Lead Generation is the life and blood of a business.

Let me tell you one hash truth: Without lead generation, your business is likely to fail.

However, the prospect of lead generation scares the bejesus out of people. Because not everyone is able to capitalize on their B2B lead generation efforts.

You are blogging extensively. You’re leveraging email marketing. You’re engaging each and every prospect on your social media channels as if they are your best friend.

But nothing is working out!

Why?

Well, it might be a tough pill to swallow, but maybe you are implementing your lead-generation efforts in the wrong direction.

And that’s what we will discuss today: How can you boost your B2B lead generation efforts in 2019 so as to get the maximum return-on-investment (ROI)?

1. Attend B2B Marketing Conferences

Professionals and sales experts tend to overlook marketing conferences in favor of digital marketing and social selling.

However, they fail to realize that the traditional form of prospecting and lead generation is still alive and kicking. Thanks to the ubiquitous social media and internet, one-to-one networking is becoming scarce and even more important at the same time.

It’s obvious that you stand to gain a lot more if you leverage a channel that is less congested than the one that is infiltrated with salespersons trying to pitch their product. And that’s why we recommend you attend as many B2B marketing conferences as you can.

But don’t forget to get some effective pointers on how to communicate effectively in business conferences. Going in unprepared is not going to help you either way.

While you are at it, don’t forget to install a business card reading app on your smartphone. It will always come in handy when your leads hand over their business cards to you.

This way, you won’t have to worry over trivial things like noting down the contact details or missing out on important leads.

Business card scanning apps are also important because attending conferences mean you’ll meet many new people. And we don’t expect you to memorize each of their names and contact details. But if you take their business cards, and make sure to add them to your address book immediately, you’ve got a solid, qualified prospect list by the end of the event.

Thus, don’t shy away from attending some great B2B events happening throughout the year. I can’t even begin to think of all the leads that you can generate. Moreover, if your entire sales team is at the event, ScanBizCards enterprise will help them directly export contacts to the CRM, making sure every important connection is captured.

After all, it doesn’t make sense to spend so many resources, time and money in attending the event and not even getting the ROI that you deserve.

2. Host Webinars

Textual content is not the only form of content that you can leverage — especially if you consider writing blobs of text as content marketing.

Times have changed and your prospects expect the same from you.

And that’s why we see a wide array of B2B companies indulging their audience using more engaging content forms such as webinars, seminars, podcasts, and so forth.

It’s a win-win situation for you. For one, hosting a webinar doesn’t require shelling out a big budget. Secondly, you don’t exactly have to go to extended lengths to partake in a webinar.

And the good news is that you can amass an excessive loyal-base with little labor from your end.

And this is not just I who is saying this.

In fact, 52% of marketers believe that webinars and seminars are the most effective methods to generate leads and make the most out of your lead generation efforts.

However, this is not to say that you can turn a blind eye to the textual content.

Conflating webinars with your long form blog posts will actually help you generate more B2B leads because blogging is a great way to build your authority in the industry. Hosting webinars is the next step.

3. Email Signature Capture via ScanBizCards App

I know you are tired of the archaic methods that all the other blogs keep talking about.

Blogging. Email Pitching. Cold Calling. Yada Yada!

But suppose you receive an email from an important, quality lead and delete it unintendedly?

What a bummer!

I bet you wish you could capture their contact information right in time.

This is where ScanBizCards comes into the game.

With the ScanBizCards app, you won’t have to worry about missing out on important leads.

You just need to set up email capture on your ScanBizCards app and find new contacts and update existing ones automatically.

Now that you have successfully setup the ScanBizCards app on your smartphone to capture the email signatures, it will assist you by scanning all the contacts from email signatures from the emails you have received in the last 30 days.

You don’t have to worry about missing out on important contact information anymore — because ScanBizCards automatically detects any changes or updates in your contacts’ details, along with suggesting new contacts every time you receive emails from people that are not already in your address book, meaning additional prospects for you.

4. Promote Customer Referrals

There are so many ways to generate leads.

But the goal is to find the one that will get you the most bang for your buck.

And that’s why we vociferously suggest you promote customer referrals. This method will not only help you boost your B2B lead generation effort but also help you capture high-quality leads.

Can you think of a previous customer who had been really happy with your services? Or a customer you helped drive a huge ROI?

I am sure you can think of quite a few happy customers.

