Business Cards

We've got Facebook,Twitter,email,IM,texts, faxes (Faxes? Really,still? Yes!) and the good old cell phone just to name a few ways besides talking to each face to face to communicate. How does one pass on all this info to prospective clients,patients,agents,customers and/or sexual partners? Why, the bearer of all important contact info called 'The Business Card",that's how. I happened to see a site one day (Business Card to Business Blog) devoted to these magical business icons and the site owner (Reno Lovison) was asking for submissions (guest blogs) on the subject. Well, I just happen to use these little gems and I have a father who bleeds the ink his are printed with, so here's my contribution.




I was excited about my first business card. I had been doing stand-up comedy for a few years and the business card that said BRIAN T SHIRLEY COMEDIAN made the whole thing seem official.

I still get a kick out of my new stack of business cards. Because of business cards and wanting to make mine stand out, I put Comedian/Philosopher on the third or fourth batch of cards. I almost always got a laugh from people when they read that and now that’s the title of my website. If I had never gotten business cards, I don’t think that would have happened. My card’s now a little more fancy than they used to be, but not too fancy.

My Dad complained about the effects of his networking with business cards. One day he lamented that he would hand his cards out, then sometime later see the same people who he had given his card to at the ballpark, or the Elks Lodge or somewhere else. These people had not called on him for business, yet they possessed his card with all his contact information on the front very easily read and understood. This perplexed and aggravated my Dad terribly. I told him the next time he came into contact with one of these non-contractors, give them another business card. My father questioned the wisdom of such a move and asked me what he should say in the event that one of these folks brought up the fact that they already had one of his cards. I informed my father that he should reply that he knows they have one of his business cards, but it must not be working properly because he has not heard from them. Then say, this replacement card is from a new batch and he’s positive it will work as he’s tested some of them himself.

Thanks to Reno and here's the link to his site:  http://businesscardtobusiness.com/blog/