Insiders’ Trading Tips

When doling out business cards, etiquette experts offer this advice:

* In social situations, use a calling card (a simple black-on-white card with name, number and address).

* Don’t force your card on people.

* Don’t ask for someone’s card in a social situation, but if they offer, study it, and put it somewhere proper, such as a breast pocket (not a back pocket).

* Don’t write on a card someone has given you. (It’s OK to add information to a card you’re handing to them.)

* Avoid getting funky shapes, colors and sizes when you order your cards. Oversized cards impose upon those who receive them.

“Your card,” says etiquette authority Carol Forsythe, “is an extension of you.”