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Depends on the demographic you are interacting with. When networking with other professionals it is probably easier to just scan a QR code to a file of contact information. A quick import and you're already in my contracts.
In terms of being able to leave the information somewhere, cards work well. Attaching to a project portfolio, handing to someone so they can pass it on, leaving as a support contract after a project is complete, etc.
Literally yesterday I was given a business card with a QR code on it haha
When networking it's easier for me to quickly pocket a card and deal with it later than take my phone out and scan a QR code.
I have so e personal and professional cards that also have a qr code on them. It's been a good way to not get lost in an address book with a thousand names
I use paper business cards all the time. They're fun and cheap.
Also, plain boring unimaginatively-designed business cards are so ubiquitous that if you're using a design that's at all interesting yours will easily be way ahead of most of the other business cards people will get.
I once got one made from very thin steel. You could have used it as a weapon in an Asian martial arts movie. But I was really scared of even touching the thing because it was so sharp.
Hacker Kevin Mitnick had a famous metal business card for his computer security firm which was a set of lockpicks. The lockpicks really worked if you knew how to pick locks.
Patrick?
No, this is the Krusty Krab.
Business cards are useless unless they're bone with silian rail lettering
They still make sense for local business, I think. I get and hang on to the service industry cards I get(HVAC, driveway grading, roofing, etc.)
I work at a print shop and produce business cards all the time, like two or three different business card orders on a typical day. Most of my customers are in finance.
Yes, even if it is for just scanning them.
nope, businesses still have them on a local scale. We get them at careers fairs too.
I don't even work in "business" and I have gotten at least 15 business cards in the last year.
Yeah ppl still use them in my expierence
I still use them as well. Feels more professional to hand out a card than to start spelling out my phone number.
I don’t use them often, but I think they’re still useful. Mostly at work meetings and when I’m at conferences, exchanging business cards is probably the easiest way to quickly share contact info
I'm using personal calling cards, so not in a business context. Mine only have the few pieces of information I can trust to never change (name, phone, email) and are made to look very vintage - but have a QR code with the same info on the back, because I know that people want digital.
My overall experience is that it's very convenient in the moment, and leaves an impression of a rare and slightly quirky exchange. I've never had a negative reaction.
If you are going to a convention use a colleagues business cards so they get all the calls and follow-ups from the vendors. I've never done that but one guy kept doing it to others at a place I did part time work for until one year everyone else there did the same thing to him. He finally learned it wasn't as funny as he thought.
For me, yes, cards are still used. I work in transportation. Half the certified companies are small hands-on repair shops, so there's probably a beige office with a real rollodex. Most traveling auditors are semi-retirees so cards are the default, but certainly not required. Most presenters at conferences are from the biggest ~5 companies, fighting each other for market space, so they like handing out cards with a big company logo and their latest job title. I hand them out because this is the first job that provided them to me, so it's been exciting. Plus, people seem to actually like my company. And, with a box of 500, I'm likely to change job titles before I deplete them at this rate.
My industry is not trying to be on the bleeding edge or marketing and buzzwords. Product goes through years of tiered in-service testing before market release. It's all about results, not techy contact scans
I work in healthcare-- cardiology. So I am frequently handing out business cards for cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, interventional cardiologists, and electrophysiology doctors. Most of the patients appreciate them. Of course, most of those patients are older.. Boomer or Xers.
I used them a lot in my previous job. From 2015 through 2019 I was a tech for maritime systems such as radios, radars, autopilot, etc. Most of our customers were commercial clients, and when something doesn't work, knowing who to call saves a lot of time and money.
So whenever I left a ship after a completed technical visit, or commissioning a new bridge system, I left my card.
If I get one I take a picture of it and then throw it away.
Thats okay though ? I thought the idea was to copy the number anyway
I have a box of 500 i got in 2015 with 475 left.
That being said I'm not a salesman that see many new potential customers every week. I got a pile of other peoples business cards in my desk drawer and I've used them a few times to order some parts.
My wife uses them a lot. Puts a discount on it for your first visit.
Not in small business, but I have cards. I rarely use them.
Yes. Also there's a belief among some in sales that by giving something (even something small) to a person, that person will feel like they owe you. BTW not saying I believe this but I've heard it a few times from folks in sales.
This is demonstrably true by experiment, but I think it has to have at least SOME value. Like you can give a drink or buy them a candy bar before you ask for something and they are more likely to donate more money to your cause. It's called "influence debt" I believe and is discussed pretty palatably in "Influence" by Robert Cialdini. Unfortunately I couldn't find my notes on it with a quick search.
In Australia business cards are rare (I cannot remember last time, if ever I have seen one).
Realestate agents and other honourable folk share these still.
Popular in Japan still too, but that is unrelated to the lovely folk previously mentioned.
That absolutely depends. In my experience, business cards are still super important and a polite thing to provide.
I know people that used to hand them out but no one really uses them anymore.
I had a medical specialist hand me one recently and I couldn't pinpoint why it felt weird. I guess because it's so rare.
I have some but on one side are my details and on the other is a QR code with all my details for a phone contact.
I sorta like them but don't like having to have them on me or keep hold of them. So while I like them I don't want to have to deal with them. Still I sorta like having formality like japan in some ways just to make interactions easier.
I've had cool stickers for years and years, each one has a QR on it. People love stickers. I've probably handed out close to a thousand. In that time, I've handed out maybe a dozen business cards. I'm a performer, for context.
It's very context dependent and they don't hurt to have for when you need them, but it's not something most people want unless they have a need for it