Dec 09
30
Network Business Card
One of the tools for networking in your job search or entrepreneurial venture is a network or business card. I initially had my street address on the cards I had printed last year but when I had new ones printed recently I decided to drop the address, and formatted it a bit differently, it is a completely different design than what I was using last year, my situation has changed so the card needed to change as well.
For those of you in transition and seeking a new opportunity, there are a few things at minimum that I think should be on the card:
- Name
- Title or a your main competencies
- Email address
- Valid current phone number(s)
- Web page (if you have a blog or web page you host yourself, you may want to put it on your card)
- Your social media site profile addresses (I’ve seen more recently on cards LinkedIn profiles in particular but if you’re on other sites such as twitter, or facebook you can have that on your card as well)
I’m attaching an image of my current card for an example, I use Vistaprint but there are other printing services out there such as iPrint.com or a local print shop as well.
One thing that I got on my last order and it was only a couple more dollars was an electronic copy of my card, that I can attach to emails using Outlook, that is the representation that you see below, with the phone numbers blanked out.
I’ve found it gives a bit more professional touch than the card that’s created in an email when you click to add “Business Card” in Outlook. I delete the card pasted in the email by Outlook but leave my contact information .vcf file attached. This way someone I email will have my current contact information and can save it in their contacts.
You may notice the email address on the card being a bit different, and I will explain about that in another post. I’ve had people question it thinking it was a mis-print or wrong, but it is correct.
One other tip for those in transition, if you happen to have business cards from your old employer - do not use them when you are out networking and seeking a new position, having to write other contact information on an old card just doesn’t look right, and I feel you’d only be hurting yourself by giving an old business card to someone new. Spend a few dollars and get new cards printed, even if you buy business card stock and print a simple card on your home computer.
What are some other items you would add to your card? How about the back of the card? Blank or some other information? Please comment below.