Kenny Imuere
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
I am totally disappointed to find out that in 2011 when business cards costs are so low or even possibly you can get them for free, people are still attending seminars, conferences, workshops, dinners and training without a business card.
Even if your card has a different company logo on the back it is ok because like the old saying,'half bread is better than none'. I am saying it is best to have a business card with other company's logo on the back than not to have a business card at all.
Yesterday, I was privilege to attend a business workshop by Prevista in Croydon, London. Who is Prevista? Prevista is an organisation that provides and support business start ups and business owners in London using European money which means their services are free to a degree. There is a cap of 12 hours per client. Before you start thinking or concluding that they are no good? From my experience the service you receive from so called business support agencies or organisations that are government funded totally depends on the business advisor that you engage with and how much experience they have before they started working for the organisation.
Those that have ran their own businesses previously are better positioned to give advice because they have a greater understanding of what it takes to make business succeed and not just focusing on writing a business plan to help you borrow money from the bank without understanding if you will succeed or not. I have to say that the Business Advisor for South East London Dr Tariq Shabbeer, ticks all the boxes of a quality high end business advisor but he is extremely busy as he covers the whole of south east London.
I was totally alarmed to find that some of the attendants yesterday did not have a business/contact card on them. They are supposed to be business people. What a waste of an opportunity? Wouldn't you agree?
How is it a waste? Well, there was a photographer who had her business cards and I have called her this morning with a potential booking for a workshop. Secondly a lady was looking to purchase property, I have called her this morning with details of a property for her to go and view and make a decision on. Who else will call them today or tomorrow? I think the biggest loser for the day was a website and graphic designer who didn't have a business card but there were potentially four people in the group who needs a website. In today's business climate where things are extremely challenging you can't afford to miss any opportunity to do business. It's still a fact that people still only do business with those they know. And by not having a business/contact card how can you begin to build relationships for future transactions.
Really if you are reading this and you do not have a business/contact card please make every effort to have one. Even if you don't have a business yet, you can still create contact card so that people could contact you. A contact card and a business card are very similar the main difference is that a business card has a business name on it.ÔøΩ So your contact card should have the following details: Name, Address, Emails, Mobile, Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin as a minimum. Yes you can add you landline as well but if you are working full time, research shows that most people don't like leaving a message on answering machines but they will in general leave a voicemail as they expect you to return their call at your earliest convenience.
What was really interesting at this event is that people who did not have a business/contact card were from different ethnicity and not just my lovely black people.
Photo Credit to Ago Design
Kennedy Imuere is theÔøΩDirector ofÔøΩSBC Marketing Ltd, a professional Speaker, Trainer, Author, Mentor and Business & Marketing Consultant in the UK.
