ANDRE BEGIN

I’ll never forget the way my heart was beating through my chest when my very first set of business cards was presented to me.

Even though the memory of the mountain of the paperwork I completed to officially join the organization was still vivid, there was still something about this little piece of cardboard with my name, my title and my contact information that made it feel even more tangible.

I recalled the expression from the world of entertainment when actors and actresses mentioned “seeing their name up in lights” on a movie or a theatre marquee. To me, this 2 inch by 3 1/2 inch piece of recycled cardboard was my marquee.

I was now truly – and literally – a card-carrying member of the team.

With the business cards also came a feeling of professionalism and credibility. I now had the same tool that my colleagues had in being able to hand these out as a form of introduction at any meeting. I could also hand these out when offering a point of contact for follow-up questions and discussions. It was about building and maintaining partnerships.

By keeping a few in the breast pocket of my business jacket, I was also ready for any networking function to get my name circulating and building my professional reputation as an interested, engaged and committed team player.

Business cards weren’t a huge investment but they served as validation that management believed in me and felt strongly enough to produce 100 of these little cards showing my name and the organization’s name in the same space. With that connection established, in writing, business cards made me feel accepted and part of the organization.

I’d even go so far as to say that for me, imposter syndrome was lessened by these little cards that helped my subconscious process the idea that this career was now part of me and my identity.

A few years later, when computers started appearing on every desk, followed by access to email and web-based technology, business card use seemed to be on the decline when finding people online became significantly easier. Fortunately, by that point, seeing my name on a business card didn’t hold the same power as it did as when I first started.

But to my surprise, in retirement, business cards are in my life again.

In launching my second career as a full-time writer, it was one thing to mention “writer” in my online profile information. But to invest my own money in a set of business cards, I had to dig deeply for the confidence, assertiveness and conviction even just to place the order. But once I did, I knew that it was not just an ego thing. Even though I had been working up to this moment for many years, putting it in print made it real.

It was as much FOR me as it was ABOUT me.

What precipitated the purchase was meeting someone who had contacts in the writing community. Even though business cards may seem old fashioned by today’s standards, previous experience sold me on the merits of getting a card in circulation as a way of promote oneself and heightening one’s visibility to capitalize on a “you never know” moment.

When I picked up the cards, I admit that I stared at them for a while despite the hours I had spent overthinking every combination of images, fonts and font sizes. But seeing the finished product helped me realize, “Wow! This is really happening!”

Psychologically, I was processing the change and adjusting to my new role and title in life, while getting some distance from the career that was tied to my identity for more than three decades.

To articulate my new role in life on business cards and to actually pay to have them printed was a big first step. To confidently hand them out to strangers took getting used to.

What I didn’t expect was the beginning of an expectation of myself to live up to what I was promoting. It wasn’t a huge concern as I was writing daily, but now that the word was out, I didn’t want to let anyone down, least of all myself.

I don’t think business cards are about vanity. At least, they weren’t for me.

They were about hard work, networking, marketing and visibility. My business cards also serve as a reminder that I am where I wanted to be in pursuing my dreams, goals and plans as a writer and to not take this golden opportunity for granted.

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Sincere thanks for reading!
Have a great day,
André