The next era of business cards is approaching and for a lot of people it might not include paper.
Instead I envision a future where business cards are living, breathing reflections of who you are and what you’re achieving. Based on yesterday’s article about the democratization of apps, I have every reason to believe that the next business card may be an app. Of course developers will have to come up with some sort of universally capable app to make this truly practical, but imagine the following:
You’re at a business event with another professional. You have an iPhone and he has Android. Instead of pulling out a paper card that may or may not get lost in that person’s pocket, you bump their phone against yours and give them your living, breathing mobile business card. Because developing for different mobile operating systems will have become similar to designing different code for Internet Explorer and Mozilla, your business card will work on your new contact’s Android.
When he wants to refer to your details he opens the app and finds not only your phone number and email, but a series updates on what you’re doing, what you’re thinking about, and more. What’s nice for you is the fact that these updates are automatic feeds. This business card isn’t another channel to tend to, it’s an aggregate feed of your Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media activities (on an approval basis).
These updates help your new contact learn more about you than a piece of paper ever could. They provide him with information on what you’re thinking about and gives him potential touch points for how he can reach you most effectively.
This is not only an extension of the branded individual, but a continuation of our trends toward more social interactions and absolute sharing. Your next business card could be an entirely different animal.