Product Description

In Here's My Card, Bob Popyk shows how something as simple as your business card can help you make more sales, create more customers, and increase your business overall. He shows how to use those business cards with a little cleverness and creativity, and how to use them the right way. Networking smarts also help, as the author clearly points out. You also need a plan, a specific goal in mind, and a little creativity as well. There are a raft of these ideas in this easy-to-read, easy-to-implement book.

This interesting book on personal promotion and networking is not as much about designing a card, but on how to use your business card to actually create more business. Exchanging or handing out business cards has become one of the most common forms of introduction, surpassed only by the handshake. As the author states, "If your business card makes the first impresssion, then shouldn't it make a GREAT impression? Otherwise you can just write your name and phone number on the back of a napkin, toss it on a table and leave it at that. You might save a few bucks that way, but you could be losing a lot of new business, repeat business, and more business".

The techniques highlighted in Here's My Card have not only worked for the author, but are a compilation of great ideas from his columns, research from his staff, and input from his audiences at seminars and conventions all over the country.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #545322 in Books
• Published on: 2000-04-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

Review
"Read this book before you even think about handing out another business card."--Harvey Mackay, author of #1 New York Times bestseller Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive

"If you want something to take your business up a notch, this book hit the target dead-center. It might be business card basics, but it's clever networking at its best. Read it before your competition does!"--Lou Holtz, legendary former Notre Dame football coach and author of Winning Every Day

"Wow! This book is the most complete, easy to implement and practical guide for every person who has business cards. It is a banquet of ideas. In fact, it should be required reading for anyone in the business."--Susan RoAne, bestselling author of How to Work a Room, The Secrets of Savvy Networking and What Do I Say Next?

"Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting out, Popyk's straightforward, practical approach gives anyone a chance to succeed. And it's conveniently written so that it can be digested in one sitting or in many small bites."--Terry Lewis, senior vice president, Yamaha Corporation of America

"What a great book! Creative, clever, easy ideas to actually create more business just through simple business card networking. It doesn't matter what business you're in, this book will definitely help you find more customers or clients!"--Vicki Freed, senior vice president, Carnival Cruise Lines
-- Review

Review

About the Author
Bob Popyk is an author and speaker on sales and marketing strategies. He is also president of Bentley-Hall Inc., publishers of the Creative Selling newsletter. His monthly column appears in many national trade and industry magazines.

Customer Reviews

Actually, Here's a Lot More....
Popyk asserts that "Business cards are a start [toward developing a "golden database"]. Personal linking is what makes things happen. If there's no follow-through, nothing happens. That's what this book is really all about." Frankly, until reading it, I really hadn't given sufficient consideration to the potential use of business cards. Of course, I already knew that they are (in Popyk's words) "people linkers" which can be used for "networking, schmoozing, connecting, reaching out, prospecting, selling, and basic advertising." All of us already know that. The great value of Popyk's book is that it reveals all manner of other ways by which business cards can be uniquely and abundantly effective. He shares his observations and suggestions in 97 brief but informative chapters which are organized within three Parts:

Networking Know-How and Business-Card Savvy

Personalized Presentations

Creative Design...It's All in the Cards

The book is exceptionally well-written. There is almost nothing hypothetical or theoretical about Popyk's suggestions. All of his key points are anchored in real-world situations. One of the major value-added benefits is the fact that, once you read his book and re-think your strategies while having someone re-design your business card, you begin to see how essentially the same principles can also be applied to marketing initiatives which create or increase demand for whatever you offer for sale. These same principles can also be of substantial value to the cultivation/solicitation process, especially when there is a lengthy sales cycle and the competition is ferocious. In such a competitive environment in which creating a "circle of leverage" is essential, the business card can be invaluable.

Individuals as well as organizations must constantly differentiate themselves from so many other options. Massive research reveals that, in face-to-face encounters, body language and tone of voice determine 75-80% of our impact, with what we actually say ranking a distant third in importance. A business card can do so much to reinforce positive first impressions. What it looks like and (yes) what it feels like are often more important than the information provided. Time and thought are required to ensure that the card is also appropriate. (Check out Chapter 95 in which Popyk identifies and discusses "The Best Cards to Go to for Examples." ) With all due respect to positive first impressions (which certainly ARE important), then what? Will the material left behind be equally impressive? Will your card be indicative of your style, grace, class, etc.? It will indeed. If there is nothing distinctive about your card, chances are that that will be the "message" it conveys about you.

After reading this book, I had only one regret: That I had not read it before I ordered my first box of business cards many years ago. (I don't even want to think about all the other business cards I have since ordered for myself and my associates.) But to repeat, what Popyk shares has possible applications in virtually all areas of any business operation. Properly designed and produced, a business card can be a "miniature billboard" on display wherever an organization's employees go. (All employees in every organization should have a business card. All of them.) That same card can also be a constant reminder to those employees of their organization's positive values. The cost of a properly designed and produced business card is relatively insignificant. How about the cost of a cheesy business card? If you now carry one, you really don't want to know.

A new business's helper.
You are trying to start a business, you meet people and give them your business card, you get no responses. You are looking for a new job, you hand your card and no response. Doing something wrong? After reading Here's My Card there may be a lot you're doing wrong.

Bob Popyk has given you a great way to meet new people, communicate ideas and get your name out there for others to notice, and it all starts with the business card. Popyk has over 35 years in sales and knows what it takes to get ahead, now he gives his ideas and tricks to you.

Follow along and you'll finds ways to network your business, get more referrals, more customers and increased sales, all this without the use of computers. You business card or people linker as the book refers, will help give you the quality of life you have always dreamed of.

This is not a once read and do book, this is a read over and over and practice book. From Networking know how to personalized presentations to the design of the card, it's all here and waiting for you. The cost is minimal compared to the possibility of what you gain.

This Should Have Been Two Books
Eighty percent of this book is focused on blue collar trades and sales. If you're a plumber, own a small restaurant, or sell cars for a living, this book is primarily for you. The other twenty percent is helpful to white collar professionals (doctors, attorneys, accountants, realtors, etc.). The key is to know which parts apply because inapplicable segments could actually hurt your business if used.

Popyk primarily views business cards as a direct marketing piece, including attaching lottery tickets, coupons, stickers, etc. Repeated phone calls to card recipients who don't respond to voice mail messages is also encouraged in some instances under the theory that persistency pays off. He also recommends taking your card back after you've given it to a prospect who has turned cold. This might work in sales. Most professionals would lose clients applying these tactics.

In contrast to Popyk, Bob Burg's "Endless Referrals" is based on the premise that business cards are given primarily as a means to obtain the other person's business card as part of networking. I've found this approach more realistic as an attorney. For professional networking, Keith Ferrazzi's "Never Eat Alone" is simply the best in print.

That being said, I recommend Popyk's book for everyone. Use what applies and ignore the rest. Just a couple of his ideas applied to your business will provide a handsome return on investment.