First of all, don’t be pushy. I was at a restaurant enjoying a meal with my family one day. I was, quite literally, in the process of raising my fork to my mouth for a bite, when a man came up from behind and shoved his business card between my fork and its intended destination. The fork hits the card and spills food all over my nice new pants, which were later tossed because of the horrid grease stain that would not come out. I’ll give you one guess as to where that man’s card wound up….. humpfffff….. let’s just say it wasn’t in my purse when I left the restaurant.

If you can’t find an opportune moment to present your business card, try asking the other person for their card first. They will almost always respond by asking you for yours.

When you receive the other person’s card, don’t cram it down into your pocket haphazardly. Treat it with respect. Take a few seconds to read it, make a comment about it (“I love your logo,” for example), then place it in your wallet or an attractive business card case.

Remember that your business card helps to determine what the other person remembers about you after your initial meeting. If you want to make an impression that the person is important to you, flip your card over to the back and write your cell phone number. Hand the card to the person with both hands and say, “I wrote my direct line on the back for you.”

This strategy doesn’t cost you a dime, but leaves a big psychological impact. The fact that you gave them a phone number that not everyone is privy to AND the intimate physical gesture of using both hands leaves the person feeling that you must value them above the norm.

As soon as you can do so discreetly, take the other person’s card and jot down a few notes about your encounter. Good things to include are the date, event or place of meeting, common interests that you discovered in conversation, names of spouses or children, and what the other person looked like.

Business cards can be a great (and inexpensive) off-line technique for driving traffic to your shop. Think about it. Everyone you meet is a potential customer, so it doesn’t hurt to keep a supply on hand to pass out like candy. I know that I’ve made more than one sale because I’ve been generous in handing out my business cards.

Make sure that you keep plenty of business cards in your pocket, coat, purse, wallet, briefcase, desk, car, and gym bag. Store them in a nice business card case so that they don’t become stained or torn. Using a business card holder also makes for a more professional appearance than simply fishing one out of a pocket. It’s a little extra psychological touch that shows the other person that you are a serious businessperson.

If your contact information changes or your business cards become stained and torn, replace them immediately. It looks very unprofessional to pass out dirty cards or cards with information scribbled out and corrected by hand.

Another great tip is to include cards with all correspondence. Bills, letters, thank you notes, packages you ship….. you never know who opens it up on the other end. It could be your next potential customer.