This is a new electronic business card that stays up-to-date and includes Social Media links as well as your picture. In the old days we traded business cards that were often hard to read, when we got back to the office we had to type or scan into our computer and used paper from trees (NOT Green).

Today instead of the business card we use the  Poken which costs from $20 to $35  (much less then a bunch of quality business cards) .  You meet someone, touch your Pokens together, and that, with short range wireless, transmits a code to each Poken. You plug your Poken in to your computer back at the office using a standard USB port and all their info shows up on the screen including web address, social media sites, videos and their picture. You can export this data electronically to any other system you want.  If they change a website, a phone number, a job, or their picture you get updated with the change automatically! It also shows you where you met them in time.

The Poken is much, much more than just an electronic business card sharing device. It is a fun way to share your social media and contact information with someone you meet who also has a Poken. It can include your photo, all your social media sites, your websites, phone, address..whatever you want to add. Links are active hyper links AND they don’t have to type your contact info into their computer. You can have it on you keychain and when you find someone you meet that also has one and you would like to share information with them, you just touch your Pokens together. They glow and that means the transfer of the ID’s occurred. Next time you are at your computer you plug your Poken into the USB slot and it transfers all your contacts to the web based Poken contact page. It is a new product by a new company that is already turning a profit. I believe this or something like this will be used more and more in the future over just a business card.

There are two models of the Poken and the Hub:

* PokenSPARK: Cost less (~$20.00 + shipping ), are the the little things with the big hand, has no extra memory.
http://www.poken.com/spark

* PokenPULSE: Cost a bit more (~$35.00 + shipping), looks like a USB memory stick and had 2Gig of re-usable memory as well as the Poken electronics and storage for the Poken data. To see the PULSE:
http://www.poken.com/pulse

* PokenHUB: This is the website you use to maintain and keep all your contact data. Since it is web based you can be a different computer and both view and update it. To see more about the HUB:
http://www.poken.com/website

Benefits of the Poken:

* Don’t have to type in their contact information or re-check check scanned in information like a business card.
* If they change their connections or content information your information on them is automatically updated.
* It includes the time / date when you met them on a time-line.
* Their photo is included.
* You can easily export the data to other electronic devices.

What is required to make this work for you:

* You both have to have a Poken.
* You both have to have internet access.
* You need to carry it with you.
* Every 4 to 8 months you will have to open the little case and change the battery that you can find at Radio Shack.

Click here to lean more about Poken in the Raleigh area.

Some other resource to lean more about the Poken

What is a Poken – Comprehensive video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z51JUot_yUY

Connecting your Poken to your computer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-JFOqeULU0

A videos about the Poken:
http://vimeo.com/6985456
More about it: http://vimeo.com/6955476

More about the Networking concept related to Poken:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61jYzrR5MN4

What the Poken looks like inside:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js2R6E4Q82k

Text explanation of the Poken including the manufacture and technology from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poken

Blog post comparing the Poken to other Digital Business cards:
http://technology.inc.com/hardware/articles/200906/businesscard.html

To get questions and answers about the Poken and community support:

http://getsatisfaction.com/poken

Place to buy your Poken!:
http://www.pokenzoo.com

Also you can get them from a link on inSide919.com
At FindaPoken

And I am often carrying around a few that I will sell at $19.95 for the PokenSPARK and the PokenPULSE for $34.99 (you don’t pay shipping).
Call me for info (919) 847-4757

Now that you own a Poken, how to connect it to your computer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-JFOqeULU0

Hope this was informative and please post your additions and comments. If you have a Poken let us know! I have a new list on Twitter called Poken Owners of RTP, if you are one and want to be on this list send me a tweet! Here is the link to the list: http://twitter.com/martinbrossman/poken-owners-of-rtp
Post a note here or to my Twitter account: http://www.twitter.com/martinbrossman

Martin Brossman
ProNetworkingOnLine.com
Raleigh NC

BNI Morning Show - N. Raleigh

Enhancing the Value of Your BNI Referral Group with Social Media by Martin Brossman

I was privileged to speak at The BNI Morning Show, a popular BNI group in North Raleigh, about business use of Social Media and on-line reputation management. To share the highlights with you, here are a few of my short tips for profoundly enhancing the value of your BNI referral group using Social Media and reputation sites.
- You can update LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook status about the meeting with something unique to that day, and the name of the group. Example someone posted: Looking forward to hearing Martin Brossman about Social Media w/business at our BNI Morning Show

- When having a one-on-one with someone, you may want to say something about the meeting and reference the person on any of your micro-blogs or status updates such as Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn .

- Give recommendations to members on LinkedIn after you have worked with them enough to give a specific and valid recommendation.

- Use on-line press releases to announce significant changes or advancements to the group.

- Include a member /reference the group in a blog post.

- Using Facebook “Pages” for business allows a posting to be picked up by Google vs. your personal profile that is basically seen by only the people you have let in as friends. .

- Have a short URL for a Web page or Facebook business page for members to use when posting on micro-blogs and status updates such as bit.ly .

- Post honest and positive comments in on-line sites like MerchantCircle.com or LocalAdLink.com This can also include posting on the person’s “wall” on sites like Facebook.com, LinkingRaleighNC.com  and inside919.com. (LinkingRaleighNC.com  and inside919.com are in the RTP NC area, www.insideareacodes.com to find the one in your local area code. )

- Make sure you have your LinkedIn profile optimized for your target customer, and consider connecting with the people on your BNI team.

The BNI Morning Show is one of the BNI Chapters in RTP, to learn more about them go to: http://trianglebni.net

Martin Brossman is a Business Coach, Trainer and Author who integrates Social Media training and Success Coaching. He offers training for Referral group on using Social Media for Business.  He is the co-founder of Professional Networking on the Web at the Cardinal Club in Raleigh. Find more info and links to Martin’s Social Media universe at www.ProNetworkingOnLine.com and find his new book “Brossman’s Social Media and Online Resource Directory for Business”. A great resource to find out more about Social Media for Business . Martin can be reach at US EST: (919) 847-4757 or Martin@CoachingSupport.com .

It is free to join, allows you to form local discussion groups like “Triangle Business Bloggers” or “Podcasting.” It lets you list calendar events, have a blog so you can contribute useful articles, have a profile stating your business and it offers an RSS feed so you can keep up with it in your Blog Reader. By requiring you to live or work in the 919 area code and asking that people make at least one contribution a month, it keeps it smaller then the big guys offering a local connection. It was started by Pat Howlett who moved from a small town to the RTP NC area and wanted to create a small town business networking feel on-line.

My networking advice for using Inside919 is to take a little time to join it, fill out the basic profile, maybe join a few groups that are of interest and connect to some people you know. Next just check in once a week or even once a month based on your time demands and the importance of a web presence. When you check in, look for ways to help others or contribute to a conversation that is occurring in a Forum or group. If you use a blog reader then add the RSS feed to that so you can keep track of it.

I do recommend a picture and if you don’t have one you like, pay a photographer for one good one. The good photographers can offer Photoshop touch ups if that makes you more comfortable. You can find one in InSide919.com as well.

Next share the site with good local businesses you know to help them connect to others.

I like this group since Pat is a local person who truly wants to help the local business professionals and make it easy to participate. To me this can be one of the important pieces of your on-line presence and marketing plan.

Pat Howlett also is creating groups for other area codes and here is a website to find all the groups: www.insideareacodes.com

If you join www.inside919.com , look me up and say hello!

By Martin Brossman – www.coachingsupport.com – Martin@CoachingSupport.com (919) 847-4757