Using unique business cards to stand out at conferences
Last week I wrote about my new thinking regarding the benefit of adding your photo to the special business cards you use at conferences. Recently, I spent a couple days speaking and shmoozing in Panama with an especially networking-oriented group of Latin IP lawyers at the_ASIPI_ conference. When I returned home with a hefty stack of business cards, I realized that I remembered much more clearly the conversations I’d had with those lawyers who had added their photos to their business cards.
I learned that many of the ASIPI attorneys had special business cards designed specifically for handing out at conferences and other special networking events. This strategy proved both effective and cost-effective. Smart. Read the blog post here.
An effective conference strategy is to design your business card itself to be memorable.
I’ve written about unusual business cards before, e.g. the clever condom business card used in the 1990s by a Hawaiian comedian/ admiralty lawyer, Jay Friedheim who vows, “Saving Seamen the Old Fashioned Way.” Read about it here.
I received a memorable _ASIPI_ business card from Pablo Kyllmann of Bolivia’s DAK IP law firm. In addition to a traditional business card, he created a special ROUND card just for use at ASIPI and other similar conferences. Following up later, Pablo commented that the recipients remember and retain his unique circular card, often for many years. “People like it; it’s different, it’s original. We’re IP lawyers and wanted a card that connected to our memorable round logo and our unique practice.”
It certainly caught my attention.
Below is Pablo’s traditional card for day-to-day use in Bogota (below). It’s fine. But apart from the unique logo, it’s not especially memorable. And in a networking situation where attendees might collect dozens of business cards each day for 2-4 straight days, standing out and getting remembered can be a challenge. That is, unless you turn your business card into a business-development weapon.
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