networking on the go « All Things Networking

Posts Tagged ‘networking on the go’

Working On the Go

Wednesday, November 9th, 2011

Are you a small business owner who moves around a lot? Do you travel between client sites or are frequent meetings in coffee shops part of your day?

If so, you need ways to be productive on the go, and the new trend toward tablets is supporting you. I’ve done several posts on using my Nook Color as a tablet and how it’s made me more productive, but there are several new low-cost tablets coming out before the end of the year, and all of them look like they’ll make you more productive.

I’m not going to get into a feature/benefit comparison, but the three I’m watching are:

The new Nook Tablet
The Kindle Fire
The Kobo Vox

All three are inexpensive and require no data contract. So once you’ve bought one, that’s it. There’s no need for a monthly data contract, which means you’ll need a WiFi hotspot or a portable WiFi device, but it hasn’t been a problem for me to rely on public WiFi.

What can you do with your new tablet?

You can use an app like Office Suite Pro to do your word processing and spreadsheets. I’ve been using it for several weeks now, and it’s the best tablet-based Office suite replacement I’ve found.

You can use Evernote for taking notes. I’ve been planning out a series of webinars in Evernote, and then at home, using my notes to create the Power Point presentation.

You can read books to keep up with new business ideas or to work on improving yourself.

Of course, you can keep up with social media, but I prefer my phone for that, so I can’t comment too much on tablet social media apps.

Does your business show off well in video? Tablets are a great way to show video. The screen size is large enough to view easily and small enough to be portable.

There are plenty of Calendar/To Do apps to keep you organized.

Gmail is fantastic on my tablet. In the evenings, I curl up on the couch to check my email instead of using my netbook. Obviously, WiFi is needed for this one.

The list goes on. I’ve been productive on the Metro, in coffee shops, on my couch, in my car (while parked, of course) and plenty of other places. There’s no excuse now to sit with nothing to do while you wait for someone to arrive for an appointment.

Anyone else want to share their tablet productivity tips?

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Tags: networking on the go, task management, time management
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Networking At the Dog Park

Friday, August 5th, 2011

As some of you may know, I have a new dog. Shameless doggie plug.

Isn’t she cute?

Ahem. Anyway, back to the post at hand. With a new dog, I’m spending a lot of time at the dog park. Who would think it would be a good place to network?

Let me start by reminding you that networking is something that can be done anywhere, at any time. It’s just relationship building, and as long as you honor the occasion, you can do that anywhere.

So obviously I don’t run around the dog park handing out business cards. But I’ve recommended a massage therapist, promoted a buddy’s book and talked about a good guy to buy windows from. And this week, I finally got to talk about myself!

It was a slow day. There were only two of us there with our dogs, and the guy (we’ll call him Bill) asked me what I did. I told him, and we started to talk about social media. He had lots of questions, and I answered them. I recommended he try out Google+ and I offered him one of my invites. I told him about my book, and I think he might buy a copy when it comes out.

Not bad for something I do every day that costs me nothing extra in time or money. He works for a big company. Never know when I might need a connection there, and I’ve got the beginnings of the relationship to make it happen.

So where’s the oddest place you’ve networked?

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Tags: Networking, networking on the go
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Email Is Not An Instant Communication Tool

Friday, November 5th, 2010

I realize that statement is going to come as a surprise to some people, but it’s true. Even in this age of smart phones, don’t assume email will be read and responded to immediately. My rule of thumb is simple.

If I need a response in less than 24 hours, I don’t use email. I pick up the phone and leave a clear, detailed voice mail indicating what I need and by when.

Here are some examples of misuse by email. All of these happened to me.

1. Someone was running late for an event and sent me an email letting me know. The email was sent about an hour before the start time, and she looked very surprised when I said I hadn’t seen it yet. I had been, well, setting up and meeting my guests when she sent it. No harm done, but it was odd.