Now do some research or use net promoter score (NPS) score to find out which customers are more likely to promote your product or service. Based on your results, you can ask them to spread the word around.

You will be amazed to see how willing they are!

5. Blog Extensively…But For Your Target Audience, Not For Google Bots

This is something that needs to be said. We witness people involved in extensive blogging but to no avail.

They spend hours and hours to make sure their blog has all the necessary things to rank higher on Google. But what they seem to overlook is that Google bots are not dumb. You can try out yourself, all the articles ranking on the first page of Google are informative and have an exceptional quality.

While making sure that your content is SEO friendly is a great idea, but your main goal should be to write for your target audience. Make your content engaging and informative at the same time. It should resonate with your target audience so that they will feel comfortable doing business with you.

Parting Words

So, this is it!

While attaining B2B leads is no cake walk, there’s nothing a good strategy can’t achieve.
Thus, if implemented correctly, These 5 tested tips will help you tremendously in generating high-quality leads.

What is your favorite way to boost B2B lead generation efforts?

Technology has made it easy for people to stay in touch with each other.

You can do just about everything using a laptop, a smartphone, and a reliable internet connection.

You think so?

If yes, then you have another thing coming!

Because no matter what you do and how good you are at pitching your brand, nothing can ever beat the power of face-to-face communication.

This is why business events and conferences are still relevant, and people continue to take great pains to travel to such events.

Now, this is not to say that technology is not important.

In fact, the blend of technology and traditional communication can be leveraged to get things done in a smoother and more productive manner.

For instance, to make the most of your time while traveling to a business event, you can take the assistance of sales productivity apps like ScanBizCards, a business card scanning app that will ensure you never lose your contacts, and help you network smoothly at business events.

So, hope you are ready to network at some of the upcoming most lucrative marketing conferences! Here’re our picks.

1. MarTech, April 3-5 in San Jose, CA

Marketing and technology! The amalgamation of both can help your company grow by leaps and bounds. And this is why it is suggested to pay a visit to the MarTech conference going to be held in San Jose starting from the 3rd of April.

The event will be centered around three important topics — marketing, technology, and management. From alleviating your struggle with the MarTech investment to helping you leverage Artificial Intelligence, this conference will help you gain powerful insights on diversified topics.

2. Ascendant Conference, April 17-18 in New York, NY

Want to meet some of the most innovative minds in retail and marketing? Then you must try visiting the upcoming Ascendant Conference in New York, NY. However, this is an exclusive, invite-only conference. Therefore, you would have to connect with people and ask around and see if you could get an invite.

This conference is especially known for its success and motivational speakers. At the Ascendant Conference, people not only come with a goal to build a stellar network for their company, but also for their personal growth.

If you fail to make it to the conference in April, then you can try getting an invite for the one that is going to be held in San Francisco on October 16-17.

3. Midwest Digital Marketing Conference, April 16-18 in St. Louis, MO

Touted as the largest digital marketing conference in the Midwest, the Midwest Digital Marketing Conference (MDMC) is going to host nearly 2000 attendees. That’s a huge number. But good for you since you have a better chance of getting in.

Last year, they had over 130 prominent speakers from brands like Under Armour, LinkedIn, HubSpot, Google, Yahoo, and so forth. If you are an execution-based marketing professional looking to try out more innovative ideas to boost your marketing success, then you shouldn’t miss out on this event.

4. B2B Marketing Leaders Forum APAC 2019, May 21-24 in Sydney, Australia

One of the biggest marketing events in Sydney, B2B marketing leaders forum is most helpful if you want to get informative insights on how to market your brand with a smaller budget and team. Held at the Doltone House Jones Bay Wharf in Sydney, this conference is geared towards industry-based roundtables and focuses on the art of budgeting.

If it looks like something you are itching to gain knowledge in, then don’t hesitate to fix your seat at B2B Marketing Leaders Forum APAC 2019.

5. MozCon, July 15-17 in Seattle, WA

With a lineup of stalwart speakers, MozCon is an anticipated marketing event to be held in Seattle, WA. You will especially get to discover unique and innovative marketing tactics like how to rank higher on search engines and what to do in order to make data-driven decisions.

Moreover, this conference poses an opportunity to connect with like-minded marketing professionals as well as prospective leads for your business.

