What Info Goes On The Card

Yesterday’s entry brought several comments and emails. Today I’m going to continue this topic of business cards for conferences. As I emphasized yesterday, it’s important to have one.

Like many other things in our culture, you choose what information you include on your business cards. You can look at the entry card of your address book to see the various possibilities such as name, occupation, company, address, phone, fax, email, and website. You determine whether you want to include all of this information or not.

On this recent trip, I collected a wide array of responses. One ASJA member has a simple black and white card with her name, several titles which begin with the phrase “Award-winning,” the address for her blog, her phone number and her email address.  This card doesn’t have any physical address to announce her location.

If you are new to the writing world or changing careers from a different world, you don’t have to put an occupation.  For example, if you are an aspiring novelist without any publishing credits, you can still create a business card with your name, address, phone number and email address.  The card gives you something to exchange and a point of contact with the editor or other writers. It will help your networking abilities at such gatherings.

Through the years, I’ve exchanged hundreds of business cards with people.  If it’s someone I will likely want to reconnect with after the conference, then I’ve learned to quickly look at the card and see if it contains everything that I need on the card. Admittedly it’s a bit difficult if I don’t have my glasses on (one of the hazards of aging).  Often if the card is missing an email address, I will ask for it on the spot—and the writer will often add it to the card and hand it back to me.

Last week I met a screenwriter who told fascinating stories at a meal during the conference. We exchanged business cards and I noticed he didn’t include his email address. He told me, “I don’t have email or an Internet connection.” Then he launched into his rationale for it. OK, it told me some additional information about this writers.

Bottom line is that you control the information on the card. If you want to use a post office box instead of your physical mailing address, then you have such a choice. If you don’t want to include your phone number but don’t mind receiving email, you determine the information. For this past set of conferences, I created a color business card to promote my book, Book Proposals That Sell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success. The book is brand new and barely out, so I included the website for the book and also the ISBN and the price of the paperback. Then someone could take the card into their local bookstore, and order the book.

Every business card has a different purpose. Don’t be overly concerned about the information. The most important aspect is to have a business card to exchange at a conference.