Here’s a great article on the do’s and dont’s about making Social Networks work for you

Especially love this quote:

“Who will be in charge: How about junior employees? Usually that’s also a bad idea.

They probably haven’t absorbed the organization’s zeitgeist so they will probably lack the context in which an effective dialog occurs. “

Read more here…

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You’ve had a successful week at a trade convention. You’ve collected dozens of business cards and connected with other professionals with whom you’re sure to build strategic partnerships. Now comes the hard part–importing the information from their business cards into your contact-management system. As the cards pile up on your desk, you start to think that there has to be an easier way. Enter Dexter Sealy, the creative mind behind CardScan, the business card scanner and contact-management software.

Read more here… 

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"This gadget loads business card information right into your computer’s address book—you’ll be too organized for words." — Oprah

Found it here

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Business Productivity – CardScan Executive version 8
Product/Service: CardScan Executive version 8 Vendor: CardScan Hardware or Software? The CardScan is a unique combination of hardware (business card scanners) and software to capture and convert information from business cards, emails and other electronic communications into a digital contact database. First Launched: The current product, CardScan Executive version 8 was introduced in September 2006. What it does? The CardScan Executive is designed to meet the challenges around contact and document management. The CardScan Executive business card scanner and software solutions capture and convert information from business cards, emails and other electronic communications into a digital contact database. CardScan software eliminates the errors associated with manual data-entry processes and enables users to drag-and-drop from electronic files, easily de-duplicate lists, categorize contacts, map addresses, print labels and synchronize to mobile devices. The powerful, stylish and portable CardScan Executive scanner quickly scans and accurately reads business cards greatly increasing the accuracy and completeness of capturing contact data. “Increased end-user awareness and ongoing advances in mobile technology are helping shape better products and services. The CardScan Executive system helps business professionals striving to become more productive in their everyday lives. CardScan software reduces the errors associated with manual data-entry processes and enables users to easily de-duplicate, create lists, categorize contacts, map addresses, print labels and synchronize to mobile devices.”	2008 Best Products and Services ORDER REPRINTS this article COMPARE and print reports RECOMMEND products Network Products Guide
Network Products Guide
Performance Throughput: 30 cards per minute Interfaces: Hardware connects with USB Key Features and Benefits: The CardScan uses proprietary interpretive technology which incorporates thousands of rules for interpreting business card fields and understands all the nuances of properly reading all types of business cards for an accurate contact database. The CardScan Executive comes with a secure online backup service. With a password, users can retrieve contact data from any web browser providing them with access to their contact data from anywhere, anytime. Additionally, CardScan’s updating services can automatically generate periodic requests to contacts for updates. Changes and additions from these contacts can be automatically added to the user’s database, keeping the contact data accurate. “These awards go to the best technology products every year and we are honored that the CardScan Executive system has gained the Network Products Guide Reader Trust recognition. With a win in the ‘Best in Productivity’ category, the CardScan system has proven its ability to meet today’s contact management challenges. We are committed to helping our customers improve the value and effectiveness of their contacts by providing them with the best products and services.”
Jeffrey Swain, Senior Manager of Product Marketing – CardScan
Unique Capabilities: The CardScan Executive features fast scan speeds – up to 30 cards a minute. The CardScan software allows users to sync their contact data with a wide variety of products such as Outlook, ACT!, Notes, GoldMine, Palm or Windows Mobile devices. Targeted Users: Primarily business professionals in high-touch management positions such as sales, marketing, business development, customer service, human resources and purchasing. An increasing number of consumers are turning to CardScan to help them manage their personal contacts as well. List Price: $259.99 Satisfied Customers: CardScan has satisfied customers. Examples of top customers include: Michael Cohen, CFO and owner, Blitz Media; Colin Baird, Account Manager, WMI; Kaaren Hall, Mortgage Lender. Sales Contact for CardScan 1.800.640.6944 sales@cardscan.com

The original article can be found at:

www.networkproductsguide.com

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Business Card Mastery Pro picks up where the manuals left off, and expand your marketing prowess.

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What sets the Blackberry apart from every other smart phone is the Blackberry server.

The Blackberry server offers several key, competitive advantages to a smart business owner:

1. Realtime updates
   1. As soon as a contact or appointment is updated in Outlook, it shows up on the blackberries
   2. Whenever someone updates information on the blackberry handheld, it shows up in Outlook
2. Tight Exchange/Outlook Integration
   1. For all practical purposes, an Enterprise-activated blackberry is exactly like carrying outlook in your hands.
   2. All your contacts, appointments, tasks, memos are in your hand.
3. Information Security
   1. If someone loses their handheld, erase it using remote wipe
   2. Fired your salesperson or employee, remote wipe their berry before they leave the property
   3. You never have to worry about your sales person walking out with client lists, or having access to customer data again.
4. Information Consolidation
   1. As a business owner, or sales manager, you can see all your team’s activities from your outlook.
   2. Overlay calendars
   3. Datamine their contacts
   4. Review their task lists etc.,

Like most software vendors, when Blackberry sales talks about the Blackberry Server, they generally refer to the Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES).  This is their premier product, and in use by nearly every Fortune 500, US Congress, etc.  BES is a great product, and it’s expensive.  Starting at $ 3,500+ it’s also overkill for most small businesses.

For the smart, cost-conscious business owner who already has an Exchange or Microsoft Small Business Server running, the Blackberry Professional Server (BPS) is a great alternative. 

All the features of BES for $ 100/user, in 1 user increments. Got 10 employees and only 3 with Blackberries?  Just buy 3 BPS licenses for $ 300 or 8% of the BES cost.

