No matter how much I enjoy communicating with others online via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and other social media platforms (including this blog), I still think the most powerful connection you can make with someone is face to face.
I’ve always liked attending conferences, trade shows and networking events, making new friends and meeting new people, shaking hands and schmoozing.
I appreciate the camaraderie of being under the same roof with a group of like-minded professionals.
I take comfort in knowing that I’m not alone as a businessman and entrepreneur, that we’re all in this together, literally smack dab in the middle of the same basic search for new leads, new resources, new allies and new opportunities to succeed.
And if you ask me, there’s something very special about the exchange of business cards. It’s an age-old ritual, a tradition remarkably still alive given today’s relaxed code of conduct among networkers and the fact that we’re all so easy to find in this Internet day and age.
Yes, the printed business card may still live strong in this electronic era, but what’s on it has changed. Thanks to social media, there are a multitude of ways to reach people now, many of which should be included on people’s cards.
What’s on your business card? On the new ones I bought recently at VistaPrint, I included my home office address, my email address and my mobile phone number, of course. But I also added my Twitter handle and the URLs to my blog, my LinkedIn profile and my Facebook Fan Page.
Sure, that’s a lot of outposts and touch points (seven if you’re counting), but I want people to know that they can reach me in a number of different ways.
For the convenience of my network, I want to be omnipresent.
So the next time you order a new set of business cards, think carefully about what contact information you want to share with others. Your business card may be just a small piece of paper, but you can use it to make a very big impression and prompt those on the receiving end to follow you online.
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1st off, I fully agree that a “face to face” interaction is the most valuable. I also agree that it is certainly essential to have each and every point of contact on your business card – phone, email, twitter, facebook, linkedin, etc. That way, as you network, the people you meet see that you are reachable in a variety of different ways. They may choose to contact you by telephone – or perhaps by LinkedIn – or even Twitter. It is accommodating to everyone.