Business cards are so 20th century, right? Surely, any self-respecting modern company would have ditched the paper rectangle by now in favor of ... well, what, exactly?

The fact is, even the most technology-savvy consultants still carry business cards.

Nothing else creates such an immediate, tactile, memorable impression. Sure, there are ways to beam your contact information from one PDA to another, but by the time you've whipped out that Blackberry, navigated to the right program, and found the right button—then waited for me to do the same—we could have exchanged cards AND figured out that we had the same high school English teacher (chain-smoking Mr. Banton!).

Maybe because they're a relic of times gone by (does anyone even remember that a calling card was something you left behind when you literally called at someone's house?) people have an affection for business cards that ensures the format isn't going away anytime soon.

Your business card contents are another matter entirely. What's on your card can say quite a lot about how savvy and connected you are. Or aren't, as the case may be.

If your card supply is dwindling, or you're about to get new cards made for any reason, ask yourself: does the information here truly represent the best ways to contact me? I'm just guessing here, but those ways might have changed in the last year or two. Here are a few examples:

Fax number

No contest. Get rid of it. If, by some million-to-one chance I ever need to send you a fax, I'll ask for the number then. With only 3.5 x 2" to work with, don't waste precious space on edge cases.

Street address

If you're a lobbying firm, you want people to know you're within back-slapping distance of Congress. But for many companies, it doesn't actually matter where the office is located. And by leaving off the address, that's what you're telling contacts—"we do business anywhere." If you're not comfortable going naked, try including just your city and state, your GPS coordinates, or your time zone.

Phone numbers

Phone numbers seem to proliferate on business cards like mold on bathroom tile. If you can, pick one phone number and stick to it. Or if you've got lots of numbers, think about consolidating them into one service like Google Voice. Land lines are becoming a thing of the past—do mention Skype if you can be reached that way.

Web address

Of course you need to include your URL, right? Well, maybe not. Depending on what you do, your blog or profile page might be a more appropriate destination than your company's home page.

Social media

Short answer: yes! If it's pertinent to your business, do mention Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or other social media you participate in. Ideally, these accounts are all easily findable using your name, so you don't have to put "@leatherlover" on your business card, even if that is your Twitter handle. Furthermore, online profiles are more likely to be up to date than a business card—three years later I can probably still find you on LinkedIn though you've changed jobs five times.

Photo/avatar

As someone who is awful at remembering names and faces, I would love if everyone (not just real estate agents) put a photo on their business card. I'm not sure why this isn't more prevalent now that four-color printing is so cheap, except that it doesn't seem professional somehow. I won't be at all surprised, however, if avatars break this taboo. The more we communicate through online channels, the more likely I am to know you by your avatar or thumbnail photo. Including it on your business card is an obvious way to provide an immediate memory aid—although it does mean you want to pick an avatar you're going to use consistently and in the long term.

Size

Now that you've whittled your card down to the bare essentials, maybe you don't need all that space after all. Spare a few trees and go with a smaller card size like the Mini Cards from moo.com.

[ Kim Bieler wrote this article and she welcomes your suggestions for more 21st century business card ideas. ]