3 steps to creating your business card system

Website design By BotEap.comToday I would like to help you with one of the most insidious office creatures out there. In almost every home or office I land in, these annoyances are taking up prime space on desks, lurking in file drawers, and cluttering cabinets. Oh yeah, you guessed it! The business card that’s always there, but never when you need it.

Website design By BotEap.comWhat can a busy professional do with these pesky pieces of paper when there are roughly 1 million more important things to worry about? Turns out it’s easier than you think.

Website design By BotEap.comCorner Your Collection: The first step is to collect all your cards. Get them out of the inside of your bag, under your keyboard, and from the various hot spots where they tend to land.

Website design By BotEap.comDo an Initial Sort: With each card, ask, “Why am I keeping this?” Follow the guide below to divide them into two main piles. The key here is to separate the actionable information from the cards that are purely for reference and here’s how to approach it:

Website design By BotEap.comYou may need this card to reference at some point – put it in the ‘Reference’ stack

Website design By BotEap.comI need to follow up with this person / add him to my mailing list, etc. – Put on the stack ‘Action’

Website design By BotEap.comI don’t need this card at all. I’m throwing it away. – Throw!

Website design By BotEap.comCreate a “home” for your contacts – The final step in creating your business card system is to create a “home” for your contacts. I’ve listed some great options below and there are many more, so be sure to find something that works well for you. Here are my favorite recommendations.

Website design By BotEap.comHigh sophistication: Automated CRM system

Website design By BotEap.comThis works best if you need an automated reminder system for prospects and you like to have a centralized and easily retrievable way of storing ALL of your contacts, both in action and referrals.

• Zoho / CRM
• Google Apps / Insightly App
• ACT! software
• Outlook / BCM
• Excel Spreadsheet – Click here to download a free Prospect Tracker Excel template.
• Evernote – Take a photo of the card and send it to your digital notebook and it is automatically searchable.
• Shoeboxed.com: Send all your cards and they will send you an Excel spreadsheet complete with all your contact information.
• The Container Store
• Ziploc bag
• The source of the paper
• Box world

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Website design By BotEap.comAdditional impact: I recommend that you delegate the task of entering contacts into your database system. This will ensure that the system is kept up-to-date and usable and that your time is spent on higher impact tasks.

Website design By BotEap.comMedium sophistication: Electronic filing system

Website design By BotEap.comThis option is for those who like to have contact information stored digitally, but it doesn’t need to be automated or overly complex.

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Website design By BotEap.comAdditional impact: Some people decide that only very specific types of people enter their electronic database. The rest are thrown or stored in a separate area (see The Pretty Box Method below).

Website design By BotEap.comLow sophistication: The pretty box method

Website design By BotEap.comThis is the way to go if your collection is small, you don’t access your cards very often, or you have no desire to deal with them right now, but you may want to do it someday.

Website design By BotEap.comFind a box or container that you like to look at and keep it on or near your desk. Drop your cards as you collect them. That’s! This approach is for your reference stack only, as it’s best to keep your letters actionable with other actionable papers.

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Website design By BotEap.comAdditional impact: Separate your cards inside your box based on how you think of each person. For example, I keep the cards together from each of my networking groups, different events, my personal providers, etc. because that’s how I remember them. Start sorting and the system will pop up. There is no right or wrong way to do this folks, just be consistent.