Here’s a list of the type of people you will get to meet at the event:

  • SEO executives
  • Representatives from marketing agencies
  • Content marketers
  • Marketing executives
  • Basically, marketers of all stripes

6. The Brand Marketing Summit, May 30-31 in San Francisco, CA

This marketing conference allows you to connect with over 350 marketing leaders from all walks of time listen to over 40 big brand speakers.

This conference is specifically helpful for marketers who are curious to know more about personalization in marketing, content and social media marketing, and customer service. You can also attend their twin-summit in New York instead of San Francisco if you want.

Attending a summit in of the biggest cities in the United States will definitely allow you to connect with some of the biggest names in the industry.

7. Marketing Artificial Intelligence Conference (MAICON), July 16 – 18 in Cleveland, OH

As the name suggests, this event is solely based on Artificial Intelligence and its impact on marketing.

Well, the impact of Artificial Intelligence on marketing is not hidden from anymore. At the beginning of this article,we touched on the topic of how using an automated business card scanning app can help you network better at such events.

So, a minute thing like this is a piece of common knowledge.

At this conference, you will get privy to deeper insights on how marketers can leverage Artificial Intelligence and automated sales productivity tools.

In case Artificial Intelligence and other technological terminologies intimidate you, you should know that this event caters to people with a non-technical background. So you don’t have to be a data scientist or an expert in analytics and coding to discern and use Artificial Intelligence for your marketing endeavors.

Summing it all up

As you are getting on with your daily routine, it is important to take some time out to attend these events where you are likely to connect with so many prominent people from your industry. We would also recommend to give your teams a chance to experience some of these events.

Also, don’t forget to install a business card scanning app that will allow you to communicate effectively at business events. Otherwise, there are high chances that you will either end up losing some important business cards or put off the other person by interrupting them in between a conversation to ask for their contact information.

Traveling for business can be tedious. For starters, you have to stress about flight booking, busy airports, harried packing, and so forth. The whole trip can be overwhelming and a lot to manage.

All in all, you have to upend your whole routine to squeeze your business traveling in the midst. Then there’s another worry that looms over your head — a fear of being worn out and losing out on your important tasks.

However, if you have a couple of tricks up your sleeve and a few sales productivity apps like ScanBizCards, a reliable business card scanning app. and other business contact management apps, you can withstand any business travel like a pro.

In this article, we are going to discuss five things you can do to make the most of your time while traveling for your business.

1. Prepare Your Electronic Gadgets To Avoid Interruptions To Your Work

From the moment you leave to the moment you reach your destination, and even at your business meetings, you should always have all the important electronic gadgets with you.

First and foremost, make sure that you pack your laptop and its charger along with your smartphone’s charger. While you are at it, don’t leave without charged devices — it’s better to be prepared for all situations.

Another thing that we would suggest is to make sure that your smartphone has all the important business apps up and running. For instance, given that you are going to a business event where you are going to be meeting with a lot of important people you might want to keep in touch with, it’s better to keep a business card scanning app installed on your smartphone. So, whenever someone hands over their business card to you, just click a quick picture and the business card scanning app will do the rest for you.

That’s one troublesome thing out of the picture.

Apart from this, invest in Wi-Fi systems that will help you in the plane or in case you get stuck on the tarmac.

The aim is to always be prepared for the worst scenario — you never know what you might face. Take extra strides so that you never fall behind your work schedule.

2. Carry Your Business Cards With You

In the aforementioned point, we talked about the importance of a business card scanning app. This conversation translates into another point — what will you do if someone asks you for your contact details?

Will you ask them to write it down on a napkin? Or save it in their smartphone?

Don’t even think about it.

Not only will you come off as a novice, but you will also give off unprofessional vibes. And this is something that you want to avoid at any cost.

And this is where traditional business cards come into play. Contrary to what some millennials would like to believe, business cards are always going to be important, especially when it comes to business meetings and conferences.

So, don’t make the mistake of overlooking your business cards while packing for your business trip.

3. Travel Light

Hope you have packed all your necessities.

Toiletries? Check!

Business Cards? Check!

Important electronic gadgets (along with their chargers)? Check!

Installed important sales productivity apps? Check!

Now, don’t go overboard with packing. Just pack necessary clothes along with a pair of business shoes and zip up your travel bag. The most you can do is to add a mechanical pencil or a padfolio for business purposes.

