Networking via Social Media & Not w/ Business Cards

I’m kinda blogging backward here because I haven’t shared with you yet my hysterectomy story. The whole surgery and recovery have been more intensive than I expected!

I finally feel like I’m on the mend and can recap the entire experience to share with you here soon.

(You can check out this post about my hysterectomy surgery update HERE.)

Women Doing Business At The Beach

I was invited pre-surgery to speak at this first-ever event, Women Doing Business At The Beach. The Women’s Forum Of Coastal Virginia hosted the event with Virginia Beach Economic Development.

Economic Development awarded my then brick and mortar business with a community development award back in 2015!

This event took place two weeks post-surgery for me, and I was part of a panel of three women sharing our stories of how to stand out in today’s digital age.

The two women in my group spoke about stand out video and leading with your superhero story.

I talked about making meaningful connections online. This topic is my favorite because it’s every reason why I’ve pivoted from retail store owner to speaker, business coach, influencer and entrepreneur today.

Pro speaking tip

It’s always the easiest to talk about first-hand experiences— what you already know. Typically, no note cards are needed! I love to share what I did that worked and how you can make the same moves in your business to duplicate the same success!

One thing that stood out to me during the day’s expo was how I was networking with my social media pages and not with my business cards (and I’ve got really fancy business cards!). An eye-opening experience, as I just recently considered designing and purchasing new cards.

No need! Having forgotten to re-stock my purse, I came with one card that I gave out to one person.

The rest of the many women that I connected with followed my social media pages right away and never asked me to hand them a card!

When I thought about it, I flash my traditional cards a lot less than in previous years.

Social media has changed the way that we connect with colleagues and conduct business, and business cards are no exception to these changes.

Connecting via social media

Nowadays, my Instagram bio or my LinkedIn profile is my business card and beyond.

Carefully curated, these online advantages offer more than a few lines on a 2″x3″ card-stock frame.

Now it’s more of a portfolio of experience and expertise that we can share, with audience ratings and feedback, too (i.e., likes and comments)!

We should take full advantage of this!

Pro social media bio tip

Your social media bio is your new business card in the digital age. With only 150 characters to use (give or take by the platform), make sure to make each one count.

Your bio should tell this story: who you are, what you do and why it matters to anyone reading it. Comparatively, your paper business card should tell the same story, too.

It’s not uncommon for me to change purses and forget my business cards anyway, as I did on this day. But now, in today’s digital age, I’m always prepared by default— and bonus, I’m saving the trees along the way!

I’ll be adding this article and that tidbit to my LinkedIn page HERE. 😉