Lawyers undervalue business cards in marketing, when instead you should treat them as a nugget of gold.

This point was brought home to me when I asked a woman for her business card at a conference. She opened a box that looked like a piece of jewelry and produced one immaculate business card -- the corners weren't dog-eared and the edges weren't curled over. She had turned giving her business card into an EVENT.

So don't cram your business cards in your wallet. Get yourself a nice container for your business cards – I have one made out of black leather.

And when you receive a business card, don't make the mistake of immediately tucking it into your pocket.

What you want to do instead is take a minute, read the card, and comment about it. Take a look at the person's position and ask them how long they've been in that job.

This is a good conversation starter.

Later when the conversation is over, grab a pen and discreetly write down three things:

• Today's date
• Where you are
• What you talked about

The reason for this is when you get back to the office to enter the information into your contact database, you may not remember all the details, especially if you have a big wad of business cards.

You can get more marketing tips at http://www.LarryBodine.com