Moreover, prepare a to-do list and double-check everything before you step out of your home. I would again repeat, don’t overdo it and make sure to pack only the necessary stuff — things that you can’t simply go without.

Smart and succinct packing spares your physical exertion as well as unnecessary mental stress.

4. Prepare For International Business Trips

Preparing yourself for an international business trip can be a bit trickier than your regular business trips. First, make sure that you check some prominent travel websites to get information regarding any advisories, special requirements apart from visa and passport, warning, and so forth.

One thing that most people overlook is the cultural difference. You don’t want to be guilty of this anomaly.

Therefore, it is also imperative that you learn the basic customs of the country you are visiting to avoid making cultural missteps. Apart from this, learning a few basic phrases in their language might also help you out.

Moreover, if possible, make sure to opt for global entry — a system that allows you to get screened at the airport within a few minutes.

5. Don’t Overwork Yourself

When you are on a business trip, your primary objective is to attend the business events and meeting successfully. However, it is technically impossible to achieve that if you are either stressed or tired.

To avoid something like this, make sure that you reach your destination a day earlier. This gives plenty of time to get alleviate your stress and do away with the jet lag. In this vacant time, take a nap and stroll around the city as a carefree tourist. Do what you must to de-stress yourself and be at your professional best during the business meeting or event.

Parting Words…

From packing to downloading sales productivity apps, we have covered almost everything to make sure your business trip turns out to be a veritable success.

Above all, avoid stressing yourself out on things that are beyond your control. We know that as an entrepreneur, you have to take a multitude of decisions. But, you must also keep in mind that to take productive decisions, you have to stay at the best of your health.

And yes, don’t forget to get a few pointers on how to communicate effectively in business meetings beforehand. Armed with the points mentioned in this article and your business communication prep, you will surely be able to make something good out of your business trip.

Back in the day, when people didn’t have access to platforms like LinkedIn, business cards were the only way to network with your leads.

However, that’s not to say that they are completely obscure now. In fact, it is farther from the truth. Business cards are still and are likely to remain relevant forever.

Don’t believe us?

Then how do you suppose business card scanning apps like ScanBizCards getting so much traction? The fact that a huge number of audience is flocking to use such apps tantamount to the popularity of business cards even today.

This gives way to another question — despite the tremendous rise of social media, why are business cards not dead yet?

Read on to find out!

1. Because Our Memory Still Sucks (Duh!)

This much is obvious, right?

As the years go by, our attention span isn’t getting any better. If anything, it is relegating even more. In 2015, a study conducted by Microsoft revealed that the average human attention span had dropped to eight seconds, down from twelve in the year 2000.

Just introspect yourself… how many times have to met important prospects at business events and when reached home, thinking that now you will follow-up with them through LinkedIn, you end up forgetting their names?

Don’t you wish that you had collected their business cards? Need I say more?

So, if anything, we need business cards now more than ever. And don’t worry, collecting business cards doesn’t mean that it is going to hinder your networking opportunities.

You can communicate freely at business meetings without worrying over saving the contact information from the acquired cards. Instead, the best thing to do is to install a business card scanning app in your smartphone so that you can quickly take a picture of the business card which then can be directly exported to your CRM with all the important contact details intact.

2. Business Cards are always accessible

From your business website to your social media pages, none of these things are immune to WiFi cut or interest dead zones. Business cards, on the other hand, are pretty much accessible at all time and at all places.

Just imagine a scenario where you visit an important conference, meet some potential clients, have a quick conversation, and ask them for their LinkedIn page. However, you realize that your phone battery is dead. Now, you can’t even save their contact information.

But, the traditional business card saves the day! Next, they hand over their business card to you… yes, it’s that simple.

Business cards can be viewed irrespective of any physical shortages, and they are always working for you unless you end up losing them. However, for that also, we have discussed a credible solution, that is to use a business card scanning app to keep all your contact details intact.

3. Business Cards make you look professional

No other form of contact medium can make you look as professional and legitimate as your business card. And as a matter of fact, people have a penchant of trusting businesses that seem reputable. Therefore, having a formal as well as a creative business card is one of the best ways to show that you are running a reputable business.

Now, when I say that business cards make you look professional, I don’t mean that they have to be boring and dull. People often mistake the word “professional” with dull and staid. But you have to be creative as well as professional at the same time.