• When you combine the real-time capabilities of a BES or BPS server

• with Cardscan Professional or Cardscan Team Edition

• with Business Card Mastery Pro or Business Card Mastery Team Edition

• with a BCM-trained professional assistant,

YOU CREATE A SALES JUGGERNAUT

Recommended Resources:

Need your Exchange or Blackberry Server setup?  Contact Brainlink.

Want to find the perfect Blackberry?  Read about it first on BerryReview.com

Need a professional who can research your contacts?  Find them here.

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Data mining is the process of extracting patterns from data.

It’s what Amazon does with their “Amazon Recommends” and “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought” features.

It’s what LinkedIn uses to show you “People you may know”

How do you apply that to your business?

By playing the “Who knows who” game, or “six degrees of separation”.

1. Go through your prospects list, look them up on LinkedIn, Facebook, etc, and see who they and you know in common.

2. Before you meet them, call or email some of these mutual contacts to learn more about your prospect.  Likes, dislikes, buying styles, etc.

3. Use your assistant or virtual assistant to research them, summarize their bio, latest accomplishments, etc. and put that in your database.

1. My admin researches selected contacts, and puts the summary details in my Cardscan Notes field.  This starts a chain reaction.
2. Cardscan syncs with Outlook
3. Outlook updates our Microsoft Exchange Server, which notifies the Blackberry Server.
4. The Blackberry server sends updates to my Blackberry in realtime.
5. From research to my hand, within 5 minutes!

4. When you go meet them, and the conversation becomes stuck or grinds to a halt, name-drop some of your mutual contacts and jump start the discussion.  Countless times, talking about mutual contacts, and mutual organizations (Thanks Gotham!) has led to meetings, introductions and closed business.

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Sometimes though, it’s the right place to start.

The dirty little secret of EVERY networker I know, is that they have piles of cards on their desks.  Some put them in boxes, others in rolodexes.  Some just shove them into drawers or shopping bags.

 Why?

Because each of those cards cost a lot of money.  Not to the person who printed them, but to YOU!

You paid the dues to join BNI, Gotham (Le Tip, Executives United, CEO’s Circle, etc).

You invested the time in driving/commuting to the event, and commuting back

You had the courage to meet someone new, start a conversation.

And all that effort resulted in you getting their business card.

Did that close the sale?  NO!

Did that help you beat your quarterly sales targets? NO!

All it did was create the start of a new relationship.

And that’s why networkers hold onto the cards they collect.

Unfortunately, just getting the card is NOT enough.

You have to follow up with them – via phone, email, facebook, linked in, twitter, etc.

That’s why you need an organized system for collecting, researching and managing contacts.

Cardscan Executive + Business Card Mastery Pro is that solution.

The hardest part is building the relationship in the first place — and you did it.  You got their card…and started a relationship.

Scan that into your database, update it from their vcard or emails.

Have your virtual assistant research them prior to meetings, sales presentations, etc.

And that leads to increased sales, with less effort.

Buy now…operators are standing by

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It’s a tool for developing your sales and marketing prowess.  And that requires discipline.  Just like buying a home gym…

• Learn to use it wisely, Peter Parker, and you can become a sales super-hero.

• Leave it sitting on your desk…and it’ll collect dust…just like most home gyms.

• t’s a powerful tool, not a magic bullet.
  

What I’ve found, over the past 5 years, is that smart, focused business owners and sales professionals buy the Cardscan Executive, and barely tap 10% of it’s power.  And after the initial flurry of scanning, fall back into old habits and then wonder why sales haven’t grown.

Our  Business Card Mastery – Pro clients, on the other hand, show continued sales growth, even in this recession (depression?  lost decade?)

Why?

Because people are still buying – whether it’s Real Estate, Life Insurance, IT Support, Legal Advice, Flowers or Catering, people are still buying.  Hollywood had a blockbuster year – over $10 billion in revenues.  That’s a lot of popcorn, candy and soda sold.

• And someone had to sell or lease the cars that took people to the movies.

• And someone else had to sell them the car insurance, and life insurance, and gas, and bread, milk, etc.

• Someone had to sell them their house, rent them the apartment, etc.

•  That someone could be YOU.  If you had reached them in time…if they knew your products and services existed.  And if you had a relationship with them.

•  That’s where BCM comes in – we teach you how to build relationships, how to maintain those relationships and grow your business.

• And THAT my friends, is what you need to know before you buy your card scanner.

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Here are the 5 things you should know about CardScan Executive:

1. Batch Processing – Instead of scanning and verifying a card 1-by-1, you can use the batch feature to scan multiple cards, and assign common notes and categories to them.  See the "Scanning Multiple Cards" for an example.

2. Show / hide the Categories pane - Once you have 50 or more cards in cardscan, and each card belongs to 2 or more categories, using the Navigation Bar is a great way to see all cards in a particular category, and the overlapping sub-categories. 

• Click View -> Navigation Bar to show/hide this feature.
• Show it to navigate by category
• Hide it when you need more screen real estate 

3. Sorting Cards – Sorting "By Verified" or "By Modified Date" lets your see your most recent cards on top.  These may the the cards you scanned recently, or the ones that were updated recently. 

4. Difference between VIEW ALL and LIST buttons - When you perform a QuickSearch by typing something into the quicksearch field, Cardscan shows you matching records. 

1. Click on a card to see details for that card
2. Click the LIST tab to see all the other cards that match that search
3. Click the View All button to ignore the search and see all your cards

5. De-duplicating contacts – Duplicate contacts are a fact of life.  Whether you duplicate them accidentally by scanning in the same card multiple times, or because they’re imported from multiple spreadsheets, it happens.  However, once they’re in Cardscan, there’s no reason to put up with duplicate contacts. Use the "De-Duplicating Cards" chapter to see how you can get rid of duplicates permanently, and quickly.

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