How many business cards have you given out over the years? How many have you received? Hundreds? Thousands? Tens of thousands? How many of those people do you stay in touch with on a regular basis?/ You could probably count them on your fingers. The rest were the people who were happy to give you their card during a few magic moments when your lives crossed. And then they were gone. Vanished. Never heard from again. Maybe you did business with them. Maybe you didn't. Maybe there was a reason, even if it was fleeting. Now if all of those people who gave you all of those cards don't call, don't write, or don't contact you in any way, think of the enormous opportunity you have if you contact them. You do the networking. You do the schmoozing. You develop and maintain your own platinum pipeline. You control your own golden database that could result in a lifetime supply of business. Business cards are a start. Personal linking is what makes things happen. If there's no follow-through, nothing happens. That's what this book is really about.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"Probably the very best book on business card networking ever written!" -- Norm Poltenson, The Business Journal
"Read this book before you even think about handing out another business card!" -- Harvey Mackay, author of the #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 hits 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
"Entertaining, practical, clever, creative, and especially BELIEVABLE advice for increasing business through business card networking. Here is more of the Popyk magic at its best!" -- Bob Moffit, vice-president, Kawasaki Motors Corp.
"Wow! This book is the most complete, easy to implement and practical guide for every person who has business cards. Its a banquet of ideas. In fact, it should be required reading for anyone in business." -- Susan RoAne, bestselling author of How to Work a Room and The Secrets of Savvy Networking
"Bob Popyk has turned a simple business card into a multi-faceted marketing tool. After reading Here's My Card, you'll certainly stop and think of the opportunities which abound next time you hand someone your card. Great material for every sales and marketing professional!" -- Dennis M. Houlihan, president, Roland Corporation U.S.
"Read this book before you even think about handing out another business card!" -- Harvey Mackay, author of the #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 hits 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
"Entertaining, practical, clever, creative, and especially BELIEVABLE advice for increasing business through business card networking. Here is more of the Popyk magic at its best!" -- Bob Moffit, vice-president, Kawasaki Motors Corp.
"Wow! This book is the most complete, easy to implement and practical guide for every person who has business cards. Its a banquet of ideas. In fact, it should be required reading for anyone in business." -- Susan RoAne, bestselling author of How to Work a Room and The Secrets of Savvy Networking
"Bob Popyk has turned a simple business card into a multi-faceted marketing tool. After reading Here's My Card, you'll certainly stop and think of the opportunities which abound next time you hand someone your card. Great material for every sales and marketing professional!" -- Dennis M. Houlihan, president, Roland Corporation U.S.
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.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
32 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
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.
34 of 35 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
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.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
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.
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.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Cheap Marketing Tips
I liked this book. Not a large book and certainly easy to read. Not every tip is right for me but the few I did like, really make sense. Interesting book... Read more
Published on September 10, 2007 by Alan W. Erickson
Good networking tips!
A book with some good suggestions for networking. Your card is your best tool - this shows you how to use it.
Published on May 12, 2007 by Gerald A. Lewis
Required reading
Wow, this book should be given to every graduate entering the workforce along with their diploma. Not just about cards, but also contains business etiquette, marketing tips and... Read more
Published on May 13, 2006 by Mary Sugar
SOME EXCELLENT IDEAS IN AN EASY-TO-READ BOOK!
If you are looking for some good ideas on using your business card to find (or stay in touch with) customers, this is a perfect book for your library. Read more
Published on April 4, 2006 by Robert Pletcher
It was Okay - That's the best I could do...Just Okay
I agree with a previous reviewer who stated "It was too basic...this is stuff any college kid would know. Read more
Published on March 25, 2006 by Nicole Walker
Easy to read
In some sense if you read Popyk's columns about selling, you may already know the vast majority of the information in this book: his Acknowledgments section notes that his readers... Read more
Published on December 10, 2005 by Lynellen Perry
Poor job...
This is a basic book of general common sense regarding business cards that any college kid would even know. Read more
Published on December 7, 2005 by NYU MBA
Point Taken
I found all kinds of interesting tips on designing a new business card. These are mostly no brainers...ie... be proud of it! When meeting people... Read more
Published on September 3, 2005 by L. Harkinson
"Old Dog Learns New Tricks!"
Bob Popyk is an old "telephone friend," meaning we've never met in person, but he's bought/recommended my "The Closers" sales training books, etc. Read more
Published on April 7, 2005 by Ben Gay III
BETTER THAN A SCIENTIFIC STUDY...REAL DOWN TO EARTH IDEAS
I read this book. It was exactly what I was looking for. How to get more business using my business cards. No stupid studies, graphs, charts or scientific BS. Read more
Published on September 18, 2003 by Jack Miller
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