| Vom Thema belegte Seiten: [1 2] > | Poll: Do you think today, in the Internet age, it is necessary to have business cards? Initiator des Themas: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you think today, in the Internet age, it is necessary to have business cards?".
This poll was originally submitted by Claudia Vicens Burow. View the poll results »
| | | | Kay Denney 
Frankreich
Local time: 19:05
Französisch > Englisch
Two weeks ago I would have responded with "definitely", having landed a new client after slipping them one at a party.
Now that I'm having problems with that client (as in the thread many of you have responded to), I'm not so sure!
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 13:05
Englisch > Spanisch
+ ...
| Similar questions | Nov 15, 2017 |
Giving and receiving a business card, even though it's a recent tradition (XIX century, I believe) is about building a social activity, because it began as a social activity. They were called calling cards in the past as they were used to 'call on' or visit someone. In some languages, they're still called calling cards.
As the social animals we are, we use other elements and tools to signal, establish and develop social activities or relationships. For instance, we wear a hat... See more Giving and receiving a business card, even though it's a recent tradition (XIX century, I believe) is about building a social activity, because it began as a social activity. They were called calling cards in the past as they were used to 'call on' or visit someone. In some languages, they're still called calling cards.
As the social animals we are, we use other elements and tools to signal, establish and develop social activities or relationships. For instance, we wear a hat, a baseball cap, a long or short dress, this or that type of shoe. I submit that we do that not just out of personal taste for fabric, leather and color, but to signal a social activity. I'm pretty sure semioticists like the late Umberto Eco would have plenty to say about this.
Given these arguments and facts, I don't think the Internet, social media, video CVs, audio, webpages or other electronic ephemera would ever replace physical social signal tools.
Feel free to disagree and introduce other arguments. ▲ Collapse
| | | | neilmac
Spanien
Local time: 19:05
Spanisch > Englisch
+ ...
Apparently they're really big in Japan. However, I can't think of the last time I would have needed one myself.
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Because as neilmac says, they're really big over here.
| | | | Muriel Vasconcellos
Vereinigte Staaten
Local time: 10:05
Mitglied (2003)
Spanisch > Englisch
+ ...
I agree with Mario. Having a business card is the professional thing to do. I have often exchanged cards with prospective clients and colleagues at conferences and other get-togethers. Once I gave it to a person I met casually who happened to be looking for someone to teach translation from Portuguese to English at a university.
I also sometimes give it to people I meet in other circumstances. It's my identity. It tells people that I'm still a professional even though I don't repor... See more I agree with Mario. Having a business card is the professional thing to do. I have often exchanged cards with prospective clients and colleagues at conferences and other get-togethers. Once I gave it to a person I met casually who happened to be looking for someone to teach translation from Portuguese to English at a university.
I also sometimes give it to people I meet in other circumstances. It's my identity. It tells people that I'm still a professional even though I don't report to a 9-to-5 job.
[Edited at 2017-11-15 09:04 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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It's a professional thing to have as others have said...
| | | | Jan Truper
Deutschland
Local time: 19:05
Englisch > Deutsch
My business is purely internet-based. I have never even met a client/PM face-to-face. For me, it's much more important to have a web page, which serves as a sort of business card.
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although I don't give out hundreds of them (but have to get at least 500 printed at a time).
For me it is really a must, when I meet a new person who wants my contact details; It does not even have to be a potential client.
I think as a professional you should always have a business card on you.
My website does not replace a physical business card, but on the card it says the web address.
| | | | | This reminds me | Nov 15, 2017 |
I need to order new business cards (that include the new website I'm setting up)
| | | | Mario Freitas
Brasilien
Local time: 15:05
Mitglied (2014)
Englisch > Portugiesisch
+ ...
If you work with interpretation, they may be very useful. But if you only work with translations/revisions, they would not be so useful, and certainly not necessary. I know some people participate in translators meetings and similar activities, where it may be "polite" to have b. cards. But in my case, the only time I had b. cards printed for translation purposes (7 years ago), I ended up throwing away 495 out of 500 cards, five years later.
| | | | Sheila Wilson
Spanien
Local time: 18:05
Mitglied (2007)
Englisch
+ ...
| And missed opportunities? | Nov 15, 2017 |
Jan Truper wrote:
My business is purely internet-based. I have never even met a client/PM face-to-face. For me, it's much more important to have a web page, which serves as a sort of business card.
I've only met a few as the vast majority of my clients aren't even in my country.
I'm not really targetting this at you, Jan  but you never really know who might be a potential client, or the friend/relative/business contact or a potential client. So even if you need to leave your phone number with someone in a local shop, or make a note of the time a parent should bring their kid round to your place for tea, or whatever, why not do it on the back of a business card? Why waste ANY potential opportunity to make it known that you're a freelance translator? And of course when it comes to things like in-person training courses, conferences, trade fairs ... they're absolutely essential. I've gained loads of contacts that way, some of whom have become clients or have recommended me to clients. Very few new clients are going to spontaneously come across your website unless you spend a fortune on getting it on the first page of Google searches - they need to be directed towards it.
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Almost all my work derives from the Internet and I have never really missed any opportunity because I didn't have a business card.
Of course, I had a pack of them made when I started, but most ended up as shopping/to-do lists at the back, in small hand-writing that I was able to read back then. You can conveniently stick it into a pocket when you go out shopping, and it's rigid enough to feel in which pocket it is at all times, especially in the summer when garnment fabric is thinne... See more Almost all my work derives from the Internet and I have never really missed any opportunity because I didn't have a business card.
Of course, I had a pack of them made when I started, but most ended up as shopping/to-do lists at the back, in small hand-writing that I was able to read back then. You can conveniently stick it into a pocket when you go out shopping, and it's rigid enough to feel in which pocket it is at all times, especially in the summer when garnment fabric is thinner.
So I don't think it is necessary, but I suppose it depends on how you find your clients/your clients find you.
Philippe ▲ Collapse
| | | | Jan Truper
Deutschland
Local time: 19:05
Englisch > Deutsch
Sheila Wilson wrote:
Why waste ANY potential opportunity to make it known that you're a freelance translator?
Luckily, my professional internet translator persona has been more than sufficient.
In my private, real, everyday life, I like to be just myself -- I reserve the right to behave "unprofessionally", and I usually don't present myself as a translator, unless someone specifically asks me.
I have a bit of an aversion against people who do any sort of marketing. This might have to do with the fact that I spent many years in musician's/artist's circles where I was constantly being hassled "please come to see my show" by people who I liked to hang out with, but whose music/art really didn't interest me at all.
So far I've had no need for events like in-person training courses, conferences or trade fairs.
And if I would have ever met David Foster Wallace, I would have just given him my phone number on a napkin
| | | | | For some, maybe, but not for me | Nov 15, 2017 |
The only people I meet in real life are other dog walkers, and I have never met anyone who might need my services. Oh wait, there was one couple, who turned up at my door, with some kind of contract they wanted translated on the spot. Needless to say, I wasn't available.
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