Your business card should do two things:

• Reveal both your name and your face – so that people who don’t remember your name can connect your friendly and helpful attitude with your face.
• Reveal what you do. If you sell real estate, say where or specify your niche. If you’re an engineer, tell what kind of engineer. If you’re a writer, let them know what kind. For example: Novels, poetry, news, or marketing copy.

Once you have that informative card – give it away to as many people as you can. Here are some ideas:

Start with people you meet in social situations. You don’t have to be pushy about it, just hand them a card and say something friendly and non-threatening. For instance, “Get in touch any time you want to know what’s going on in our market.”

Do the same for people you chat with when you’re shopping or doing errands. For instance, the grocery store checker, the bank teller, and the pharmacist.

And then…

When you pay a local bill by mail, put a card in the envelope.

When you leave a nice tip – leave your card with it.

When you volunteer to help with a project and will need to be in touch with other volunteers, give each of them your card. You don’t even have to mention your business, it’s just the easiest way to give them all the contact information they need.

When you meet with your child’s teacher, give him or her your card. Again – it’s a good way to provide your contact information.

Give your card to the providers you pay – like your doctor, dentist, hairdresser, mechanic, dog groomer, and veterinarian. And remember the people who mow the lawn, clean the house, service the pool, and wash the windows.

Every one of those people is a potential source of business, and you should never assume that they know what you do for a living.

That’s good – those sites help you connect with old friends and helps remind them of what you do. When you’re mentioning your business on Facebook now and then, your friends can’t hire someone else and then say “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were in that business.”

That’s the up side. But there is a dark side. In fact, there are a few dark sides.

When you put so much of your personal information out there for the world to see, it’s also there for a thief to steal. This fact came home to me recently when my telephone was “slammed” by a third party business.

When I called to put a stop to it, the person from the 3rd party company said “But you signed up for this service.” No, I had not, but he read back all my information, just as if it had been me signing up for the service. The only thing he got wrong was my place of birth.

I don’t know if it was the company itself doing the slamming, or if was an affiliate hoping to earn income by assuming my identity to sign up for the service. Either way, it was an inconvenience to deal with getting it off my bill.

Next, competitors or those who do not wish you well can use the personal information they find about you to set up bogus websites that appear to be yours, but which present you in a bad light.

The most serious danger for most people, however, is the danger of posting the wrong thing on line – and hurting themselves!

People tend to forget that anyone in the world can see what they write on line. And if someone is interested in using your services – either as a freelancer or as a person to hire for a permanent position – they ARE looking on line for information about you.

Nasty comments about bosses or co-workers will come back to bite you. So will discussions about drugs or drinking – or meetings with someone else’s spouse. Don’t ever post anything that you don’t want bosses, co-workers, clients, parents, grandparents, children, friends, spouses, or the neighborhood gossip to know.

A real estate agent told of how she got a new listing recently. She knew she was one of two agents who were being interviewed and her appointment was first. So when she finished her presentation and the homeowner indicated that they would sign the listing, she was surprised. She said “I thought you had an appointment to meet with another agent this afternoon.” The wife spoke up and said “No, we canceled that. She’s an alcoholic.”

She probably wasn’t, but they had checked her out on Facebook and every photo she had posted showed her holding a drink in her hand and looking tipsy.

I don’t suppose one or two photos with a drink would have hurt her chances of being hired. But that agent should have included a few others to dilute the effect.

Remember – every word and every photo you place on the Internet is there for all to see – and it will probably still be there for your grand-children to see. So don’t say or do anything that will cost you your job, your friends, or your children’s respect.

But very few do. That is, unless you ask them to.

And, since most of us are a bit shy, have the idea that asking is pushy, or feel like asking is the same as begging and saying we don’t have enough business – most of us don’t ask.

This is something we need to overcome if we want our businesses to grow. So the trick is to develop a way to ask that feels good – or at least doesn’t feel too uncomfortable.

One way is to simply put a notice on your website saying “We welcome referrals.” According to a study I just read, real estate agents who did that got an average of 62% more referrals than those who didn’t. So that simple website addition is a good start.

But not everyone visits your website. If the people are past real estate clients, they don’t have much need to visit you until they next time they want to buy or sell. And if you’re in a different kind of business and they’re happy clients who are using your services regularly, they probably don’t need to visit your site to see what you have to offer. They already know.

That means you need to reach out to them – either in person or by mail or e-mail.

But of course, you don’t want to write just for the purpose of making a request. You need some other excuse. So why not start sending a newsletter to all your past clients?

If you’re a real estate sales person, it’s easy. Almost everyone is interested in what the market is doing, especially now that it’s gotten so wild. You can send a monthly update – or even a quarterly update.

Of course, you can do more than just send market news – writing a monthly newsletter can be a lot of fun if you include quotes, or a poem, or a puzzle. People like unusual household hints and “business gossip,” too. So if you know why they’re excavating that lot down in the middle of town and you tell them, they’ll feel like they’ve got inside information.

Whatever your business, there’s some kind of information that your past clients – or present clients – will find interesting.

If you don’t want to write a newsletter, you could send short holiday greetings. Not just for the holidays coming up right now, but for Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Groundhog Day, etc.

But… what will you say about the referrals? Just keep it short and sweet.

“I love and appreciate referrals – so if you have a friend or family member who needs (whatever you do) please give them my name and number. I promise to give them exceptional service!”

Or, “Since I enjoyed working with you, I know I’d enjoy working with your friends and family. If any of them need help with please give them my name and number.”

Or “Know someone who needs help with (what you do)? Send me their name and number and I’ll give them a call.”

Since people tend to read the P.S. before the body of the letter, that might just be the perfect place for your referral request.

Asking in person…

Keep a supply of business cards in your pocket, and every time you have a conversation, hand one out while making your request. Just say something like “Call me any time you need help with (what you do). And if you have friends who need me, write your name on the card and give it to them. Then I’ll know who to thank for the referral.”

The bottom line is to always offer your assistance, not just ask for business.

They might even offer to let you work for them for free in order to build your reputation, your portfolio, your experience, etc.

Phooey on that! If you love what you’re doing, and you’re good at it, you don’t need to work for peanuts. And you don’t need to give anyone a reason to think you will.

It’s true that you can’t cite years of experience or present a vast porfolio, so don’t talk about that at all. Talk about what you can do for your prospective clients, and how well you will do it.

The real estate agent who was licensed two months ago can still talk about her knowledge of the community, his dedication to returning calls promptly, her expertise in preparing attention-getting flyers and on-line home tours, and his listening or negotiating skills.

If you’ve just begun a business in graphic design, or copywriting, or landscaping, or dog obedience training, in addition to the schooling you took to hone your skills, you have something that came before that made you get into that business. Use that experience and expertise to show the benefits you’ll bring to your customers.

Each person has something special to offer – so concentrate on the value you bring, not on the fact that you’re new.

Always, always, always remember that your marketing message isn’t about you – it’s about the benefits you offer to your customers. The sooner you forget how to say “I” the better your marketing will be.

(Yes, with the exception of your “about me” page on the web… but even there, don’t go overboard!)

Good marketing!

Marte