Hot take: Handing out business cards at every meetup was killing my connections

I used to go to the Motor City Networking Mixer every month and shove my card at everyone I saw. Last Tuesday I actually paid attention to how people reacted and realized they just took it to be polite. One guy even dropped mine in the trash can right after I walked away. Has anyone else found that not giving out cards on the spot leads to way better follow-ups?

2 comments

2 Comments

hernandez.morgan13h ago

Yeah I saw a buddy do the same thing at a tech meetup and watched a guy toss his card in a plant pot on the way out the door. He stopped handing them out and started actually talking to people instead, and his follow-ups went way up.

rileyl988h ago

Oh man, I did the exact same thing at that same mixer a while back. I walked around with a stack of 50 cards and probably came off like a car salesman. It wasn't until I saw a lady just set her whole pile of cards down on a table next to the nachos and walk away that I got the hint. Now I just chat with people and if they ask for my info I'll pull one out, but that's it. Follow ups are way more genuine now because we actually had a conversation first, not just a handshake and a card shove.