The goal is to make a memorable first impression with your business card. You can use various creative ideas for your business cards to make them more compelling. For instance, you can use metal business cards to create a long-lasting impact and to fuel the conversion.

4. Business Cards exude your preparedness

What would you do if someone asks for your contact information in an important business event? Would you write it down on a napkin and then hand it over? What if their battery is dead? This doesn’t sound like the most professional thing to do.

So, rather than scrambling around to find a pen and a paper to write on, the best thing to do is to keep your professional business card in tow. It resonates with your work-ethic and shows the client that you are always prepared.

5. Business Cards add a personal touch

We know that smartphones are now an integral part of not only our personal life but our professional life as well. However, one still cannot refute that they are highly intrusive.

It doesn’t bode well for your otherwise flowing conversation to interrupt it just to type in each other’s contact details. It takes away from the personal touch of the conversation.

You will have a much better chance of connecting with your prospect if you don’t fret about exchanging contact details. Instead, what you can do is to simply exchange your business cards when you are about to take leave.

Business cards serve as a tangible reminder of your meetings juxtaposed to a hastily entered contact number on your mobile phone.

Conclusion

So, these were some of the reasons that implicitly prove the immortality of the business cards. Now, with the influx of some of the best business card scanning apps in the market, they are likely to thrive even more. And why not? They are cheap, portable, and most importantly, easy to hand out. So, there’s no reason to disregard business cards and all the more reasons to have one.

It is, therefore, safe to say that the conversations are always going to end with, “Can I have your business card?”

However, don’t interrupt the conversations by trying to save the contact details in your smartphone as soon as you receive a business card. Just collect them throughout the business event and save them later on with the help of an effective business card scanning app.

Network freely, communicate well and use ScanBizCards for everything else

If you want your business to thrive these days, you have to concentrate on more than just closing the final sales deals. You have got to engage with your customers and collaborate effectively with your team.

But, how will you achieve that?

The answer is simple: you have to communicate effectively so as to get your point across to your target audience without hassle. That said, you cannot achieve this all alone. You require the assistance of various apps available online to makes things easier for entrepreneurs including contact management apps, business card scanning apps, CRM tools and so and so forth.

Today, we will discuss some important things that can come in handy while communicating in business meetings.

1. Download a Business Card Scanning App

Communication comes way after networking. So, first and foremost, you have to concentrate on networking freely.

But networking can be a lot of hassle. Sometimes, marketers end up losing all the contacts they acquired in an event or a networking meeting. Even if they carefully retain all the acquired business cards, they end up mixing up the contacts or entering the wrong data.

This is where business card scanning apps come into play.

Business card scanning apps like ScanBizCards allow you to save all the contact details by clicking a quick picture. And you know the best part about such card scanning apps? They automatically export all the contact details directly into Salesforce, which again saves you a lot of time.

With so much time on your hands and an effective contact list, you can now concentrate on your meeting and can follow-up with your networks after a day or two.

2. Talk Less, Listen More

This doesn’t mean that you have to sit quietly, curbing your curiosity in the business meetings. What we technically mean is that, instead of talking utter gibberish, or something that doesn’t add any value to the meeting, focus on listening to your peers and prospects.

Once you understand the point the other person is trying to make, you will be able to communicate way more effectively. Give your utmost attention to the speaker, and then put forth your points and give well-research insights. And if you missed a point, or are having a hard time getting your head around something, politely ask the speaker to elaborate or repeat their point.

Rest, you don’t have to worry about interrupting them to ask for their contact details as you now have a business card scanning app in place. Just collect their business card after the meeting, or when you are done interacting with them so that you can store their contact details in peace afterward.

3. Prepare Beforehand & Support Your Point

Talk is cheap.

If only I had a penny for every time this time-honored adage turns out to be correct!

Don’t fall in the same category. Prepare your points backed by extensive research before participating in a business meeting. When you support your points with credible stats or case studies, it adds to the value of your talk to a very large extent.

In fact, people are more inclined to believe what you say when you give them real-life examples or data that support your claims.

4. Pay Close Attention to Body Language

Oftentimes, sales professionals fail to pay attention to the body language of the speaker. They don’t realize how big of a mistake it is to undermine this aspect of communication.

In fact, according to the statistics, during face to face meetings, 93% of people’s judgment of others are based on non-verbal inputs like sales body language.

