Recently, photos of Chinese entrepreneur Chen Guangbiao, and his notorious business cards, went viral on the internet.
Some said the claims made on the recycling king’s business cards, such as “Most Prominent Philanthropist of China”, “China Moral Leader” and “China Earthquake Rescue Hero”, were slightly immodest.
Of course, your humble correspondent fails to see what the big deal is. Mine reads: “Old Taskmaster: Ubermensch, supermodel, horse whisperer, orchestral composer and guitar genius, world champion athlete, philanthropist, humanitarian of the millennium, mentor and hero to millions, Michelin Star chef, role model for children of all ages, paragon of all moral virtue, most beloved president for life of Eurasia, salesperson of the century, superlative specimen of humility, superior carpentry skills, mostly harmless, honest list maker, getting it done – today!”
Okay, one or two claims on both of those cards might have been slight exaggerations. But they certainly do gain attention!
Now, some kids these days say you no longer need to have business cards – that social media will do the work for you.
Well, Sonny Jim Crockett, when you’re at a business networking event, a sales meeting with a customer or perhaps a potential investor, you can’t just hand them your LinkedIn account to fold up and put in their jacket pocket, now can you?!
Oh gees, if only there were some way to conveniently hand them the information to access your social media accounts and online profiles at a time that’s convenient to them. Perhaps you could pre-print this information on some sort of convenient pocket sized piece of card – a “business card”, if you will.
And, if nothing else, handing out business cards makes your business look far more professional. Just like formal dinners that say “cocktail dress” on the invitation, you might still get in to the restaurant if you turn up in runners, jeans and a dirty t-shirt, but you certainly won’t make the best possible impression on your potential business partners.
So to those who honestly say you don’t need business cards, Old Taskmaster says “go drink your milk and quit your yammering – you’ll be pooped before bedtime, little tiger, and then there’ll be tears!”
Now we’ve established the need for professional-looking business cards, the question is whether you have any good ones handy?
Does yours look professional and, in some way, memorable? If your local chamber of commerce organised a dinner and someone collected all the business cards there, would yours look professional yet still stand out?
Or are you thinking of starting a business? Perhaps you’re thinking about stationary and other consumables you’ll need?
In either case, you need to get some professional yet memorable business cards printed up. Because even in the age of social media, there’s no good reason not to have any.
Now get off my lawn, you young hooligan!
Get it done – today!
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
