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Staples, the office supply chain, reports with some surprise that demand for business cards has surged, with double-digit growth over the past three years. Vistaprint, a large online printing company, sells more business cards than almost any other product. Office Depot also reports growing sales.
Still if 1000 people were using business cards last year and 10,000,000 were not, then double digit growth means at least 1100 people are using business cards now.
It might be like saying "The number of 90 year old women who purchased ukuleles exploded and has increased 25%" Why? Because last year, four 90 year old women bought them, this year five 90 year old women bought them.
Still if 1000 people were using business cards last year and 10,000,000 were not, then double digit growth means at least 1100 people are using business cards now.
It might be like saying "The number of 90 year old women who purchased ukuleles exploded and has increased 25%" Why? Because last year, four 90 year old women bought them, this year five 90 year old women bought them.
Sure, you can spin anything you want to support an argument. But the fact that it is increasing in itself certainly is an indicator that instead of becoming obsolete they are actually moving in the other direction.
It would be one thing if the article said something along the lines of "after many years of decline there was suddently an increase". But it didn't.
Most CEO/VPs under 60 wouldn't ask for a business card - they'd have a smartphone/electronic device.
And if you did hand them a business card, the first thing he or anyone else would do with it is transcribe the information on it into an electronic file and then THROW THE BUSINESS CARD IN THE TRASH.
It's not about cards to archive information in perpetuity (I remember filing them in special Rolodexes), but as a means of passing information very quickly. They're absolutely essential for networking and if you're looking for a job you really should have one.
The person or his/her assistant will have to transcribe the information anyway. Typing into a smart phone is tedious and can lead to mistakes. It's very easy to misspell a name or switch digits in a phone number. My boss often goes to a meeting and comes back with 5 or 10 cards for me to put into Outlook, which is then synced with his Blackberry.
Until phones can transfer v-cards instantly (which I'm sure people Blackberry and Apple are working on), you still need a business card.
Of course the cards end up in the trash, but that does not mean that they did not fulfill a useful purpose.
Or to drop in bowls at restaurants to win a free lunch.
FYI, I found out that most of those are scams by outfits trying to sell some service. I dropped my card into one of those fishbowls and "won" a free lunch at a nice local restaurant for myself and 10 friends/co-workers. It was sponsored by Ameriprise Financial, and the guy talked to us while we ate about signing up for his expensive financial consulting service (from what I could gather between chewing was I'd pay hundreds of dollars for the guy to say "pay down debt, get a Roth IRA, and check your credit report often).
We got a nice meal, but then he kept calling and e-mailing me for weeks because none of us had been interested in his service.
I also found out that everyone who throws their card in the bowl "wins" the free lunch. Ameriprise pays the restaurant, and the restaurant makes out okay.
It's not about cards to archive information in perpetuity (I remember filing them in special Rolodexes), but as a means of passing information very quickly. They're absolutely essential for networking and if you're looking for a job you really should have one.
The person or his/her assistant will have to transcribe the information anyway. Typing into a smart phone is tedious and can lead to mistakes. It's very easy to misspell a name or switch digits in a phone number. My boss often goes to a meeting and comes back with 5 or 10 cards for me to put into Outlook, which is then synced with his Blackberry.
Until phones can transfer v-cards instantly (which I'm sure people Blackberry and Apple are working on), you still need a business card.
Of course the cards end up in the trash, but that does not mean that they did not fulfill a useful purpose.
[snipped]
We got a nice meal, but then he kept calling and e-mailing me for weeks because none of us had been interested in his service.
And that's why I have a Google Voice phone # and "junk" email
account. If anyone calls with whom I'd rather not talk with, I
simply mark their number to a "Block" status - if they call the
number, they'll get a message: "The number you have reached
is not in service". And anytime I sign up for something requiring
an email, I give them my "junk" email address, so that I can
set a filter for the sender to "move to Trash".
Some smart phones will actually scan a business card directly. So if someone goes to a meeting with 30 people think how much easier it woud be to take about a minute to get 30 people's contact information vs. having to type all that in on a phone.
FYI, I found out that most of those are scams by outfits trying to sell some service. I dropped my card into one of those fishbowls and "won" a free lunch at a nice local restaurant for myself and 10 friends/co-workers. It was sponsored by Ameriprise Financial, and the guy talked to us while we ate about signing up for his expensive financial consulting service (from what I could gather between chewing was I'd pay hundreds of dollars for the guy to say "pay down debt, get a Roth IRA, and check your credit report often).
We got a nice meal, but then he kept calling and e-mailing me for weeks because none of us had been interested in his service.
I also found out that everyone who throws their card in the bowl "wins" the free lunch. Ameriprise pays the restaurant, and the restaurant makes out okay.
I guess I have been lucky (or unlucky depending on your point of view). I've dropped lots of cards, never got a call about them.
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