Business cards via @Javan
Update Seth Godin says: Worth clarifying in your post, this is Joel Bauer playing himself in a movie. He’s an over the top guy, but this isn’t real, it’s a self-parody.
You’re reading Signal v. Noise, a publication about the web by Basecamp since 1999. Happy !
Jurgen
on 23 Mar 11I think this guy is a maniac. $4 a card? For what? So I can throw it away for you because it is an oversized annoyance?
Merle
on 23 Mar 11Something to be said for leveraging low tech in a high tech world.
Romain
on 23 Mar 11YouTube classic…
If don’t know if the guy’s a maniac but he makes a number of very good points.
Don Schenck
on 23 Mar 11I absolutely LOVE this! This guy nails it. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.
This video should be a pivot point for those who watch it.
(LOVE dropping nonsensical buzz phrases)
Brian Hilson
on 23 Mar 11I would think that guy’s an arrogant, self loving idiot. What a waste of money.
I’d rather someone spend their time honing their craft than designing a piece of paper.
Jon Mercer
on 23 Mar 11Wow a pop-up business card. I haven’t laughed so much since I found a pop-up edition of the Karma Sutra in a bookshop.
This guy should be ridiculed until humble.
FWIW, if I was given his business card and it didn’t fit in my pocket well, unfolded and stabbed me, I’d be looking to sue, and guess what, I’d know exactly how to find him!
Susanna K.
on 23 Mar 11Your business card… does not fit in my wallet or pocket.
I only use the card as a means to keep track of info from people I’ve met ‘til it can be added to my contacts or bookmarks. Now, if your business card had a 3D barcode or RFID chip to facilitate that, that would be something.
JD
on 23 Mar 11I researched the guy and found out that he wrote a book called “How to Persuade People Who Don’t Want to be Persuaded: Get What You Want-Every Time!”
It must be working because I couldn’t stop watching this video. The first viewing I couldn’t stop laughing and thinking how insane this guy is. After the 10th viewing I start to agree with some of his points.
Hmmm. Maybe he is a master of persuasion…
Ademol2
on 23 Mar 11This dude rocks out on an episode of Dydrek’s Fantasy Factory on MTV. I’m sure its on MTV.com.
gary
on 23 Mar 11life is not about being liked – but about being effective
Romain
on 23 Mar 11Exactly!
John
on 23 Mar 11What a car salesman.. bunch of crap if you ask me:-)
Mike
on 23 Mar 11This is probably the most annoying video I have seen in a while. If I get a card and it dosen’t fit where all my other cards that I want to keep, then I will throw it out, who wants to keep around clutter?
I think simpler is better.
Jameos
on 23 Mar 11He doesn’t sell the sizzle, he IS the sizzle.
Give me a break…if you’re that good, you don’t NEED a business card.
Chump.
Developer Dude
on 23 Mar 11I have never hired someone, or bought something from someone, or otherwise been impressed by someone, because of a silly business card. Some big popup/foldout business card just increases the chance that I will throw it away.
What impresses me is the person, the product, or the service, not the card. If I see someone or something that I want to buy/employ/etc., then I will grab their card/pamphlet and keep it to remind me, regardless of its quality.
T-Sipper
on 23 Mar 11Looks like you could put your eye out with the corner of that popout! That would impress a lawyer.
markfig
on 23 Mar 11When this video started I was sitting here leaning my chin on my right hand.
When this video finished both my fists were in the air and I was howling, “Yeah. Yeah YEEEAAAHHHH!”
So that’s what this video is about. It’s not about popup business cards, people.
Or IS IT???
Adam
on 23 Mar 11JD: I think a different Joel Bauer wrote “How to Persuade People Who Don’t Want to be Persuaded: Get What You Want-Every Time!”
Crazy business card Joel Bauer hasn’t written any books http://infotainer.com/infotainer/blog/ Though check out the “Joel’s Passion2Profit Weekend Transformation” kit.
Patrick Huizinga
on 23 Mar 11For exactly this reason a friend of mine prints his own business cards on blue paper. He also cuts them slightly larger than a normal card. This way, he figures, whenever someone needs him, they will be able to pick his card without effort.
JC
on 23 Mar 11ROFL.
This guy is over the top and his card is garbage, but his point is on target.
All of you that think you’ve never been impressed by a nice card are missing the point. Marketing doesn’t work consciously, it works consciously and a truly fantastic card, that is well designed, on good stock, and handed to you by someone who looks the part absolutely has an impact on your first impression and your willingness to do business whether or not you throw the card away 5min later. Within a microsecond you’ve already judged the person’s intelligence, competency and ability to fulfill your needs.
They then have the next few interactions to lose your faith or reinforce it….the business card is not dead…at least not yet.
JC
on 23 Mar 11..,it works subconsciously…
JD
on 23 Mar 11This is my favorite blurb from the video:
No matter how comedic the guy is, this is good advice. “Common sense” you say? Of course! But there are quite a few companies that don’t follow this advice from the get go.
Richard
on 23 Mar 11Reminds me of the Jason Bateman character, Dominic Foy in the movie State of Play.
Polly
on 23 Mar 11The Tom Cruise character in “Magnolia” comes to mind for some reason.
Graham
on 23 Mar 11Wow, astonishing how you people seem to have no sense of humor. It’s funny because it’s absurd, people. It’s a little bit of truth packaged in a whole lot of bravado.
Bill B
on 23 Mar 11Once upon a time, I got invited to interview for a job because I was the only candidate that didn’t use a MS Word template to format their resume ( I used LaTeX ).
While I didn’t get the job, the hiring manager commented that it was a good idea to try and stand out from the crowd typographically, without moving so far away from ‘accepted norms’ that you wind up standing in oncoming traffic. ( Metaphorical traffic, of course. )
Chris H
on 23 Mar 11Did anyone else notice he doesn’t blink once in the whole video.
seth godin
on 23 Mar 11It’s endless September, guys.
Worth clarifying in your post, this is Joel Bauer playing himself in a movie. He’s an over the top guy, but this isn’t real, it’s a self-parody.
Every time it gets rediscovered, the conversation goes exactly as it went here.
Tim
on 23 Mar 11This is a great video.
Some good points about cards.
A plain black matte gloss 305gsm card cut slightly smaller or bigger with a simple message on one side, and twitter handle, name, email on the back and that’s it.
Dustin Curtis’ card is pretty nice like that.
Phil Willis
on 23 Mar 11Hilarious AND instructive.
Most people can’t even be either of those.
Lester
on 24 Mar 11@Adam: Sorry, but this is the Joel Bauer who wrote “How to Persuade People Who Don’t Want to be Persuaded.” In fact, he shows that book on the RedEye clip posted on the front page of his blog.
asdf jr.
on 24 Mar 11He was on a episode of Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory (as a business card consultant) and from what I remembered, was a pretty straight forward guy with some decent advice.
Aman
on 24 Mar 11This is all vaguely similar to the business card scene in American Psycho.
Big Mike
on 24 Mar 11How does the 37signals business card stack up to this guys?
Ben Atkin
on 27 Mar 11This is my third or fourth time watching it, but it had been long enough that I wasn’t expecting the following part and burst out laughing when I heard it:
This discussion is closed.