Don’t forget that it is a two-way process. While you can get an idea about your client’s decision or inclination towards your product, your client can also build their perspective about you based on your body language.

For instance, seemingly minute things like making eye contact and sitting straight show that you are sincere and confident. Also, if your client is staring off into the distance or slouching in their seats, it resonates with the belief that what you are saying doesn’t make sense to them.

So, learn to pick up body language and at the same time make sure to use a correct body language yourself.

Summing it all up…

If you pay close attention to all the above-mentioned points, you will be able to make tremendous strides towards improving your communication abilities in business meetings.

Most importantly, during busy meetings and events where you have to collect hundreds of business cards, professional tools like business card scanning apps will help you remain cool so that you don’t crack under pressure.

So, use these tips carefully and face important business meetings like a pro!

It’s always hard to make a decision to sunset a product, but sometimes we have to make those decisions to bring something better in the future.

We were faced with a similar challenge with WebSync– a product some of our users used to backup business cards in the cloud, sync across different devices, manually edit data fields from scanned cards through the web browser and more.

When we surveyed our users on user satisfaction, the satisfaction score was less than 3. We knew the product needed a lot of work for us to be proud of. To that extent we reached out to our users to get their feedback on how to proceed with ScanBizCards WebSync — and our users helped us make the decision. Our users who actively use WebSync continue to show great support and appreciation for it. However, a large percentage of the users on our survey feel they don’t use it enough to pay for it.

Sunset date for WebSync: Mar 5, 2018

We will be sunsetting WebSync on March 5th. We respect that some of our users use the product, and to that extent, our support team will help you provide the alternate ways to accomplish the tasks you used to perform with WebSync.

Support and FAQs Is Available

For those who do use WebSync– first off, we would like to thank you for your appreciation. We’ll do everything we can to support you.

We will continue to update the FAQs to help you with things you might need to transition from WebSync to alternative services that we’re going to be providing for WebSync.

Meanwhile, We’re Continuing To Improve ScanBizCards

To make sure our users continue to benefit from cloud back up, we have worked hard on an alternative for backing up cards in the cloud using Google Drive (Android users) and iCloud (iOS users).

We are committed to improve ScanBizCards products, and will be making great improvements in terms of our products’ user experience, technical support and customer delight in 2018 to make our ScanBizCards products better.

We have received a lot of positive feedback from our users for the Signature Capture functionality we introduced within ScanBizCards app. Stay tuned for more integrations and enterprise features in 2018.

We Will Be Back

In the end, we would like to thank all of our active users of ScanBizCards WebSync for your continued feedback. We are truly grateful for all the support, but apologetic that we couldn’t keep WebSync running.

But we promise to come back with something better very soon. (Hint: it’s already shaping up nicely).

We hope to continue to receive your support. Please keep using our products, and give us feedback on how to improve ScanBizCards so we can serve you better!

Networking can take your business places.

That said, as your network grows, the total number of contacts continue to grow on your iPhone’s contact app or any other device, which is probably great since you are expanding your horizons by networking.

However, all this networking might go in vain if you aren’t organizing and managing your contacts properly.

But organizing your iPhone contact app isn’t as easy as it may sound. It must be flooded with incorrect and outdated contact numbers as well. Today we will help you tackle this problem with some tips and one useful Address Book manager app.

Read on to find out!

1. Conflate Your iPhone’s Contact App With CircleBack, An Address Book Manager

For starters, if you want to use your iPhone’s contact app to its potential best, then you must consider automating your contact organizing process.

This is where CircleBack, an automated address book manager, comes into play.

CircleBack is poised to become the best address book manager that does plenty of things for you including updating your contacts list intelligently, discovering new contacts in your Google, Microsoft, and Exchange inboxes, cleaning up duplicate contacts.

Apart from this, it also works perfectly as a business card scanning app which automatically exports business card to CRM.

Taking the management of your address book seriously can actually save you a lot of time and hassle. In fact, if you want to navigate through your contacts list with ease, without getting inflicted by the irrelevant, outdated clutter, then you have got to pay attention to your address book management.

So, don’t delegate anymore and automate the process of managing your phone address book using CircleBack.

2. Don’t Forget To Add Full Contact Details

“Hey Siri, call my mother.”

You can give this simple command and literally reach any person.

