The Evolution Of Everyday Essentials | Cardinbox Blog
We use paper heavily in our lives, be it for personal reasons like making to-do lists or at a professional level for documentation, bills, etc. The reality is that the demand for paper is limitless but unfortunately, the supply and environmental consequences are dreadful. That’s why even though it seems impossible to go completely paperless today, it makes the most sense to substitute paper for an easy to use, economical, long-lasting resource, ergo- the internet and all the added benefits it provides.
Paper mail has transformed to e-mail, books are read on kindles, newspapers travel in our pockets as mobile apps, and even calendars and post-its have been digitized. In spite of the above, mail is still used as a means of communication, books are still printed, we pick up the newspaper from our front door every morning and post-its are a staple for work desks worldwide. This is because no matter how advantageous digital methods are, old is gold and old habits die hard.
So does digitising mean replacement of the traditional ways?
To help answer the question, let’s draw a parallel to ‘business cards’. The first thing that happens in any business meeting — the exchange of business cards. It’s the first impression to unknown people and a snippet into the professional life of a person. It’s practiced worldwide and it’s an immortal tradition. There is great pride and etiquette attached to exchanging business cards, but the primary reason to carry out the activity still remains — to form a business relationship which might result in working together, someday.
Typically, a person collects and shares their card with multiple people through the week or at events, however, dealing with paper poses several pain points.
- Storing: Collected cards requires physical storage space. Furthermore, they have to be stored in an organised manner to be accessible as and when required — the reason why Rolodex was so popular in the 1990’s.
- Life of a card: Paper cards are prone to wear and tear which leads to important information getting lost, which takes time and effort to retrieve. Might we add, most of the cards in your desk are already outdated.
- Physical limitations: Paper limits the interaction one can have with their cards. Just like paper calendars aren’t collaborative, but digital calendars allow people to sync calendars, share meetings, add notes, conferencing etc. Paper cards too have limited use after exchange.
- Capturing the information on the cards: People use the information on business cards to communicate. How the information is captured is important. Is scribbling notes on them, taking pictures of them and storing them in our photo library the most effective way?
- Sharing and receiving cards: Exchanges are limited to meetings, networking events and unexpected run-ins (that is if you have your business card on you!).
- Monetary impact: Printing of cards is a recurring cost. A change in information or a printing error just means more money spent on new cards.
Between printing & managing cards, and remembering to carry them, it’s natural to wonder- Is there a better way? There is.
Let me introduce you to Cardinbox.
Cardinbox is a platform to digitize your business card and reduce the need to print and carry paper business cards. You can share your business card, and store or search the right business cards of other users. All the business cards you use for work are stored in one place, and can be accessed at all times, from any smart device. Having all your business cards with you at all times makes it easy to convert every introduction into a long term business connection.
You can share your card with anyone, anywhere, anytime, even if the other person does not have the app installed.
As is with any digital solution, Cardinbox provides extended utility to its users, like exporting contacts to an excel sheet or your phone book, scanning and saving paper cards in your inbox, real-time updates on all of your connections, etc. We believe that utility of a business card doesn’t stop at its exchange, and digitising them is what allows people to makes business cards work for them when it really matters.
To conclude and answer the question — going digital does not replace former methods. The reason digital solutions are catching on — is that though the base practices are still relevant today, there’s always more available by going digital.
Digitizing cards is simply an evolutionary change to make them consistent with today’s time and technology. In today’s day, having everything on our smartphones is “keeping up with technology”. Who knows what this trend will be tomorrow? Digital counterparts are smart extensions of traditional tools, which allows us to add utility to them.
Read our blog — “11 benefits of a Digital Business Card” to know more about how digital cards can disrupt the way business introductions are made and turned into lifelong connections.
If you like and agree with this article, download our app using the link below and get your own digital business card. Share this with your colleagues and friends so they too can learn about how business cards can be used to the maximum.
Embrace the evolution of yet another everyday essential!
Download our app: https://cardinbox.app.link/
