Smart Ideas: Inventor’s Business cards?
Are business cards still relevant today? Many say yes! Despite Covid, remote working, the new normal and techno-advances they still seem to be irreplaceable! And now for something new there is the Inventor’s Business Card … almost as impactful as a mini-sell sheet. Think about it! Like a butterfly with a limited lifespan, they glow for just as long as they need to and then, once your information has been captured elsewhere and they find themselves relegated to file 13, it won’t really matter. The impact they had just when you needed them far outlasts how long they lie around.
• They can make a quick and favourable first branding impression • They can enhance inventor credibility by creating a sense of professionalism and legitimacy for your product or for yourself as an Inventor or Product Developer • They deliver contact information with ease in a neat and useful way – all parties you deal with from patent attorneys to designers to prototypers to manufacturers and more • You usually exchange a business card with a handshake and that means a lot and even if you are still dealing remotely with people, that trustful handshake behind your word is implied. • You expose your product (if you are ready to do so) and your inventor’s card may enhance your personal brand and/or readily recognised product • In most countries business cards exchanged are part of the ‘doing business ritual’ and this is certainly the case at each step of the way on your invention journey • A modern well-designed and quality-printed business card is an effective marketing tool and holds its own against SEO, email marketing and social media • They help with referrals especially if you note down services you both offer to inventors or need from them – you can let them do the selling for you! • They help build trust and the idea of personal service • They are excellent for networking and spreading the product word • They can be used to ‘meet’ someone or start a business conversation at tradeshows and networking events • They are a lasting reminder, and you remember this door swings both ways … you want to keep the useful cards you collect as well as hand yours out.
In today’s virtual world that is gradually returning to in-face opportunities to meet, the inventor’s business card has become significant because it can do things for you that technology can’t. Print some soon.