If you're unemployed, get a business card
For some reason a lot of people fail to act on an obvious fact: A business card (or personal calling card) is just as important as a resume. Why do I say this? Because if you are doing real business or hoping to connect with people in a meaningful way, you need to connect with them in the real world. A business card helps you do that.
Here are three big reasons for you to get a card if you don't have one:
- You want people to call you or at least e-mail you. How are they going to do that if you don't have a card handy?
- A business card tells your prospect or potential employer who you are and what you do. If they need what you have, and your card is handy in their wallet, who do you think they're going to call? They're going to call you before they start Googling. People appreciate the personal touch believe it or not.
- Having your card ready to go gives you a boost of confidence. It makes you feel like a professional, even if you're not working.
Three basic design principles:
- Put your contact information on the card, not all of it, just where you want to be contacted. If you do not want new contacts to call your cell phone, leave that information out. Less is actually more. I put only my website, city, and business telephone on my card. If they want to e-mail me, they can do it through the contact form on my website, and I tell that to everyone I meet. The last thing I want is more cell phone calls or to be put on more spam lists.
- State exactly what you do on your card. If you design websites, say so. Do not leave anything to chance. Be direct. You can give yourself a fun title, but make sure the prospect knows exactly what you do. Never assume that they'll figure it out.
- Your card is a piece of you. Do not do it yourself. For under $30, you can get a thousand professionally offset-printed cards on nice paper with your own logo. You can design these right on the internet in minutes. A few days later, you will have your cards.
When you get your cards, get out there and talk to a lot of people, and hand a card to everyone you talk to. You'll get better results than you might imagine!
Questions and Answers
Last week, I started my Business Card Resume series talking about how goal setting as the most important step for running an efficient job hunt. You have to have clearly written career goals.
the many strategies you can employ with your business cards for job hunting
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