About a year ago, when I was just starting my small consulting business, I started looking for NFC business cards. I went down a rabbit hole and learned everything there was to know about them. I found one company was charging $189 for a single metal NFC card! I thought, "There's no way I'm paying that." So, I did some digging and figured out a way to make my own NFC card - virtually for free. And now, I've put together this simple guide to show you how you can do it too!
Before you start: make sure you have an NFC-enabled phone, which is the case with most Android and iPhone models these days. You will also need an NFC 215 tag. They come in many shapes and sizes: tags, cards, stickers, you name it. Pick one that suits your needs. Here are some options on Amazon and Etsy.
Step-by-step guide for iPhone and Android
-
Create a free digital business card profile
There are many digital business card platforms out there. I will use Lynkle for this demo because it's free, looks good, and is easy to use. You can see it in action here .
-
Download an app that can write NFC tags
Again, there are plenty of great options. I will use the NFC Tools app because it's available on both Android and iOS , it's free, and easy to use.
-
Write to your NFC tag
Make sure you have your phone and an NFC tag nearby for this step
Open the NFC Tools app, then tap "Write" - "Add a record" - "URL/URI" - Enter the URL of your profile (I will use https://lynkle.com/emily for this demo), then tap "OK".
Finally, tap the "Write / 21 Bytes" button and once the "Ready to Scan" scanning prompt appears on your phone, hold your phone near the NFC tag until you get a confirmation that the link is written to the NFC tag.
Tip: the NFC reader on most smartphones (including iPhones) is at the back near the camera lenses.
Voila! your NFC business card is ready.
To test your new NFC business card, hold your NFC tag or card near your phone's NFC reader until you get a confirmation that the tag is scanned.
Tap the notification presented on your phone to load the digital business card in your phone's browser. If you use Lynkle, you can tap "Save Contact" to add the vCard to your phone contacts.