2. Someone needed information for a meeting the following day. He sent me an email mid-afternoon. Not a big deal, maybe, except I needed to call my bank to get the info. I had been in meetings all afternoon. Guess when I finally saw it? When I got home that evening, after the bank had closed. A phone call would have gotten me on the run, and I could have taken care of it.

And the best one…

3. An email sent at 8:55 canceling a 9:00 meeting. I was already at the meeting place when she sent it. Enough said.

Emergencies happen. Things come up. We understand that. But don’t use email as the method for last minute communication. That’s what phones are for.

Anyone else have a good last-minute email communication story to share?

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Tags: communication, networking on the go
Posted in networking on the go | 5 Comments »

“I Didn’t Want To Waste My Time”

Friday, September 17th, 2010

I overheard a conversation a couple of days ago that reconfirmed my iPhone decision.

A couple of guys were talking about a networking event.

Guy 1: “Did you go to that event last night?”

Guy 2: “No, the meeting I had beforehand was canceled. I didn’t want to hang around a coffee house and waste an hour and a half, so I went home.”

So sad to miss a networking event because he didn’t have a way to productively spend time. With my iPhone, I could have done any or all of the following in an hour and a half:

1. Checked Twitter and Facebook
2. Written a blog post
3. Edited The Case of the Haunted Vampire
4. Written 500-1000 words in my current story
6. Checked and answered email
7. Caught up on other people’s blog posts
8. Read a book

And failing all that I could have

Played Plants vs. Zombies!

Okay, I wouldn’t really shoot zombies on work time, but you get the idea.

Having productive work with me all the time is part of how I can juggle the many projects I’m working on. If someone’s late for a meeting or cancels last minute, it’s never a problem. With a glass of iced tea and my trusty phone, I can be productive anywhere and anytime. (Um, don’t take that to mean I am encouraging people to cancel last-minute. Wanted to be clear on that.)

How about you? How do you stay productive on the go?

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Tags: iPhone, networking on the go, time management
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Review: Nutshell Mail

Wednesday, September 15th, 2010

I’ve gotten backed up on reviews, so this week will be review week. On Monday, I reviewed the iPhone 4 as a mobile networking companion. Today I want to write about Nutshell Mail as a way to keep up with all your social media interactions in one place.

The more social media sites you interact with, the harder it becomes to keep track of all of them. Tools like Hootsute and Tweetdeck are good, and I use them both but what attracted me to Nutshell Mail was the ability to get updates via email.

When you set up an account, you can choose which social media sites to connect to. As you can see, I’m connected to Facebook and Twitter. While I am on LinkedIn, I don’t want status updates from my LinkedIn contacts, and I already get Groups updates via email. No need to duplicate effort.

Once you’ve decided on which accounts you want to monitor through Nutshell Mail, you can customize what you receive. The next two screen shots show some of the options you have.

I particularly like the New Follows, New Quitters and @Mentions. I don’t know another easy way to see who has unfollowed you. And keeping up with new follows and @Mentions throughout the day is very useful. When I’m away from my computer, I don’t always take the time to fire up Twitter for iPhone, but I do check my email throughout the day.

Nutshell Mail is particularly valuable to me on the weekend. I admit I’m not as good at checking social media on Saturday and Sunday. Nutshell Mail gives me a quick snapshot of what I think is important, and it reminds me to look at other lists a couple of times on the weekend.

If you spend most of your time at your computer, it might not be for you. If you don’t have a smartphone, it might not be much use to you. But if you are on the go and need to keep up with your social media channels, Nutshell Mail could be for you.

I’ve suggested it to several of my clients, and so far they all love it.

Hey, it’s free. What’s to lose by trying it?

If you give it a spin, let me know what you think and how you’re using it.

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Tags: iPhone, networking on the go, social media
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iPhone 4: Good For Mobile Networking?

Monday, September 13th, 2010

Yes, I gave in and upgraded my iPhone to the new model. I wanted to wait for the white version, but the iOS 4 upgrade was not making my 3G deadly slow and crash frequently. I suspected an OS upgrade was coming to fix it (and it came out last week), but there were enough other reasons to upgrade that I talked myself into it. And talking me into new tech isn’t that hard.

