Is it a Website or Is it an App ?
Why not be both and cheaper too ?
Created to fill the needs of small and starter businesses to be able to network and promote their goods and services under conditions dictated by Covid-19 pandemic – Share My Card.
Start ups, sole traders and small businesses strapped for cash and socially distanced are faced with diluting their marketing budget, effectiveness and time resources in a multitude of social media channels and websites. Small and new businesses gain most of their initial visibility and traction through personal networking opportunities where they can make a ‘pitch’, form strategic alliances and exchange contact information. This has traditionally always been the preserve of business cards and flyers despite the digital transformation age.
Share My Card (Trademark pending) harnesses the old and new methods and channels – Business Cards (or flyers), Presentations + Social Media Shares, Email, Telephony, QR Coding + Mobile make sharing your contact details and product/service information a breeze. Rather than put all your eggs into one proverbial basket your card can be shared into any one of the baskets or channels you choose. Nearly every imaginable scenario is catered for :
- Person to person – contactless share by displaying your QR Code.
- With existing remote contacts – click to share via email or WhatsApp
- To the mass market – click to post to all of the popular social media channels
The bonus points are – the recipients can and will be inclined to share within their own networks
Card holders can specify how they wish to be contacted e.g. Click to call my cell or office number, click to email or to visit a landing page etc.
The business card format is the core product but the same feature set and sharing capabilities are applied for any format e.g. flyer, poster or multi-slide presentation.
As the service is hosted it benefits from the same search engine exposure as website but without the cost and time overhead – in fact the aim is to deliver the service with an 80% saving over the annual cost of a small business website.
Value added features and services are being gradually phased in and include :
- An online card designer – for those who do not have print proofs available.
- A graphic design service to design logos and business cards
- Any easy upload facility for subscribers
- An uber cheap hosting plan for those requiring a domain name with email hosting
With this approach to getting online and networking a small business might even dispense with a website and managing multiple social media accounts altogether!
Adding to the dynamism of the hosted information card ( you will notice we keep changing the descriptor for the card! ) it is being deployed as a Progressive Web App – a hybrid platform which behaves like a native mobile app but is also hosted as a website. This means that the user gets the benefit of the service while they are offline – no speed or network related problems and can also receive push notifications such as messages or prompts. The App is installable via on screen prompts or by A2HS (Add To Home Screen).
Share My Card transforms the one to one distribution method of the traditional ‘card’ into a one to many model with each recipient empowered to share and disseminate by their preferred method.
Share My Card will benefit community groups as the card maintains its communication links to the owner but the action buttons or information can be changed in line with changed circumstances e.g.
in a recent use case an event program required one touch links to an Instagram Stream broadcast to an international audience of varying technical abilities. This was to be followed a few hours later by a Zoom meeting. A few days later the card was updated to remove the video stream functions and was replaced with a Youtube button to enable the viewing of a recording of the event. All went smoothly with no training or introduction to the three technology platforms required. No minimum equipment requirements were suggested either.
Share My Card is nearing the end of its beta stage with the deployments being tested on android and apple IOS platforms. For more information visit https://share-mycard.com