your life. Do not hoard your cards. Share them with everyone you know and soon enough, people with opportunity will come knocking. You can ensure you have enough supply of business cards by business card printing online services.
The third business card tip is to learn proper card etiquette. If you give your card and not bother to ask for one back, you will look uninterested in the other person. It’s good etiquette to ask the other person for their card. After you are given a card, look at it for some time before you put it in your card holder. Just by looking at the card, you could actually come up with interesting things to discuss about your contact. Before you put away the card, write at the back any points that will jog your memory about your encounter with your contact. This will show the other person that you are sincerely interested in them and it might prompt them to do you a good turn.
The fourth tip that will help you to maximize the power of your business cards is to always ask for a referral whenever you are giving your card to someone. Instead of giving them one card, give them two or three and politely ask them in a conversational tone to do you a favor and refer someone else to your services. For your contact to find it easy to sell your services to other people, make sure your card has a good corporate business card design. Lastly, do not ignore people you meet at social events. As a business person, you could meet a new investor at a party hosted by a friend and start a fruitful business relationship.
