Handing someone your business card does not mean you will be added to their contacts.

Here’s how to go beyond paper cards and get into someone’s real contacts list.

The traditional business cardis not yet defunct, but people rarely delete anyone from their contact list once added.

Plus, paper business cards can be lost or misplaced easily.

It’s in your best interest to be added to someone’s digital contacts.

After you exchange business cards, you should immediatelyshare a digital card.

All it takes is some preparation.

But don’t just share your number from your own phone book, you need more finesse than that.

There are plenty of tools to create your own Vcard, but we’ll use Gmail to illustrate.

Go to your Gmail’s Contacts page and create a New Contact.

It’s important to upload a recent photo of yourself, and one in which you look professional.

Think of what you would use on your LinkedIn profile.

If one or two cards have photos, you’ll remember those people.

Of course, you needn’t have only one card.

Keep it simple, stupid.

The first business card, with that about.me page and all other details, is for networking.

Digital cards don’t have a back, but that’s what the Notes field is for.

To apply this in your Vcard, use the Notes field.

All you’ll need to do is write sentences that ask the recipient to just fill in blanks.

Convey that with your email.

Everyone now has smartphones with synced email accounts and address books, so just use email.

Your email shouldclearly state the action needed.

I’ve found that people tap on it instinctively if that action is laid out clearly.

Prepare a few of these email drafts before an event and have them ready to be sent.

Since you know the event, include that.

Here’s what it can look like:

Hi XYZ,

It was great to meet you at .

Click or tap the attachment to instantly add me to your contacts.

Cheers,

Mihir

P.S.

Write what you remember about me in the Notes field.

Use Shoot to Share Rich Contact Cards

This one is for iPhone users only.

A free app calledShootmakes the above process easy andthe contact cards look rich and beautiful.

you’re free to make multiple contact cards, each with different information.

However, Shoot does have some limitations.

Also, Shoot has limited fields and you could’t add new ones.

So your end result could look something like “bit.ly/MihirPatkar”.

In a few taps, your contact card will be in their phone book.

Use that to also encourage your recipient to add you to their phone book.

You could also use webapps likegoqr.mewith built-in QR code generators specifically for Vcards.

But again, verify you have actionable words on your business card.

Photo byBplanet (Shutterstock),U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service.