But, as I started writing it, I realised that launching into details about something called ‘The Monthly Marvin’ didn’t really make sense if I hadn’t ever fully explained who or what Marvin is in the first place. There are a few clues hidden about the website (for example, if you mouseover the ‘Find out more’ button under Marvin’s picture on the home page (hint: he’s the skeleton), a brief explanation pops up), but I’ve never actually gone into any further details. So, without any further ado, here’s Marvin’s backstory….

Marvin’s precursors: Alfred, Bob and Charlie

All businesses, especially in their first year, are stories of evolutionary growth, I guess, and Phenomenoodle wasn’t any different. Ah, those early days, when I was giddy with excitement at starting a new business, and also delightfully confused about exactly what it was that I offered. Web design? Yes. WordPress specific? Sort-of. Copywriting? Yeees, if people wanted it; after all, I can write very well. Social media advice? Sure, why not, since I be tweeting every day and am therefore an expert, right? It was a lovely muddled jumble of all sorts of webby type things, but with no real clear offering. The lack of clarity drove me mad(der than I already am).

So, one day, I sat my mad self down and came up with some web design packages to offer to the good folks out there who were looking for websites. I was expecting it to be a challenge. But, that part, the actual listing of what went into each package, turned out to be easy-peasy. The naming-of-the-packages part, on the other hand? Not so much.

After much thought and pacing, and pacing and thought, I came up with the inspired (inspired!) ‘Package A’, ‘Package B’, and ‘Package C’. I know. Are you as underwhelmed as I was that day?

That’s when I had the epiphany, however, that if I was going to name packages, then I was darn well going to name them. So, dear ol’ ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ became Alfred, Bob and Charlie.

The three were a hit. Not only were they clear and focused on WordPress design and development, but they made people giggle too. Giggles are good. Business can be fun!

Marvin is born

After a few months of happy business with Alfred, Bob and Charlie, a sad day came. You see, most small businesses needed a package that combined aspects of both Alfred and Bob, who were both geared towards people who were just starting out on the web (Charlie was the much more expensive custom web design package).

I decided to amalgamate the two into one package that better suited the types of businesses that I encountered. I also revamped the custom web design package while I was at it. The problem was, however, that I was left with two brand new packages that simply didn’t fit the old names. As a result, I made the tough call to retire Alfred, Bob and Charlie. We all shed a tear at the time, but I hear that they’re living it up in Florida now, which makes both me and them very happy.

In marked contrast to the previous occasion, the package naming process went a lot more smoothly this time around. Because the starter package was based on a ‘bare bones’ theme framework that I’d developed, the name Marvin (as in Starvin’ Marvin) popped instantly into my head, along with an image of a smiling skeleton in a cowboy hat. Marvin, and his associated avatar, was born. Um, as it were.

A bit about Marci

To represent our custom web design services, my brain delved into its strange recesses and came up with the girl who has it all (just like a custom web design). I chose the name ‘Marci’, because I wanted something preppy that ended with the letter ‘i’ and which complemented the name ‘Marvin’. Since Marci and Marvin share the same first three letters, I considered it fate.

Ironically*, Marci is built on Marvin in that our Marvin ‘bare bones’ framework is the basis for any site we design. It’s a skeleton which provides the standard WordPress functionality required for every site and upon which we can build any design that we want, from the most basic to the most complex.

(*Or perhaps not so ironically, since all humans** have an underlying skeleton.)

(**Yes, I am aware that Marci is not actually a human being. I am also aware that if she was, she couldn’t have a boy skeleton anyway, but that’s tangential to my point. I know too that Marvin is not really a skeleton. Or really real, for that matter. The thread by which I hang onto reality may be thin, but it is there nevertheless.)

And there you have it: a quick(ish) tour through Phenomenoodle’s first year in business and the reason why we have a skeleton on our website! He’s really friendly. I promise.

As such, woe betide you if your business cards are not thick and luscious and full colour and professionally designed to make you stand out from the crowd. And heaven forbid that you should pitch up at a networking event without any business cards. It’s akin to committing professional suicide. A cardinal sin.

Or is it?

Are business cards really necessary?

I’ve been conducting a little experiment for the past five months. It all started back in January, when the first networking event of the year rolled around and I realised that I had run out of business cards. I’d heard all the advice about how important it was to always carry business cards with me, plus all those dire warnings about how my business was sure to die a horrible painful death as a result of my ineptitude as a business owner who couldn’t even get the basics, like business cards, right.

But, I didn’t exactly have a choice. So I went along to the event unarmed.

And nobody noticed. Nobody cared.

When it came time, during conversations with people, for the business card swap, I simply said, “I don’t have any on me at the moment. I’ll email you tomorrow with my details.” No-one batted an eyelash. Only once did I encounter a gentleman who also didn’t have any cards with him. No problem – each of us wrote down each other’s details in notebooks that we had on us.

Of course, the possibility exists that my fellow networkers thought terrible thoughts about me or muttered to one another about me behind my back. But I don’t think so. Here’s why: That first networking event without any business cards was one of the most successful (in terms of connections made and business generated) that I’ve ever had. In fact, since I stopped taking business cards with me to events, I’ve felt a definite shift in how I approach networking and in how others relate to me.

The reason why networking without business cards has worked for me is because it has opened up a space for me to be more myself in networking situations. I love chatting to people, finding out what they do and why they do it. Formal networking with business cards makes the process very transactional. The point seems to be to swap details, collect cards, work the room. Networking without business cards, on the other hand, makes the process a bit more informal, a bit more social, and encourages genuine connections. I found I had far more in-depth conversations with people without feeling any pressure to exchange business cards.

When these conversations ended naturally and the time came when business cards would usually be exchanged, I took others’ cards and promised to email them. And followed through on my promise. It allowed for a way to renew the connection we had made the previous day, and I’m betting (even though this wasn’t the aim of the exercise) that I stood out in the minds of people that I met as a result, more so than just being a name on a card in a pile of many collected.

I’ve only capitulated once in the last five months, taking business cards with me to one event where I was the speaker. I needed a quick and easy way to hand out my contact details to people who came up to chat to me after the event. It worked – in that situation. But, following my experiment, I now know that the conventional wisdom regarding business cards doesn’t necessarily work for me. I now know that I can break some of the so-called cardinal rules and not only get away with it but actually prosper as a result.

What are your thoughts on business cards? Do they work for you?