Business etiquette: 10 reasons to switch to digital business cards
Discover the practical reasons and numerous benefits in switching to digital business cards. Unveil the 10 distinct advantages that emerged from this change, from environmental responsibility to positive impacts on your business. Uncover the evolution of business card etiquette, tracing their origins from ancient China to their pivotal role in the 17th-century European high society. We will dissect the contemporary business landscape's reliance on paper business cards, which amounts to 7 billion printed annually, contributing to massive paper waste.
Paper business cards have been around for a long time, since the 17th century. Today, people all over the world print around 7 billion business cards every year. But what do they do with them? They read them, retype the information — and then throw them away. That's like 7 million tons of paper waste, with a lifespan as short as a mayfly.
Because when you give someone a paper business card, it's like forcing them to play a game where they have to correctly retype lots of small print numbers and letters into their phones later.
However, there's a better way to do business — without using these paper cards. In fact, you can turn this change into your advantage.
Sometimes, we may stand out of the crowd and getting a competitive edge by just tweaking old habits and by challenging stubborn traditions. We may get an innovative image by something so simple — like changing our view on the business cards. Surprisingly, this invention has a centuries-long history…
The business cards history
We may trace the first business cards back to old China and the 15th century. They were actually visiting cards. They were used to announce the intention to visit a person or a household. Cards were left at the door, allowing the resident to decide whether or not they agree to a meeting. If they declined, it was not right into the face of the visitor. So nobody lost their dignity and there was no reason for a deadly kung-fu match. But these early visiting cards are considered to be the origin of today’s business cards.
In 17th century Europe, the so-called calling cards emerged in use rapidly. High society members used their cards to contact their peers. And a strict etiquette evolved for presenting the cards to the household and for providing a reply.
These cards become so important those days, that the person’s status and position in society were assessed and judged by the appearance of their card. A badly crafted card could spell bad luck for the owner — while well-designed cards could have helped them to climb the social ladder with ease.
But probably the most prominent forerunner to modern business card were the trade cards. The companies began to use these cards to advertise their store locations and services in the late 17th and early 18th century. The cards were handed out in public spaces to establish trade relationships and rise the company’s name awareness. The trade cards were taken very seriously — and a signed card would be considered a legally binding business obligation.
But it was in the 19th century when business cards turned into the self-promotional tools as we know them today.
Also the printing techniques made possible to produce them in large quantities, allowing businesses to push their contact details to potential clients, customers and collaborators. Moreover, the industrial revolution loosened the strict etiquette surrounding the distribution of business cards. Now, it was much easier to hand them over to the prospects and business partners.
The paper trouble
These days, business cards come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Getting business cards is so much embedded in the corporate — or general business — culture. The paper business cards have been used to share contact details for decades. But when somebody gives you a business card, you have to retype it into your phone. And once you are done with that — you throw that card away. There is no other point in keeping it.
When you give somebody your card you basically force them to go through this unpleasant procedure to digitize your paper business card. So why not to save them the trouble?
Why not to make sure that they actually store every piece of the contact detail you want to share? Because one day you may pop up in their search for a certain job title, certain location or instagram profile. Which could mean a business opportunity, a job offer, or just an invitation for an event.
10 reasons for digital business cards
So here are 10 reasons why digital cards are superior to paper cards:
#1 The cool factor. If you want to impress your business partners as modern and innovative, what could be better than starting the first interaction by actually showing something cool, modern and innovative?
#2 Save the hustle. Because they need your contacts digitally in their phones anyway, let’s spare their thumbs and the retyping exercise.
#3 Share more information. Unlike on paper, you can share more information, including links to various social media. Nobody would bother to retype long links otherwise manually.
#4 Always ready. If you need to share your contact on the go, the digital card in your phone is always at hand. Not many people carry paper cards in a beach bar, right?
#5 They will not loose it. The trouble with paper cards is that they can be lost. You give it to some prospects — and they don’t call you just because they put your your card somewhere and forgot. But once they store it immediately into their phones — you get it.
#6 Update your data instantly. When you have a new number, job title, you were knighted, or anything alike — you may change it instantly and with zero costs.
#7 Multiple versions. Depending on who you meet, you may tweak the amount of information you want to share. You may have one card with just phone number and email, another with full credentials.
#8 The costs. They are way cheaper, if not completely free. If you are managing a company, just do the math, depending on the number of your eligible employees. And if you are self-employed and starting your business, you can save the money for something better.
#9 Never run out of them. Unlike with those paper ones, you cannot run of the digital business card. Large conferences or unexpected meet-ups are no problem.
#10 The environment responsibility. Those 7 million tons of paper cards every year is a scary number. So it makes me feel better knowing that I am not adding my piece and rather behave more responsively.
Summary
I have been using digital business cards for more than 5 years now. And my experience has been overly positive. People perceive them as something cool and innovative — an image that you typically want to create anyway. I have been able to use them with business partners from both sides of the spectrum, ranging from traditional corporate environment to more informal startups and self-employed professionals.
The business etiquette is not carved into the stone. It evolves and I found out that it’s ready for this change. A change which may actually help your business — and save some of those 7 billion paper cards. What do you think? Are you ready to make the change?