Digital Business Cards FAQ Part 2: What Digital Business Card Should You Get

Now that you have a rough idea of what a digital business card is, knowing what types of digital business cards there are and how they function should give you a total understanding of how they work and which services might be suitable for you.

Going back on the previous post, there are four main types of business cards you need to know;

• Phone contact cards, 
• E-mail based business cards, 
• Social networking sites as business cards, 
• Tools and applications such as Pokens or the iPhone used to exchange business card data.

The Phone Business Card
Calling card and the e-mail based digital contact card are quite interchangeable as you can send e-mail through phone now and you can also e-mail using your phone. The main difference is that phone-based digital calling cards operates from your phone and makes use of SMS or Bluetooth functions while E-mail based digital calling cards, operates from your e-mail account.

Examples of Phone-based digital contact cards are Contxts, TxtID and DUB. Contxts lets you send and receive calling cards via SMS, while TxtID is a service that works by having the other party text your username to a six digit number and where they will receive your contact info via SMS. To use DUB contact cards, an account must first be created on their website, thereafter you can then have it sent to other users by email or SMS, simply by sending a text message to the DUB site. These services start with free program options, but usually offer paid services that allow you to access more function or send and receive more digital calling cards.

E-mail Based Business Cards
For E-mail based business cards, companies such as Drop Card and Weavemet offer such services. Both of the companies offers services that works similar to Contxts and TxtID where you create a profile on their site, text the e-mail address to a dropcard number and your contact will receive your contact card in their e-mail.

Social Networking Sites as Business Card
This type of digital business card utilized by using your social networking profiles such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Google profiles as business cards. Particularly, there is a service that aggregates all your social network profiles like MyNameIsE.  MyNameIsE is a site that collects all of your social profiles into a virtual calling card that can be accessed via mobile web.

Phone Business Card Applications and Pheriperals
Because iPhones are really popular nowadays and everyone seems to be getting their own, there have been a lot of iPhone apps around. One of them is named Pokens that is a device that you use with other people with the same devices where the device trades the contact information. Some of these apps specialize on contact data entry. Examples of these iPhone apps are vCard and BeamME.

FAQ: What You Need to Know About Digital Business Cards

Paper business cards are out, electronic business cards are in. Or at least it seems to be slowly making it's way toward that trend. If you don't already know what digital business cards are, this is a good place to get informed.

So what is a digital business card? 
Digital business cards are business cards that can  be sent and received electronically or wirelessly using tools such as e-mail, internet, SMS, or by Bluetooth instead of using paper as a medium.

What are the types of digital business cards?
Right now there are about four different types of business cards and these are:
1) Phone contact cards
2) E-mail based business cards
3) Social networking sites as business cards
4) Tools and applications such as Pokens or the iPhone used to exchange business card data.

In the coming posts, I'll elaborate further on how each of these types differ and how they function.

Why opt for a digital business card?
1) It's easier to create. Since digital business cards do not really require any aesthetic styling, you do not have to worry about designing one.

2) Since it's not tangible, the person you give a digital business card to will not lose it. the person will always have it in their email-account, phone, or other web based contact sharing account.

3) Digital business cards are earth-friendly. since digital business cards don't use paper, you can be sure that you're helping to protect the environment if when you use electronic business cards.

4) They are efficient. When handed a paper calling card, most people scan it or enter the data on their phones or computers, but if your calling card is already given digitally, the recipient will not need to go through the hassle of encoding it anymore.

5) As mentioned earlier, digital calling cards are often asked for, especially since most people use internet phones and iPhones where providing digital contact cards are more handy for these tech savvy people.

How much do these cost?
It depends but it can cost as low as--nothing! But there are also paid services that can provide you e-mail to phone business card services (and vice-versa). I'll discuss them more in the coming posts.


Anymore questions?
Please don't hesitate to write them in the comment below.

Business Cards of the Future

Business Card styles are getting edgier and more and more sleek as the years go by. The current trends in business cards are really interesting to see especially the ones that are made of materials other than paper. It seems to me that business cards today are becoming more an art than simply a way to exchange information.

The sad part however is that business cards for today's world are also doomed to be deemed too bulky to function. Add to that, almost everything is on the internet or phone--or phone internet and social networking sites are on the rise.

Could we still be utilizing paper business cards in the future or are we already switching to digitalizing it? With services such as CloudContacts and gadgets like Pokens, it seems that the business card trend is on it's way towards the digital scheme of things and so it's best to keep ourselves updates on what digital business cards are and how we can make the best use of them.

Wanna keep updated on the latest in digital business cards? Just check back here regularly : )

Poken? What's That? Don't worry i'll answer that very soon :)