Definitely still a market for regular cheaper business cards for stuff like this. I regularly keep cards of people like this were I might need their service in the future, but they don’t need to be fancy at all and I don’t think it really adds much value when they are. The market for “good service” in trade type labor that I’d always hire a guy I have even a weak social connection with over some random person I found online. I feel like there’s a higher chance of them not price gouging and caring about the workmanship.

But, I don’t think he’d be handing out $20 BOM cards that freely. I was more validating that there is still probably a market of people where $20 cards might make sense. As in the example I posed, a business card isn’t providing any additional information. By the time I meet these people in my office, we’ve already exchanged emails and had some conversations on the phone and are acquainted. That’s what led to the in-person meeting. I know their names and have them in my contacts.

But, just as it felt like a social faux pas to receive a business card at a housewarming party, I think it also feels like a faux pas to meet someone in a business environment (where you are the selling party) and not give out a card during the initial first handshake interaction. This is a pretty low volume and high value moment for that person so a $20 card is no big deal and could easily make sense.