I’ve had it for about three weeks now, and yes, I love it. For me, it’s a big upgrade over the 3G, and it’s a good companion for the mobile networker.

Battery Life

This was the first big “Wow!” for me. I hadn’t realized how much I had stopped doing on my old phone because of the battery life. I could barely go all day on a charge, and if I had an evening event, there was no way I’d make it all day. The iPhone 4 goes all day with no problems. In fact, I’ve been charging it about every other day. I’d stopped checking Twitter and Facebook on the go to save power, and I don’t need to do that anymore.

I haven’t put it through a full grueling day of leaving home before 7:00 AM and getting back after 9:00 PM yet, but from what I’ve seen, it’ll handle that with no problem. I needed a supplemental battery for the 3G, and I don’t think I’ll need one for the 4.

Screen Display

I’m still in awe of the Retina display. I never thought my old phone had a pixelated display, but the difference between the two is huge. A couple of apps haven’t been updated to take advantage of the new display, and I’ve stopped using them because they look so horrible.

Here’s a screen shot of an app that hasn’t been updated. See how blobby the text looks?

Now here’s one from an updated app. The text is so sharp it almost looks like it would cut you.

And honestly, those shots don’t quite do the screen justice. You have to see them on a phone to really see the difference.

Does the better screen really make me more effective as a networker? Probably not, but I spend a lot of time reading e-books, and the new display makes it easier on the eyes.

Camera

The 3G couldn’t take video and didn’t have auto focus. The lack of auto focus meant I couldn’t use one of my new favorite apps: World Card Mobile. I’ll be doing a complete review of this app soon, but right now I’ll just say that I can take a picture of a business card, and the app scans, OCRs and then creates a Contacts entry for me. It’s very accurate. Because I don’t use Outlook, traditional business card scanners are useless to me because I have no way to sync the information to my phone. World Card Mobile costs $5.99, and it’s great. Everyone who sees me use it goes “Cool!”

So, ironically, it’s the camera which has made the biggest productivity difference for me. Entering business cards by hand was time consuming. Now it’s a snap (if you’ll pardon the pun).

I think taking video will end up being helpful. I’ve been wanting to get some video testimonials, and the phone will make getting those easy.

Face Time

I figured someone would ask about it if I didn’t mention it. It was one of the most-touted features of the iPhone 4, and I’ve got to admit I’ve not used it yet. I can see benefit to it, but first I need to find someone to use it with. Any volunteers?

Multitasking

I like it, but it’s not as great as some people think. I do like that e-book apps don’t have to reload a book, which make some of them load faster. And it’s sometimes nice to fast switch between certain apps. So I use it, but I don’t rely on it. I don’t think I use the right apps to take full advantage of it. (In other words, I’m not a big gamer on my iPhone. That’s what my Nintendo DS is for.)

Conclusion

Was it a “Must Have” upgrade? Probably not. But I do love scanning cards, and the display and battery life are incredible. I like not needing to hoard my battery on long days. It’s faster than my old 3G, and it’s definitely more reliable under iOS 4. So, I’m happy I upgraded, but if you’re happy with your 3G or 3GS, it’s hardly an “Upgrade or Die!” situation.

Anyone else want to brag about your iPhone 4?

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Tags: iPhone, networking on the go
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Review: Byline for iPhone

Friday, July 16th, 2010

My regular readers know I am big on aggregating content and taking it with me on the go.

I use Google Reader to manage all my blogs, and the mobile version of Google Reader is okay for reading blogs on my phone, but it didn’t really do it for me. I like being able to load content and access it even if I’m not connected (like on the Metro).

I’d read review of several RSS reader programs for the iPhone, and none of them excited me until I found Byline.

I’m using the free ad-supported version, and I don’t find the ads intrusive at all. Here’s a screen shot of the preview page. The ad at the top isn’t intrusive. There is one ad per 10 items, so in this shot, I have 9 items and only one ad.

