Daily Dispatch

Marketing 101

Buried in Business Cards?

By | Aug.11.10 | Daily Dispatch, Marketing & Business Development, Marketing 101, Networking, Rainmaking, Technology

You’re just back from lunch, redolent of Chicken Tikka  Masala and sporting fat jacket pockets lined with the business cards from your new client’s colleagues. Or you’re finally emptying your bags from vacation when…surprise…there’s  the card from the airplane seatmate who said, “Look me up next time you’re in Bangkok.” Now what? Business cards are great. They’re an instant way to ensure contact information is passed on accurately, and a means to communicate your status at the firm without (ahem) bragging. Cards also send a subtle subliminal message about the nature of the bearer’s organization: Blind-embossed creamy ecru double-thick Crane stock? Crooked red thermography on flimsy gray cardstock? This miniscule square of paper says so much about the person it represents—and they’re not going away any time soon. But still…what do you do with business cards in this paperless age? Here are a few ideas:
  • Ask your assistant or secretary (if you are so lucky) to input all the contact information from the stack of cards on your desk into your contact manager of choice. Or get a business card scanner that quickly grabs the data and tosses it into your CRM system.
  • Send an image of the card by snail mail or “e” to CloudContacts so that they can turn them into your own personal database. The service scans, transcribes and exports your business cards into formats that can be used for social networks, e-mail services and CRM systems.
  • Give Evernote a shot. One feature of this popular note-taking, idea-capturing app is that you can slip a special case over the back of your iPhone and instantly snap high-quality close-ups of business cards, which you then tag and store in your Evernote account.

Or you could just keep stuffing people’s cards down in that bottom desk drawer, hoping all the information will still be up-to-date when you finally get around to sorting them out. Right.

Merrilyn Astin Tarlton has been helping lawyers and law firms think differently about the business of practicing law since 1984. She is a Fellow of the College of Law Practice Management, among the first inductees to the Legal Marketing Association Hall of Fame and Adjunct at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.

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2 Responses to “Buried in Business Cards?”

  1. Claudia Johnson
    9 December 2010 at 8:05 pm #

    If you participate in linked in, one really great habit is to invite folks [you meet] to link in with you. This way, you can see what they are doing over time, and stay connected and then you can ditch the card. It helps you remove the clutter and stay connected.

  2. Paul C. Easton
    10 December 2010 at 7:32 am #

    I’ve just started using an app for the iPhone called CardMunch. Unlike programs that attempt to OCR and automatically data enter the information into your contacts list, it transmits it to the company’s servers and a live person completes it. It isn’t instant gratification, but generally the turn around is under 30 minutes. It costs 20 cents (USD) per card, but it is worth it in the time saved.

    I also tried eContacts Pro, which is a similar service but I prefer the user interface of CardMunch and its integration with Linked In. I also like how it maintains your business cards in a separate database. You can chose to add a captured card to your address book, but are not forced to. You don’t necessarily want to all cards added to your address book. For example, if you have a pile of cards from a trade show, you can quickly capture them with CardMunch and process them (follow-up, delete, add to contacts) latter.

    If you have to deal with a lot of business cards and use an iPhone (e.g. if you go to a lot of trade shows), you should really check this app out.