E-Business Cards

Dropcard allows you to exchange contact information with someone without physically exchanging business cards. Best of all, it is free. All you need is a cell phone, text message capability and an email address.

I have found this service to be quite useful and it allows me to keep better records of who I meet and exchange information with. Its also great because you don't have to worry about losing business cards.

Dropcard also lets you include more then just your phone number. You have the option of including links to your Facebook page, website, blog, etc.

The Dropcard is not just limited to cell phone use. By going to the website mydropcard.com, you can send e-business cards to everyone in your Yahoo, Gmail, and other address books.

As mentioned before, the basic service is free of charge. You just have to pay standard text message rates. They are adding premium services such as analytics for cards: the ability to track who clicked on what links and when they did it. Such a service would be invaluable in tracking response rates for networking purposes. The free version has a basic analytics interface.

The iPhone is highly compatible with Dropcard. If your new contact has a iPhone, he or she can click on the e-business card and instantly create a new contact with all of the information automatically populated.

Here's how to send someone your e-business card:

1. Sign up and create a profile with your contact information (i.e., email address, phone number, websites, etc)

2. Text the word "drop" and their email address to 41411. (ex: drop johndoe@email.com)

3. They will receive all your information by email which can be saved immediately to their address book.