What is really nice about Byline is that it caches longer articles for later reading. See the little blue arrow at the right of an article? That indicated cached content.

Open the abstract version of the article to see if you want to read more.

If you do, tap the arrow in the upper right corner, and it takes you to the expanded version of the article.

Caching can be done over WiFi for those who downgraded their iPhone data plan and no longer have unlimited data.

My usual procedure now is to sync Byline before I leave the house and catch up on blog posts throughout the day. A good use of time and technology, in my opinion.

Anyone else have a mobile RSS reader to rave about? I’m always willing to try a new iPhone app.

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Tags: iPhone, networking on the go, task management, time management
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iPad as Productivity Tool. Guest Post by @jarehart

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

About a month ago, I saw a tweet from Jonathan Arehart of Cavendo about how the iPad was allowing him to virtually eliminate paper. Naturally, I was intrigued, and I asked him to write a guest post about how he is using the iPad as a productivity tool. He has some good points, especially on that paper elimination and extending the purchasing life cycle of his laptop. Take it from here, Jonathan!

iPad as a Paperless Business Tool
by Jonathan Arehart

Apple is known for creating great consumer products. The current success of the Apple brand really started with the introduction of the first iPod launched in October 2001. Ever since then Apple has progressed into every aspect of the home and office, and especially the mobile computing environment with new and faster MacBook laptops, more robust Mac Mini desktops, and more recently the iPhone. Many of these devices have great business applications, especially the MacBook Pro laptop series, popular among graphic design and video production firms (aside from the traditional Mac Pro desktop series, of course). However, Apple made a huge leap into the business space, perhaps unknowingly, with the introduction of the iPad in early 2010.

Part laptop, part tablet and completely mobile, the iPad has quickly become a powerful clutch for the busy professional. With a 9.7-inch LED “multi-touch” screen and 9-10 hours of battery life, the iPad fills a void many devices before have tried and mostly failed at. Tablet PCs have had a slow adoption over the past decade since their introduction in the early 2000s, and laptops have had a hit-or-miss utility in meetings and the boardroom.

A challenge in the quest to go paperless, or as close to paperless as you can get, has always been the ability to limit new paper creation. It’s very easy to create a pile and folder full of loose papers full of notes and annotations, and finding a non-obtrusive and user-friendly way to eliminate this entry point has been a mission of mine for many years. Tablet PCs were overpriced. Laptops don’t have handwriting capabilities or touchscreens, and mobile phones are simply too small to take notes on by hand. The iPad is the perfect marriage of a touchscreen, useful web-based applications, and always-on access and integration with existing business systems.

Through the combination of various applications (listed at the end of this article) I have found the iPad to be the perfect companion for Board meetings or client meetings. No longer do I have to carry Board packets or bulky client files, I can simply reference all of my past notes and record new notes using the iPad. I use Penultimate to author new notes that I can then easily email to myself or anyone else as a PDF file. Dropbox is the perfect application for retrieving stored notes, including old archives that have been scanned. I imagine in the near future you will be able to save items such as PDF files generated by applications like Penultimate directly to Dropbox, saving the step of emailing it to yourself and then saving to Dropbox.

More than a month into the iPad life I have significantly reduced the amount of new paper generated in my office. This is evidenced by not only smaller piles in my inbox/outbox but also far less administrative time expended by my team on scanning, organizing, and filing papers. I fully expect over the next 6-12 months to realize a full return on the investment not only in the hardware but also all software and connectivity costs on my iPad upgrade.

It is also interesting to point out the impact of the iPad on my regular technology purchasing cycle. I typically move to replace or upgrade major equipment such as my laptop (currently a MacBook Pro) every three years. This being the third year of my replacement cycle I instead opted for the iPad, at a third of the cost, over a new MacBook Pro. I have found my three-year-old laptop is plenty sufficient for my complex mobile needs when I need full processing power on the road. The iPad has filled the gap on less complex needs such as note taking, document retrieval and entertainment. The overall impact is a noticeable increase in productivity and lower overall technology costs, although my travel bag has become noticeably heavier! The trade-off is well worth it though.

