MattBrowne.com

Ya know, I’ve been doing a lot thinking about the simple question, ‘to carry business cards, or not to carry business cards.’

For some it’s not even thought. It a corporate requirement, or right of self passage, or whatever. You don’t think about these things. And don’t want to. And you probably should abandon this post now. For those that don’t take certain assumptions for granted, you’re my kind of people. That said, I’ve always been the kind of person that hated carrying business cards.

I liked the thought of remaining incognito; if someone wanted to find me they had to put for a little bit of effort into it. I liked that. That subtle barrier kept out people that weren’t motivated beyond arms reach, which allowed me to focus my energy being proactive, charting my own course.

And then it went from incognito to just plain lazy. In the era of Twitter, I found it quite convenient that 6 characters separates you from my identity and complete contact information – aka “sdMatt”. So, I relied heavily on that. I have to admit, I’ve been fearless about not having cards. Some people would get embarrassed, not me. Never. If I ever ran into the situation where it was obvious I should have had a card, I just shrug it off. “I ran out…” I’d say… thinking, I ran out without cards on purpose.

Really, I never cared about the title on cards. It just didn’t matter. I’ve funded a business with a multimillion dollar valuation, I’ve cash flowed another business doing hundreds of thousands in revenue, and I’ve never needed a card to get by. Never. Not once. In fact, many startups form before branding, colors, card stock, and code.. they start on a napkin or a white board. It’s all about ideas. “And ideas don’t have cards…” I’d tell myself.

Maybe my renegade status is waining, because for the first time in my business career I am excited about ordering some cards. And not because I’ve succumb to the doldrums of a public company, far from it. Because I’ve changed my perspective on the business card.

Business cards are viral.

When I realized this, cards became avant garde again.

Here’s the thing. When someone asks for your business card in person, there’s usually three or four other people around. When someone asks for your card in front of other people, those individuals are likely to say, “hey can I get one of those too?”

And there by taking your card through a viral expansion loop. You do that 10-20 times throughout a tradeshow, and that’s how you can run through more cards than you brought.

It must be my 30′s, but I am long passed worrying about being incognito. I can take comfort in knowing that others know how to get a hold of me easily. Overall, yes- I’ll say it- I am being more responsible.

So, I am going to mix it up and try something new. I think am going to roll with standard size Moo cards, because I love that company and I can count on the cardstock, print quality, and price. (Plus, they’re giving away 50 free cards, ATM)

Oh, and If you see me out and about, be sure to ask me for my card. I’ll know you read this post and I’ll smile.

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Tagged: business cards, viral loop