Friend and colleague, Christine Hamiltion-Pennell of Growing Local Economies, recently asked what I did with all the business cards I collect. Here's what I told her:
After I follow up with e-mails, hand-written notes, or phone calls, I decide which contacts I want to maintain. I enter those into my contact management system (I use Outlook), making sure I include notes about where we met and anything else I may want to track.I also schedule a task in Outlook that will remind me to follow up on a regular basis. Then I toss the cards into the recycling container.
I don't like to keep cards around because they add to the clutter, but I make sure they get entered into my system. What do you do with the business cards you collect from your networking activites?
Think strategy: I tried many designs, and found simple to work very well. In addition to design, one of the most important components is your strategy. I found this strategy to distribute the cards very helpful. Read: http://tinyurl.com/lbh2ac
Posted by: Juicy | July 14, 2009 at 06:26 PM