Pros

1.Compact design works well in meetings and is far less obtrusive than a laptop.

2.Full wireless capabilities (3G and Wi-Fi), plus 3G service is available as a prepaid option and no contract is required.

3.Synchronizes well with Apple’s MobileMe service and other enterprise platforms like Microsoft Exchange Server for contacts, calendars, and email.

4.Reasonably priced between netbooks and more powerful laptops.

Cons

1.Doesn’t work with every corporate or enterprise environment.

2.No stylus is included and there is not an official stylus, but there are great third-party devices available.

3.Difficult to hold and maneuver by itself, so get a good case. I am a fan of the M-Edge cases especially the Executive Jacket ($59.99 leather). (It is often confused for an actual notebook!)

4.AT&T is the only carrier available for 3G service and you cannot link your wireless service with an existing AT&T account.

Applications

Mail (Included) – Email is a pleasure again with the intuitive and full HTML experience of Mail included on the iPad. If you’ve ever used the iPhone, it’s the exact same application except that as of this writing the new Mail included with iOS 4, with a unified inbox and threaded conversations, is not available for the iPad (coming in Fall 2010).

Penultimate ($2.99) – This is by far my favorite note-taking application. Paired with the Pogo Sketch stylus I no longer carry legal or notepads with me on meetings.

Dropbox (Free with an account) – If you use Dropbox for file sharing and syncing across your desktop and mobile devices, the iPad application is a must-have. If you’re not using Dropbox, you’re missing out on one of the simplest solutions to the age-old problem of sharing files across your devices.

Echofon ($4.99) – There are many Twitter applications for the iPhone and iPad, but Echofon wins hands-down, especially on the iPad for its speed and ease-of-use.

Netflix (Free, but an account is required) – Take a break and catch up on The Office or your favorite movie or TV series with the instant streaming capabilities of the Netflix application, and yes, it works over 3G as well.

USAToday (Free, for now) – One of the smoothest news applications I’ve seen anywhere, plus it even looks like a real newspaper on the screen. The presentation is top-notch and provides you the latest news from USA Today updated throughout the day.

Thanks, Jonathan! Cavendo is my web designer and host, and I can’t recommend them enough. To learn more, visit their website or contact Jonathan directly at ceo@cavendo.com.

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Tags: networking on the go, task management
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Networking at a Funeral

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

You may have noticed that my blog has been quiet for almost a week. There’s a reason. Last weekend I was at a funeral and right after we got back from that, we had to put down my dog. It’s been a rough week.

But when I was out of town, I realized I had a good blog topic. I’ve always said you can network anywhere, even at a funeral, and last weekend I had an opportunity to prove it.

No, I didn’t network at the actual service, but there were lots of family gatherings that weekend, and I managed some good networking there.

One of the cousins needs to learn more about blogging and social media, and he wanted my website so he could start reading my blog.

One of the uncles just started a real estate business and had come back from a three-day workshop on branding and marketing. One of the topics had been social media, and he wanted to pick my brain. I gave him some ideas of social media outlets that hadn’t been covered at the workshop.

And finally, one of the aunts is looking for a job. She has an offer, but it’s not something she is passionate about. I asked her a couple of coaching-style questions and gave her some ideas of how to find her passion.

That’s networking! You’ll notice I didn’t “get” anything from the exchanges. But I certainly gave some things of value. And giving is the most important part of networking. I even had an opportunity to give out my card to the real estate agent. I wanted him to be able to easily contact me if he needed support or a sounding board.

As long as you remember to honor the occasion and focus on giving before receiving, you really can network anywhere. Even at a funeral!

Anyone else have any stories of oddball places you’ve successfully networked?

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Tags: communication, Giving, Networking, networking on the go, Relationship building
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Posts Tagged ‘networking on the go’

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