When do you give someone your business card?

I’m sure this will sound familiar: You are at a networking event talking with someone, or listening to the speaker. Someone comes up to you and hands you their business card and walks away.

Or:

You are at a networking dinner (or lunch or breakfast) and someone comes around and puts their business card at each place on your table without saying anything to you and then goes away again.

Just about everyone will agree, this isn’t making the most of networking. If you’re anything like me, that business card will simply be thrown in the bin! What a waste of a card.

For many business mums, the question is “So, when do I hand out my business card?”

That really depends on the event. As a general rule, if you haven’t been speaking with someone and engaging with them, don’t hand out a card. When you are speaking with someone, you may want to exchange business cards generally at the end of the conversation, unless another opportunity arises.

If it doesn’t come up naturally, you can suggest exchanging business cards.

Other places to hand out your business card include:

• dropping them in for prize draws
• including them with inserts for goodie bags
• including them with packages you send out
• handing them to other parents when they ask for your details to organise play dates

These are just some basic tips to get you started with handing out business cards. In essence, to get the most out of your networking and your business cards, use them wisely and give them to people who are likely to contact you.