Do you have a Business Card?

Yesterday, Debbe and I took time out of the office to attend a seminar up in the wilds of North Yorkshire.

We often attend these short, one off seminars as a means of keeping our skills and knowledge up to date in a specific field of expertise or skill-set.

This particular seminar concentrated on the concepts of direct marketing with an emphasis on postal mailings and email marketing. The event proved to be useful with many of the techniques being of actual practical use (which makes a change). Added to this the whole thing was FREE (a concept close to my heart)!

All in all it was a good session particularly as the presenter had a good style of delivery which helped what could have been a very dry subject, bounce along quite merrily.

Subject matter aside; one of the great aspects of these sorts of seminars or events is that a whole cross section of business types tend to go along. This is turn gives rise to some great business networking opportunities.

Many a client we’ve managed to acquire from such events. For example I can recall three clients we picked up from an exhibition I once attended at Wetherby racecourse some years back. However, these three clients weren’t other attendees at this exhibition; they were three of the exhibitors. Funny how these things work isn’t it?

Another client we acquired (one of our largest to be honest) was picked up during my now brother-in-law’s Stag Night some 2 years ago. One of his friends is the managing director of a large engineering group who was unhappy with his company’s current web designers and wanted to change. Just shows you where you can meet people.

Back to yesterday.

Any sort of interaction with other business owners, whether it is at a training event, seminar or exhibition; should always be perceived as a potential business networking opportunity which could lead directly to some new business, a new supplier or an ambassador for your business.

Like any networking event planned or unplanned, you should always go equipped with an open mind, a pen, a smile and a willingness to listen to other people and not forgetting the essential pocketful of business cards.

So it always astounds me, like many of the attendees at yesterday’s seminar, why people don’t take a supply of business cards with them to a potential business generating opportunity.

Do you Have a Business Card?

There were some interesting businesses there yesterday offering services that I or my associates/clients/friends/family may need now or if not now, in the future. However if I don’t have a point of reference to jog my memory when the time arises, in the form of a business card; how on earth am I going to remember who they are, what they do or how I may contact them again without one of their cards in my drawer?

The mind boggles.

Whether this is done out of naivety because no one’s said “take your business cards with you” or whether it’s stupidity I’m not sure (I suspect it’s the former). Either way, the moral of this story is “always carry your business cards”. Even to the supermarket – you never know who you’ll be standing next to in the checkout queue!