I discovered the real cost of paper cards by accident...

About three years ago, I was at a big industry conference in Chicago. I spent two days on my feet, shaking hands, and feeling like a networking rockstar. I came home with a pocket full of other people's cards and a lighter box of my own—I'd handed out over 80.

A week later, I checked my inbox.

Out of those 80 potential clients and partners? I'd gotten follow-up emails from exactly five. It felt like shouting into the void.

But the real gut-punch came when I emptied my travel bag. I found the stack of cards I'd collected. A few were wrinkled, one had a coffee stain, and another was stuck to a gum wrapper.

I dumped them on my desk, creating the same "business card graveyard" I'd seen on a dozen other professionals' desks. I felt a little guilty, but I knew the truth: I was never going to manually type all of them into my contacts.

That's when the epiphany hit me: If this is what I do to their cards, what are they doing to mine?

All my effort, travel, and expense was ending up in someone else's trash can or desk graveyard. I wasn't just losing contacts. I was actively throwing away my best opportunities.

And I had to ask myself: how much was that really costing me?