I’ve been without business cards for about seven months now, and I’m finally gotten around to getting new ones printed. In doing so, I realized I wanted my Twitter address on my card. Last time I had some printed, at the end of 2005, I don’t even think I had a Twitter account! But now, I was amazed to realize that Twitter has become so important to me as a communication tool that I wanted it included along with my “old school” contact info such as a snail mail address, phone number and email.
OK, despite my headline, I’m sure few believe listing their Twitter address as mandatory information a business card. Still, was I alone in feeling I should include it? Apparently not. I twitted about getting it added and got a stream of responses from people who were doing the same, such as:
- jtobin @dannysullivan Brian Chappell (@brianchappell) wants me to reprint his cards b/c they don’t have his Twitter name on them. It’s a trend.
- chriswinfield @dannysullivan was thinking the same thing yesterday about biz cards & twitter
- Matt_Siltala @dannysullivan glad I am not the only one http://www.kewlurl.com/twitter
- rickgalan @dannysullivan i was impressed by the back of @leeodden‘s business card.. just says @leeodden in big letters
- ciaranj @dannysullivan I used to have blog, linkedin, email & mob. Ditched linkedin last time I did ‘em. All on front with @gapinvoid ‘toon on back
- chiropractic @dannysullivan @JohnCarcutt had one of the best (first) cards I’d seen w/social profiles. Great model to follow.
- melbolton @dannysullivan I started putting my twitter handle on my cards a few months back, got some giggles initially but added followers
- khalidh @dannysullivan I just added my twitter id to biz cards as well
- kid_disco @dannysullivan @chriswinfield @Ciaran – Front: http://bkite.com/04iPX & Back: http://bkite.com/04iQ0
Ah, but where to fit in my address? I felt like my card was already crowded enough with my ordinary information, but the back was open and free. Rex Hammock shared a good example shared a good example of what he does with his social profiles for the back of his card:
I pondered listing all my social networking profiles on the back as well, similar to what I do with the sidebar here on the blog. But I figured minimalist would work for me. Hit my blog, all my profiles are listed there. But Twitter among the rest stood out as special for me, deserving its own place.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I had the same thought a while back :.)
https://twitter.com/toddmintz/statuses/803824022
Was just researching this for my company and found your post. We haven’t integrated a “Twitter field” into our business card templates yet, but am wondering if just replacing the “fax field” might be a good spot on most business cards. Does anyone use a fax anymore?
I also like your idea of adding social networks, profiles, blogs and other links on the back of the card.
Putting any of the social networking on a card is not the best idea in the world. They are coming and going way too fast. The better option is to get people to go to a contact page on your site that is dynamic so you can add/remove the social networks as you move around. Twitter is cool and fun – but it is far from something the majority of people in this world have. I’d rather you use a more extensive and stable means to communicate with me anyways.
I had a post on this awhile back:
http://stopdoingnothing.com/2009/04/09/why-i-wont-put-my-twitter-address-on-my-business-card/
@Patrick.. I will post on your blog too. I had already built the page, but wow… what a brilliant idea. I had too much information on my card… now I just have a URL.
so minimalist, and so much control. SO well done. Thank you.
Including social media on your business card is a great idea! Meet-Meme connects the online and offline worlds. Check it out… http://www.meet-meme.com/
I was just looking for examples and read this post. I think it’s interesting Patrick said in Feb 2010 that these social networks may come and go – but Twitter, FB and Lin have all grown stronger.
I think both twitter and FB are worth of being on your business card, linkedin should be in that category too being a more professional network, but it’s barely an area to communicate like the others.
Also agree with omitting the fax number – In the last 12 months we’ve received 2 faxes – both direct mail!