Do You Need a Business Card?

Straight from the PopUp Reading Event in The Oracle, Alan talks about the pros and cons of Business Cards.

Note: This transcription has been generated with AI and there may be errors present. 

 

Okay, right. When I asked people what they need to start a business, there’s normally a great big long list of things they need to get going. I kind of put this up, because one of the things that comes up always is the business cards. People say, I need a business card, then I’ll feel like I’m a real business. Just on business cards. I just I really feel quite strongly about them. If you go to an event, and you hand out 100 business cards, and then you go home, what happens? Nothing, nothing. Generally nothing. Maybe someone will ring you eventually? I don’t know. But here’s the bit. If you go meet someone new, and you have a little chat, and they say, Can I have your contact details. You give them the business card, you’ve had a really good chat, they’re interested in buying for you. And you leave it up to them to come back to you. What’s the likelihood that they’re going to follow up? It’s very low. Even if they’re really into it, there’s a chance that they lose the cards, they forget about it when they go home, things like that. So here’s what I do. I don’t have business cards. I haven’t had business cards for about seven years now. I did print 1000 business cards, I gave out a load, nothing really happens. Then I moved to dress. And the rest of them were completely wasted because I had to throw them all away. But here’s what I do. Now. We’ve had a really good chat. The person says, Can I have your details? If I really want to follow up? This is what I do. I go I don’t have one on me. Can I have yours? And guess what they say? Sure. They say sure. I have their details. When we leave and I have their phone number. If I want to follow up, what’s the chances that I will? Like 100%. They’ve given me their mobile number, their email address, and their physical address. I can track them down. I don’t give people my address and wait. If you wait for someone to contact you, how long might you be waiting for? till the cows come home? Yeah, till the cows come home or years or forever. I will never wait for business to come to me. I want to go to the business. So that’s one of the reasons why I don’t think you need business cards to start with. It doesn’t help you get going. Maybe in the future. It’s a good thing I don’t know. But to start with, we need to go and get the customers and bring them to us.