#44: My business card starts conversations

by on November 17, 2005

I made some custom business cards and Lyndon of Laszlo was the first to upload it. It is a custom card done by Hugh Macleod. I’ve handed hundreds of them out in the past three weeks. Almost every time I hand it to someone they say “that’s cool.”

I often then get asked “how did you get that past the branding police?” Shhhh, don’t tell anyone. ;-)

The story behind the card is that Hugh penned that for me over lunch at the Reboot conference. Thanks, Hugh! Yes, I tell people I’m on the HughTrain.

I highly believe a business card should start a conversation and be memorable. So many of the ones I get are boring. What are you doing to make your business card memorable? Other things I’ve done? Gotten my business cards punched in braille. Why is that good? It’s easy to find your card in your pocket cause it feels very distinctive. Another card I had was done in a distinctive rubbery material. Matt Mullenweg told me he wanted to use that material and couldn’t find it anywhere.

What things do you do with business cards?

  • I thought having Braille on your card was standard Microsoft policy. It reminded me of the elevator buttons at the National Institues of Health in Bethesda, MD, where I spent a summer as an intern. Is this practice common in American office buildings?

    - - -

    I just received my first batch of business cards at my new job (at a motoring media company, totalcar.hu)--there's a huge blank space between my name and the company logo, which I'm going to fill with kindergarten-style drawings of cars (the style is mostly a function of my drawing skills having ceased development at around age 6). Should be fun!
  • Peter: that's an optional thing. Most employees don't even know it's an option.
  • Christopher Coulter
    I have "collector" MFST cards when they went thru and stamped that rainbowish .NET on everything, hahhaha. MFST Education and Tablet PC guys cards with not even the product name or divison stamped on the card. I guess I am the only one that finds that amusing. Maybe someday I will give the whole batch to Adam Barr, MFST's unofficial historian. :)
  • Christopher: you think that's confusing? You should see all the Google cards I've collected lately. For the most part they don't say what group or product they work on.
  • Mike
    How can I get a Hugh designed card? I've been reading GapingVoid as long as I can remember and would love one!
  • um... very nice, but what purpose does that business card serve?

    Is it because you are so well googled up that people can look you up easily?

    What about folks who don't use computers?

    Or are there more details on the other side?

    I would have thought business cards were primarily to give people your contact details...?
  • I went the other way with the paper on my new ones--smooth as silk. It's an interesting feel. And my new logo is a conversation starter--always asked "what is it". I have no idea, but you can get a good rappor going just speculating, and that gives you a good feeling for the person you've just handed your card t. The logo's the same as on my main site; you can see the proofs at http://www.rjdudley.com/blog/Picked+Up+My+New+L....
  • Aaron Prenot
    I know of a company here in Colorado Springs that recycles used X-Ray films and makes them into business cards. That way you get a nice clearish-blue colored waterproof card!
  • Here are some things IDEO thought of,
    http://www.ideo.com/identity/introduction.htm.

    My favorites are the Seed Card and the Card Pyre.
  • kim
    A couple do's/don'ts I've seen:

    - Someone I know did biz cards that looked like old punchcards - and made them out of metal. Very cool looking, until you cut your finger on them! It actually happened to a couple people!

    - A game designer I know had a game design printed on the back; A game to play at conferences with business cars while sitting at the pub at the end of the day. I thought it was brilliant (think of a poker mod - my 3 lead developers beats your pair of bizdevs!)

    I do agree that they should be a conversation starter. I also think they should indicate what you do, where you work, what your areas of responsibilities are. The former shouldn't outweigh the latter.

    My 2c,
  • frankp: my info is on the back of the card.
  • Robert, I like that black, rubbery card you gave me at the Seattle WP meetup. Very cool card!
  • I've never received a Scoble business card, but I did get a jacket at Mind Camp that says "Longhorn" on it, thought that was pretty cool even though it felt a bit like he was clearing out old inventory lol
  • ah, in that case they're excellent :)

    thanks for explaining!
  • XpressPrint is an online business printing company specializing in Full Color Business Cards.
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