Print some personal business cards.  Put your name, home mailing address, professional-sounding email address and phone number on them.  Use the addresses and phone number that you will be using for your resume or business plan.  Keep them simple and elegant, no cute pictures or sayings.

Start carrying these with you and be ready to offer them at any time.  You never know who might become your big contact!  You’ll also want to give them to friends and colleagues you want to stay in touch with, who might not have your personal contact information.

You can print these on your home computer or use a professional service.  I use an online service that offers free business cards that carry their advertising on the back, or for a nominal fee they leave the back of the card blank.
This is part of a complete step-by-step military retirement checklist. I’ll be posting weekly action steps here, so please subscribe over in the right-hand column so you’re sure to get each update.