Have business cards helped you?

what is your offer? is it compelling? why would anyone just pick up a card w/out a compelling offer?

I use them as a contact reminder and marketing funnel - people do read them. I never leave them anywhere, and just give them personally to people I have some business interest, potential clients, partners, family and friends who can deliver one or two to other friends... etc etc.

But business cards are personal - at least IMHO.

My opinion is that if people don't know about you they can't hire you. And business cards are a great way to let people know about you. I think of them quite personal and am not giving them out to everyone, but while talking to someone who is interested for my products or services or when asked.

'Feel free to contact me anytime' while writing down my 'private' cell phone number of the back of the business card and handing it over to the potential client makes things lot easier.

On the other side, I would never leave my business cards somewhere so people can just grab them if they want - I'd use flyers for that purpose instead.

I actually completely forgot to mention this...they are business cards but are not really "business cards", I have no purpose for a business card with my personal information for a site is not popular as of yet. I used the free vista print to create an "advertising card" which displays the site name, url a short catch phrase and a picture

the card looks nice and I plan on distributing them in colleges especially in the classroom where I do not feel like handing out giant flyers

It is a forum for college students to network and make friends so there is not really anything "offered" as in products but it is something for their own benefit whether they realize it or not

People remember them!
At least while doing cleaning they find them (obviously, if they threw it to somewhere) and think that "Maybe my business/I need this service!".
I have paid $12 for 100 of them got 4 clients after spread them in my local town.
Yes, it is great profit

Well now it seems we really have several questions here. None of which did you actually seem to ask.

1. Can a flyer (business card sized or otherwise) be used effectively to promote a forum for college students to network?

We would need to know more about this forum to be sure. But in general, especially if local, flyers and other local offline marketing can be used to promote and online site.

2. If so how would you suggest I use the flyers most effectively?

First getting them to go to your forum is what you want them to do. So what offer will convert best is what you should be asking. It sounds like your current business card sized flyers are a bit plain so I am not sure they will convert very well.

Once you get a card that will work well you need to get them into the hands of your ideal users. And the college sounds like the right place. But you will need to find out the rules for what you can and can not do on campus to advertise.

That said I will tell you that in the vast majority of cases simply leaving them out somewhere is not going to work. Unless the offer really stands out and is amazingly compelling most people will ignore them. Or worse pick them up and simply toss them.

Since you choose business card sized to start you should hand them out to people you know. Also find the influencers on campus and work to get them to try it out. Once they like it you can have them hand them out for you.

3. Would business card sized flyers work to promote this?

Yes but I am not sure it is what I would have chosen. Seems like you have limited yourself in regards to space to explain why they would want to join the forum. So you will need handle that personally.

"Have you heard that 7.9% of recent College Grads are Unemployed? Plus another 44% are Underemployed. Does that scare you?"
"(yes blah blah)"
"It scares us all. That is the reason I joined College Connects. It's absolutely free.
"(no thanks)"
"I'm not selling anything here. I just want to share this great site with others. (hold out card)"
(they will go to take card)
(you will pull it back)
"I'm sorry I don't have many of these cards so I am not handing them out to everyone. Just the people who truly think it will help them. If you have a moment I would love to explain it to you. Then you can take the card or just take a picture of it so you have the address, which would help me to not run out."

That is just an example on what you might say to get them into it. Remember when handing them out in person do not give them to everyone. Make it clear you only want to hand them out as needed because they are rare and wonderful. Otherwise people will just take them to shut you up.

4. If not what kind of flyers would you suggest?

You need a flyer that you can create in bulk at an affordable rate that will have enough info on it to get them to not only read it but take action and join your site. Also you need to put a great offer on it even if it's just a contest for members.

Personally a half page flyer sounds great to me as that will be short enough to read but long enough using both sides to sell them on why they should join.

YES, Business cards are very handy. I have them sitting in a few places for people to pick up. The best card was put on a school teacher's noticeboard and it got me a job proofreading job worth $1000, and considering I spent maybe $10 on 1000 cards, I more than paid for them.
I have picked up a few jobs by having them and I carry some wherever I go but I only hand them out if the opportunity arises.

I think business cards is not applicable anymore.

Today for internet business, business card have not effective business value. An entrepreneur can use business card as an advertising tool along with other promotional strategies. If your area have no internet connection or not available then this strategy for business purpose stays for longer. Thanks !

Business cards are still good tools for advertising but it will depend on how you deliver them and how your cards will appear. There are tips on the internet you can get ideas from on how business card marketing is done properly.

I use them to pick dust off my keyboard.

I don't use 'em. Read Dan Kennedy back in '94 saying if people have to work a bit to find you, they'll be that much more committed to buying from you.

I rather enjoy telling people I don't use them, and watching their facial expressions.

I stated having more and more success with my business cards after I put my social media info on them. It seems as though people tend to hit up those sites first. Google has been putting more and more emphasis on social media networking for their search result rankings, so the more likes and shares you get, the more important Google will think you are. Having the social media info on my cards has brought more traffic to my main site as well.

I just feel like college students are not motivated these days. I sent out a nice little intro explaining what I am trying to do to a list of students over 24,000 students from my college

Some people touched on this, but what is your USP? What do I get on your site that I don't get anywhere else?

I had 2 business cards for my retail business. One for business contacts and one for prospects. The one for prospects included a "new customer" offer (discount). I put them in neighboring businesses. Worked like a charm.