PRO NETWORKING
Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category
What is a Poken? An Electronic Business card that stays up-to-date and includes Social Media links
Understanding the Poken which represents the next generation of business cards by Martin Brossman
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
Enhancing the Value of Your BNI Referral Group with Social Media by Martin Brossman
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 .
Using LinkedIn for Sales – Part 2 by Martin Brossman
Free info you can use
I have been coaching high-quota Sales Professionals for many years and believe LinkedIn is one of the most important free sales tools available today.
Remember, LinkedIn is a professional tool for solving tasks. It is not a cold calling list or directory of your target clients. It IS a first place to check for current and future contacts and business, due to the high quality of the data when it is present. Since each profile is about an individual, automatic self-interest is generated for being well-represented on the web.
If you look at a person’s profile, you will get all the information they choose to make available, and also you can get a sense of how much they use LinkedIn. For example, you can note whether their Public Profile consists of their name vs. the pre-assigned random numbers and letters. If they have personalized it they are likely using LinkedIn frequently. Next, notice how many recommendations they have, how many connections they have, if they have a picture, and whether they filled out their profile. These factors all point to how comfortable they are with using LinkedIn, and possibly how receptive they will be in accepting your introduction.
Know your target clients and businesses and observe how close you are to them through LinkedIn connections. Who do you your ideal clients trust and how well connected are they to you? You want to keep building your connections closer to your clients and that is done by relating to them and building their trust, not just by sending them an invite to connect. Are there a few people that seem to be more connected to your ideal clients than others? If so, these people need to be a higher priority for building and maintaining relationships.
It’s important to understand that this is a dynamic process which still involves building trust and connections, just like traditional networking has all along–which means investing in quality people who are on the path to where you want to be.
If you are a sales professional, LinkedIn is not only a big asset to your own career but also to the company you work for. If you set up your web link back to the company web site (using the Other option) and use the right keywords in your profile that your customers use, you will enhance the web presence of your company and yourself. A true win-win. This also makes it easier for your contacts to refer YOU to other members of their company by just referring people to your public profile.
That last tip I want to share today about your LinkedIn profile is: make sure to clearly have your contact information easy to find, especially your phone number. Make sure to first include it in the Contact Settings area at the bottom of your profile, but if you are in sales I would also add it at the top in your Summary area.
Last, when should you upgrade your LinkedIn profile to the paid version? When you keep running up against the notice that says you need to upgrade to get the information you need. LinkedIn is very generous in giving a lot for the free service, so use all of it.
Since LinkedIn does such a great organic job of enhancing the brand of a business by having all their key people correctly listed on LinkedIn, you could add more value to your customers by offering resources for them to be on LinkedIn. That may be you or someone who provides LinkedIn training.
Martin Brossman can be reached at Martin@CoachingSupport.com (919) 847-4757 – ProNetworkingOnLine.com and see his LinkedIn resources http://usinglinkedin.wordpress.com/ or on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Usinglinkedin
Reprinted from www.LinkingRaleighNC.com – Greg Hyer
Interviewed with Martin Brossman by NBC17 about Job Hunting using Linkedin
NBC17 interview with Martin Brossman about Linkedin and Jobs
An Interview with Martin Brossman on Using Linkedin as a Job Hunting tool. Also see other resources below.
Here is the two links to the shows:
1st the spot that was shown on the nightly news:
http://news.mync.com/site/news/video/2951/Linked%20In%20pkg/
2nd more of the interview:
http://news.mync.com/site/news/video/2944/Martin_Brossman_interview/
I want to thank all who recommended me for this show including Greg Hyer with the great RTP Linkedin resource: www.linkingraleighnc.com, Wayne Sutton and Chuck Hester (Linkedin Live, find Chuck at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/chuckhester). I know their were others that recommend me as well but did not get the names.
Other resources: Professional Networking On-Line (Article on MyNC.com) :
http://wake.mync.com/site/wake/Community/story/11074
Martin Brossman - Success Coach / Trainer
About Martin Brossman
Martin, a success coach, speaker, trainer and author, has been mastering the art of networking in the Triangle since 1982 ( www.coachingsupport.com ). He has originated numerous successful in-person and on-line networking groups which have facilitated meaningful business connections among members. Martin’s computer skills have powered his keen ability to create and teach crucial new Internet communications, such as blogging, podcasting and on-line networking. His own podcast show can be heard at www.InquireOnLine.info . He offers consulting on how to generate profitable alliances by maximizing face-to-face and on-line presence and managing “the conversation of you” on the Web. Also see: www.ProNetworkingOnLine.com .
For more information, contact Martin Brossman at (919) 847-4757 or Martin@CoachingSupport.com
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