The Personal Business Card

“Always carry a business card. You never know when you're going to meet someone who needs your help.”

-        Thomas Edison

I know, I know…this is old school.  Get with the current technology and just pass your contact information via touching phones or blue tooth connections.  Better yet, in this age of technology you can find anyone out on the internet.  Use technology!

I’m going to argue that technology has its place, but so does paper.  This is old school salesmanship, but how do people remember you, how do you create your brand, what differentiates you, and what helps you be seen as a professional?

Create your own personal business card and have it with you all the time.  This is how you introduce yourself and have something to hand to the people you meet.  This is something that they will likely keep with themselves and put on a stack on their desk.  It is small enough that it isn’t asking too much for them to hold on to. It is also something they may pass along to someone else in their network.  Or they may toss it in the circular file (garbage).  Each card will have its own journey, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

This is also a great way to introduce yourself during a job interview.  Most of the time the person interviewing you will hand you their business card at some point in the interview, and then it can be a bit awkward when you get their card and don’t have anything to hand to them in return.  It becomes a reminder that they have a job and that you don’t currently have one.  By having your own business card, you show them that you are confident, prepared and professional.  First impressions matter.

How do you make one?   There are countless internet sites that are waiting to help you with this.  You can spend $10 to $100 on the cards depending on where you go, how fast you want them and what decisions you make about the qualities of the card.   You can use templates they have for you, or you can have fun making your own.  Remember, this is helping you make your first impression.  Use a quality paper stock, be professional with the look and add some color and/or image to avoid a stark blank look.

What goes on the card?  Take a few key things off your ‘1-Pager’.

• Name.

• A short sentence about your professional identity or state the business function you want to be a part of (Finance, Sales, etc.).   You don’t currently have a title, so give yourself a general statement about what you do.  ‘An accomplished…X…executive with …X… background’.  10 words or less.

• Contact information: phone number, e-mail address, Linked In page, etc.

• Add some professional graphic to one side of the card, like a globe, a computer terminal, an industry symbol, etc.  You can also add a border around the edges of the card to help it feel more finished.  Don’t let it be a white card with a couple words on it. 

• Printing something on both sides is not required, but I like the look with something on both sides.  Could be just a professional image, just your name or some combination.

• You don’t need a business name or to be a ‘consultant’.  The ‘consultant’ angle is double edged…on the one hand it shows that you have initiative and value to bring, but it may raise the question of your long-term loyalty’s or potential to work multiple jobs at once.  The final decision on this topic is a personal preference, so make it your own.

• The rest is up to you.  Don’t over think it.  Simple and professional.

 Do you get the idea that I suggest you create a business card?  Take the 30 minutes and make yourself a personal, professional business card, and make it your own.  It will help you in the job transition process.

Pull a personal friend or relative that you ‘trust’ into the process to help create, brainstorm, edit and do a final review of your personal business card.

Here is a fun upside.  Once you have landed your next role, this personal business card will be something that you find around your home office or in a drawer at some point down the road.  It will evoke a smile from yourself at that time as you recall your time in this process.