Business cards, memory tricks and how the working mother can benefit from them

After a conference (any conference) you are met at home with seemingly endless loads of, and not just yours, I speak of the baby’s laundry that your husband failed to do. You also find all those welcoming emails that you fear will take over your computer, a revised to do list based off of your new improved conference knowledge and then there is are those groceries that need to be bought. Welcome to the life of the working mother.

Now, in such a scenario it would be easy to avoid and forget all the business cards that you traded. Trust me, I understand. I recently, returned from my old home of New York City to my current home of Arkansas and let me tell you, I now appreciate the phrase, “culture shock.” It was fun to see old colleagues, memorable landmarks and shop for my daughter at FAO Swartz. But once I returned home my old days of living the single dream in the Big Apple, quickly were replaced by burp rags and dirty diapers. I love my life as a full-time working from home mother/author but if you are a mother, then you will understand the importance of priorities.

Speaking of priorities, what happened to that stack of business cards you collected at various conferences? Are you ignoring them? One of those business cards could be what is keeping you from your dream or even better what is keeping that dream from finding you.

Never neglect a good business card. Someone paid good money for that piece of paper! Take the business cards and take a few minutes each day to send an email out to those contacts. Let them grow. You never know who knows whom.

The goal is to never let those stack of business cards get too high. Chip away at them and build your network. I loved some advice that I read in Bob Mayer and Jennifer Talty’s ‘Writer Conference Guide.’ They recommended separating business cards out in envelops and label each envelop with the name of the conference of convention. This is a great way to keep all that information straight. You should also take a second or two and write down something about that person on the back of your card when receiving it.

There is so much to keep straight. Do what you can to make things easy. As a working mother, you’re going to need whether you are a writer or whatever business you are in.

What memory tricks have you learned and used over the years? Share you wisdom in a comment below.

Announcements:

Oscar, the inspiration for my book, ‘Caring for Your Special Needs Dog’ is in the pet hospital. He is dealing with a sudden increase in his seizures. Please keep him in your thoughts and don’t forget to check out the book he inspired. He is a very special dog. I love you my Muffin, even though you are 75 pounds and not a lap dog in any stretch of the term.