I’m at the Indiana Bar Solo and Small Firm Conference and just finished giving the opening keynote presentation on Increasing Client Satisfaction. The great thing about these conferences is that you always learn something, no matter how many different conferences you have attended (and I have been to quite a few of these conferences in different states.)

Mark McNeely, a trial lawyer from Shelbyville, IN, handed me one of his business cards to show off. It is thin and plastic and has the 2007 calendar on the back. We’ve all seen and referred to the business card-sized calendars you can easily carry in a wallet. It seems like a great way to make certain someone actually keeps your card with them. The interesting thing is that Mark reports that clients and former clients now show up at his office around the end/beginning of the year to "get a new calendar." What a great idea.

This reminds me of years ago when a Tulsa lawyer told me a printing a page of clear plastic labels with his home phone number, cell phone and personal e-mail address. He attached the clear labels to the back of a few business cards and gave them to a few special (likely higher-paying) clients as a sort of all-access pass. The plastic label makes it look like the card was printed with the home contact info on the back. That’s a nice way to make a few clients feel special.

Mark McNeely says the greatest moments with his calendar-backed business cards occur when the judges uses them to set the date for the next hearing. The lawyers are standing at the bench when the judge holds card up and peers at it for the date. Even if your opposing counsel knows you just gave the judge the card, there’s just something special about the judge waving your business card in the other lawyer’s face. (And if you get really lucky, someone even blogs about your business card.)

So, what’s on the back of the cards in your wallet?