06 Jun Use Your iPhone To Get The Most Out Of Your Networking Opportunities
Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or just starting to get your hands dirty, professional networking can be tough.
As it stands your iPhone is a fantastic tool. It allows you to not only call and text, but also surf the web, keep up with your social networks, send files and help you manage your time better. But, did you know that your iPhone could also help you get the most out of your networking opportunities?
There are a huge range of apps and services out there that aim to help you up your networking game. Check out our list of our top 6 networking apps for the iPhone below!
How To Network (Free)
Even if you’ve networked a million times before, it’s always good to find tips and tricks to further improve your networking abilities. How To Network for the iPhone offers its users a library of video tutorials, articles and legal documents from experts, that can help you expand your professional network.
What type of resources can you expect to find?
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- 26 HD videos with branding experts
- 10 documents hand-written by lawyers
- Download feature enabling document email and printing
- 15 articles by business professionals
- 5 in-depth chapters
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WorldCard Mobile ($7.49)
Business cards are (and traditionally have been) a staple of networking, however, keeping track of all of the business cards you collect can be tough.
Storing all of your business cards digitally offers an easy way to make sure you don’t lose any opportunities. WorldCard Mobile not only allows users to scan a business card in, but the app also identifies as much information from the card as possible and stores it in the native contact application on the iPhone. You can also edit any scanning errors that may have occurred, and merge new business card information with existing contacts.
In order to ensure you will never lose your contacts, WorldCard Mobile allows you to sync and backup your contacts with iCloud or Dropbox, and if you own a Google Account, you can sync your newly found contacts with Google Contacts. This makes it super easy to not only have a back up of your contacts, but also allows you to transfer your contacts to any device, whether it is a Windows PC, Mac or Android or Windows device.
Contacts Journal ($10.49)
Many of you would be familiar to Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, which essentially allow you to store customer information and improve relationships.
Contacts Journal operates on the same premise, as it allows you to keep track of interactions with individuals. The app offers a way to keep detailed notes on all of your interactions such as meetings, phone calls, emails etc, with each contact and to plan for the future by using the to-do list to add upcoming events to each contact’s log. These interactions can be scheduled in the iPhone’s native calendar app through Contacts Journal.
Contacts Journal supports contact upload via the Contacts app and vCard files, while also allowing users to upload contacts to Dropbox or iCloud for easy backup and transferral between devices. To organise your contacts, you can create Private Contacts and Private Groups to keep professional information separate from your personal contacts. You can also define and create custom fields and attach custom data for each contact.
Herematch (Free)
For those of you who frequently attend business networking events, conferences, trade shows, seminars and conventions, this location based app is for you!
Herematch aims to help you make new business connections in real-time. The app allows users to fill out a profile and check into a place or event. Because it links up to your LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook accounts, when you check into a place or event, your status will be automatically updated on social networks. Once you have checked in, Herematch will show you a list of people who have checked in who match with you, either because they need the services you provide or you provide the services they need. If you’re interested in a person, once you click on them the app will display a picture, the reason you were matched and a short bio.
The rest is up to you!
Groups (Free)
Having trouble sifting through your long list of contacts? Maybe you’re trying to remind yourself who you know at a particular company, city or industry.
Groups makes it easy to organise your contacts into groups defined by a specific criteria such as company, city or state or anything else you can think of. The app works by either manual drag and drop or by “smart groups” which filter your contacts by whatever fields you choose. Should you need to change any information for groups or individual contacts, these changes will automatically sync with the native Contacts app on the iPhone.
To start you off, there are several smart groups preloaded including groups to highlight contacts who are missing phone numbers, email addresses or photos. If you need to send an email to an entire group, you can do so through Groups with just a tap, making it easy to keep up communication with your contacts.
LinkedIn (Free)
More and more professionals are signing up to the social network for professionals, LinkedIn, to network and connect with others in their profession and industry leaders. There are more than 200 million users on LinkedIn, which provides a whole world of connections and networking opportunities.
The LinkedIn app allows you to directly share and add connections and discover mutual connections to expand your network. If you find yourself without conversation starters, LinkedIn keeps you up to speed on the latest business and financial news and with people in your network. The app also has a neat feature called “In person”, which allows you to search the room for other iPhone users that also have the app and Bluetooth turned on. You’ll get a list of LinkedIn accounts of all the people in the room and have a chance to add them and approve adds. Having access to information on the go about that person before you even meet them is invaluable for networking effectively, which is exactly what the LinkedIn app provides.
LinkedIn for iPhone also gives you the LinkedIn functionality you would find on the desktop version. You can set your status, invite contacts, accept invitations, read and respond to messages and keep up with your contacts’ updates, making it a fantastic addition to your iPhone’s app repertoire.
Over To You!
What tools or apps do you use to improve your networking?