Do you want to save paper, save money and surprise your business contacts at the same time? Use an inexpensive keychain “pendrive” (a small flash memory card that plugs into a USB port) to create an interactive “business card” that stands out from the crowd.

Upload the unit with your full Outlook / Plaxo contact or virtual business card and add some free offers, such as a short MP3 demo of a class or training, a whitepaper, a workbook, an e-book, whatever relevant to your business. Keep the drive with you and as long as someone talks to you about their work and has access to equipment that will accept your drive (PDA, laptop, Pocket PC, USB-capable smartphone, etc.), you can simply offer to download your included package. on your device.

No more agonizing and expensive waste of recently outdated business cards every time you need to update or change your contact information. One less business card of “what do I do with this?” So your contacts have to deal with when they come home from whatever networking event you’ve connected to. And you can constantly adjust content to be relevant, change seasonal discounts, update with limited special offers, and more!

Some caveats:

1. Choose your selections carefully. Go for high-value, high-return options that will benefit the recipient, not just the donor. You can include a brochure, if appropriate, but make most of your offer valuable, relevant, and something they want to pass on to their friends (taking their information with them)!

2. Respect your contact’s time and available memory! Make sure you don’t pack it so full that it overloads smaller devices or takes 20 minutes to unload! If you have large file offerings that you would like to share, consider creating a single downloadable html “web page” instead, with the links embedded in it. Then your contact just opens the page, logs into their ISP, and clicks through to get all the cool stuff you want to share.

3. Don’t push! Not everyone is comfortable letting just anyone download things to their devices. If this worries you, offer to take their card and email the information to them. You’ve already made a good impression just by being ready and willing to deliver valuable items on the spot. Anything beyond that is pure sauce.

With just a little careful decision-making and common sense, a pen drive business card can be an incredibly successful vehicle for further engagement, creating an environment for valuable information sharing, and providing an engaging source of conversation. You can include anything from a PowerPoint presentation to a multimedia product demonstration and an audio / video clip of your presentation skills or services, all condensed into a small trinket the size of a cigarette lighter. You can even buy them in designer shapes and colors, or printed with your logo. And, while we have been discussing primarily commercial applications, it is a technology that lends itself to an almost infinite variety of adaptations. How many ways can you think of to use this idea?