Buh-Bye Business Cards–Hello Dropcard

I read this post about the importance of remembering to bring business cards to business and social functions and was surprised neither the author nor any of the commenters knew about Dropcard.

I may not be the most eco-friendly person on the planet, but I do hate paper and try to have as little of it as possible in my life. (Would you believe I used to be the program manager for printing and writing papers at the American Forest & Paper Association?) This includes bills, bank statements, medical claims, appointments and, of course, business cards.

(Aside: I know I’m jinxing myself by saying this but, despite the fact that when I hold my Treo I literally hold my life in my hand by virtue of the fact that it is the sole container of my calendar and my address book, I have never synched it and if it dies or I lose it, there goes every contact and calendar appointment forever. I need to remedy this before the worst actually happens and I have to slit my throat over the loss of all my vital information.)

At any rate, with Dropcard, you create a virtual business card that you can email to anyone right from your phone. You just send a text with the intended recipient’s email address to a number specified by Dropcard and your business card is magically sent to them. The dropcard is formatted to look like a real business card, and can include not only your traditional contact information, but your social networking details as well (LinkedIn, Twitter, etc). You can also create a personal card if you want to include different information for social purposes, such as your home address, phone number, email, etc.

And don’t forget–if you ask someone for their card and they say they’ll send you a dropcard, don’t forget to do the white thing and say “Hey, thanks. Sincerely, The Earth.”