Many of us use our smartphones as our second brain nowadays, as well as our wallets. We store boarding passes and travel documents on our phones, use them to pay for lunch, scan QR codes, apply for mortgages and just about everything else.
You might ask yourself, then, if there’s any point in still carrying a walletor in carrying and collecting business cards.
If you go to a conference or networking event you can leave with dozens of cards which leave your wallet looking more like a house-brick. Despite this, though, wallets and business cards will never go out of fashion and here’s why.
Your business card isn’t just your information, it’s a physical extension of your brand
OK, while you can transfer your details between your phones, it’s quite impersonal and there’s no need for physical contact. With a business card, however, there’s a handshake involved and you also get the chance to impress your new contact with the quality of your card and its innovative design. This is something a digital bump can’t do. Being able to touch an expensive business card leaves a big impression.
You can use several apps to scan the information in business cards
Apps like SamCard and CamCard let you scan the physical card, store the details as a functional contact form, not just as a photo. These apps, as well as others like ScanBizCards, use text recognition to convert the printed information (in several languages) into digital information for your phone to keep. This means you can go through the exchange ritual, scan, then leave the event with a lighter (in a good way) wallet.
The more creative a business card is, the more it’ll be shared
If your card is particularly clever or creative – maybe made of laser-cut metal – it’ll be kept around for longer and shown to others (this is where the wallet still comes in…). Not only will people scan it, but they may pass it around for other people to admire and scan.
Having cards also shows you’re ready to go
Just bumping your contact details between phones is a bit soulless. It works, it’s efficient and all that, but it’s the modern-day equivalent of scribbling your details on a scrap of paper. Being able to pull out a well-designed and elegant business card means you’re always ready to be approached and always ready to do business.