Over the years as I’ve been collecting business cards at conferences and such, I’ve been throwing them in business card holders designed specifically for that purpose. As my collection outgrew one holder I would start another except of course by that time I could never find the same one. So what I’ve ended up with is a mish mash of three different sizes that didn’t really hold a whole lot.
Wanting to wait until I could find a holder to accommodate them all, I kept putting off buying any more. In addition to the three books here, I had stacks of business cards held together by rubber bands in my office drawer.
It was all driving me crazy! I like things to be consolidated, not scattered here, there and everywhere. Since I couldn’t find a ready made product to meet my needs, I decided to put something together myself. I really have no idea why I never did this sooner. Just one of those little annoyances that gets ignored time and time again.
So I purchased a binder (Martha Stewart 8.5×11 from Staples) and some baseball card pocket sleeves (9 pockets/sheet) that cost me 6 sheets for a dollar at the dollar store. These actually worked out great because the pockets are bigger than standard business cards which is a good thing because I’ve noticed that cards come in a variety of shapes and sizes these days 🙂 I really do love business cards, especially the ones that are unique, fun and colorful!
I then set out organizing them all and even got all wild and crazy and used some dividers to organize them by category….businesses, bloggers and organizers. Seriously this project took no time at all but feels amazing now that it is done.
I love having them all in one place now and how easy it is to find the one I’m looking for. And no I didn’t alphabetize them all. I’m not THAT crazy!!
Deb Roy says
Great job! Where did you get the binder? I love the color.
Laura says
The binder is from the Martha Stewart Office Collection available at Staples 🙂
Stefani says
The binder is really cute. Where did you purchase it?
Laura says
Hi Stefani, the binder is from the Martha Stewart Office Collection available at Staples 🙂
Tara says
That is a great idea! I have a ton of business cards and they have been driving me crazy. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this earlier. I use the card sleeves for everything. lol (they are perfect for wallet size photos.) I definitely feel a project coming on!
Btw, I absolutely LOVE your blog! =0)
Laura says
Thanks Tara!
Laura Jane @ Super Sweet Life says
Oh that’s a great idea! I have a little binder, but each protector only has 3 slots. Baseball card holders would work well and would hold so much more. I also love that binder color! I just myself the discbound Martha Stewart one in the same color yesterday. I recognize some of those business cards in the picture from Allume. 🙂
Leslie says
haha you went all “wild and crazy”. XD
I agree and think it’s so much easier to have them by type than by alphabet. What if you can’t remember the gardener’s name? At least you know he’s a gardener.
Student Mom (Jenn) says
Clever! A friend of mine’s daughter uses the same thing for her couponing thing she does (we’re not big on coupons in South Africa, so forgive my lack of terminology).
Melissa says
My new Fuji ScanSnap ix500 came last Friday and it came with CardMinder. So as I’ve been turning all our paper bills and records into electronic copies (which is awesome and so much fun), I’ve come across all kinds of business cards. I think before I was just ignoring them, pretending they weren’t strewn everywhere. They were. Everywhere. With CardMinder, I scan the card, it reads the parts it can (name, phone, email) and I fill in the rest as necessary. I don’t have this many cards, but it’s really handy now that it’s all in one place. Your solution is awesome as well, but I didn’t want to keep the actual cards if I could help it.
Alana says
Yeah for Going Paperless! I also have this same scanner and love managing business cards this way, although I prefer using Evernote over CardMinder. A key feature not mentioned here is that once the business cards are scanned they are searchable by name/company name/location as well, which means there’s no need to continuously alphabetize and reorg physical cards and makes them much more accessible/useful. Also, the business card data can also be exported/imported into other applications like MS Outlook, Gmail or other devices like mobile phones
I love the great suggestions on this site, but I think the organizing community needs to evolve and also embrace the wonderful electronic tools out there such as the scanner and business card application mentioned in this comment. What is cleaner and more organized than having no paper at all? For more paperless organization ideas – check out the Go Paperless 2013 campaign sponsored by Google and other big names at http://www.paperless2013.org/
Melissa says
Ooooh I hadn’t considered EverNote – then I’d have the cards on my phone! I might have to switch to that. Thanks!
Shawnda says
Heh…and the little voice in my head said “…but if they aren’t alphabetized, how will you find the one you want?” 😉 Regardless, it looks like a much better system than 3 books and rubberbands. Much easier to find what you need….and it’s cute to boot!
Susan says
Why do you keep the business cards at all? When I get a business card, I put the information in my iphone and then throw out the cards. No reason to keep them. That’s just more clutter. Then you don’t have to buy any binders etc.
Laura says
Hi Susan, these aren’t cards from people I need to contact all the time so I would never need all that info in my phone. I refer to these cards to help me with my business from time to time. I usually write little notes about the people I meet at conferences on the backs of the cards to help me remember them.
Local businesses and friends and family contacts do go in my phone but all my business info is kept separate.
Alana says
You would probably love this app – Evernote Business Card Manager for the iPhone:
http://trunk.evernote.com/app/business-card-manager/iphone
You just take a picture of the card and it fills in all the business card data for you/no keying in data
Pam says
Super cute Idea. And gave me a light bulb moment on rewards for my choir students. I can design business cards for each phase passed and they can add them into their binder as a reminder.
thanks,
Pam
Crystal says
Great organization! You can never go wrong with Martha Stewart products 🙂
Laura says
I’m seriously addicted!! 🙂
JohnH says
Very creative solution to an age-old problem.
Rashelle says
What a pretty binder! I used to have a little business card binder too, but alas, my collection soon outgrew the binder. I then started stapling business cards to Rolodex cards for easy reference, but gone are the days of the Rolodex! Nowadays, as soon as I receive business cards I enter information into my computer to cut down on clutter.
Lauren @MomHomeGuide says
Great idea! I really need to get all my business cards under control.
Teaching in Turtlepond says
I don’t keep business cards either. Most people I get them from also have blogs and/or websites. I keep the card long enough to go online and then I pin it to one of my pinterest boards. I can access it on my phone but it doesn’t fill up my contacts info. And I can quickly link back to the site to remind myself what it was about if my comment doesn’t jog my memory. I am desperately trying to go paperless!!!!
LMHBryant says
I found an app for this for free. I don’t have a tablet or an iPhone only a fancy iPod Touch but I love the app. I don’t have room for any stuff in my life so the app was perfect. Usually I really go in for bins, books with sleeves and all good things, but I’ve gotten to where I prefer digital anything I can get.
Fizzah says
What were your categories, if you don’t mind me asking.
Laura says
I have Businesses, Organizers and Bloggers.
Fizzah says
Thanks!
Janet Barclay says
You and I are similar in that I only enter contacts into my computer if I expect to be in touch with the person again. Even though scanning makes it fairly quick and easy to enter them all, you end up with a whole bunch of contacts that you don’t remember meeting.
I like keeping the cards on hand. It’s nice to have some examples – both good and bad – when it’s time to get new cards, or for discussing with my networking group about what works and what doesn’t.
Ann says
My friend has a boss who insists that her business card collection be kept in those plastic sheets in a binder, alphabetized. When the boss returns from a trip with 4 new cards, they must be slipped into the correct pockets. Didn’t sound like such a big deal until my friend showed me how she needs to remove about 30 cards and then re-insert them all, just to be able to insert the new card in the correct spot, over and over again! Wow. Any ideas on an easier way when her boss doesn’t want to use digital technology?
Laura Wittmann says
Using a three ring binder with sleeve inserts will help alleviate taking out so many cards to make room for the new.