But there’s a catch: you need to fill out the full contact details in order to do that. Regular, generic information like a person’s name, email, and phone number won’t cut it out for you. When you enter details like people’s nicknames and the relationship you have with them, it makes Siri more powerful. This, in turn, makes your own task considerably easier.

Adding your contact’s address might also come in handy later on. For one, it saves you the trouble of searching for your contact’s distance in your Maps app. Secondly, you won’t have to keep asking people their address every time you are to visit them.

3. Categorize Your Contacts

Your iPhone’s contact app allows you to organize your contact into groups to avoid the clutter and the ensuing confusion.

Say, for instance, you have a whole list of entrepreneurs you need to text, but it is an arduous task to remember each one of their names. However, if you categorize people in different groups, this problem may never arise again. Grouping people can help you send your messages through without excluding anyone important in your contact list.

You can always manage your grouped contacts via the Contacts app on the Mac or in the iCloud.

4. Use A Business Card Scanning App

While you most certainly are capable of entering each and every contact detail manually, it still leaves you vulnerable to mistakes.

For instance, while you are attending an important entrepreneurial conference, the chances are that you will be flooded with business cards left, right and center. The best way to tackle this is by using a prominent business card scanning app like ScanBizCards.

ScanBizCards will not only scan the business cards you get but also export them directly into Salesforce. Apart from helping in entering accurate contact information, this business card scanning app also allows users to enter contact information in bulk.

Conclusion

There are so many major things your iPhone’s Contact App can do. You just need to follow the aforementioned points to make the most out of it. All these tips along with an automated address book manager can do wonders for you and save you a lot of unwarranted hassle.

If you are an entrepreneur, there is no escaping the fact that you would always have something or the other to keep you busy. There’s always so much to do and so much to manage that you would never have enough time to accomplish everything—unless you are smart about managing your work.

How will you achieve that? Is there an app in the market to help you?

In fact, not just one, the internet is flooded with apps for each of your problems.

Here are the top 7 apps that every entrepreneur should consider using to streamline their work and make the most of their time.

1. ScanBizCards – The Professional Business Card Reader App

“Your Key to a More Productive Sales Force”

ScanBizCards

Gone are the days when you had to manually enter the data into your devices. These days, entrepreneurs are relying on card scanning apps such as the ScanBizCards app. This business card scanning app comes in handy when you are attending an important business conference and want to add tons of contact information on your mobile phone. Once the card reader app scans the business card, it uploads contact information into your Salesforce CRM within seconds.

If you are a Salesforce user and want to use the ScanBizCards app to its potential best, then consider using the enterprise package. The ScanBizCards enterprise package not only enables you to scan as many cards as you want but also offers attractive features including a dedicated admin panel offering custom control over all associated apps, lead & campaign assignment and more.

2. Drop Box

“A modern workspace designed to reduce busywork—so you can focus on the things that matter”

Dropbox is one of the most popular apps in the business world. If you want to keep your documents organized without going through any hassle, then Dropbox is the business app for you. It delivers instant connectivity and enables you to share important documents with any device through the cloud-based storage system.

This app is especially useful for entrepreneurs who are finding it hard to share information through email. And we don’t blame you – we know how tough it can be to go back-and-forth with the emails. Juxtaposed to emailing, Dropbox allows you to put your files in one common place which can then be shared with your colleagues.

3. Buffer

“Saves time by managing social media for your business”

This list wouldn’t be complete without Buffer, a powerful social media tool. Every entrepreneur today knows the importance of social media – your brand presence is questionable without a social media base. Buffer helps you schedule your posts across all the social media platforms and manage all your social media campaigns. It makes sure that you get the most out of your social media efforts.

With Buffer, you can allay the worries for your social media strategy while focusing on other departments. While you work on other things, you can always stay assured since Buffer will be taking care of your social media branding.

4. Slack

“Your hub for teamwork”

Slack is one of the most sophisticated instant messaging platforms for businesses. It helps you to connect with your whole team throughout the day. You can send in the messages directly to your team and colleagues, and can even group each department separately. One of the best things about slack is that the conversations are searchable by everyone, so you don’t have to worry about losing any important information.

This cloud-based professional messaging platform is currently used by over 4 million professionals around the world owing to its easy collaborative layout.

5. FreshBooks

“Business invoicing and accounting solutions under one single virtual platform”

I love accounting – said no one ever. And this is where FreshBooks comes in to save the day. FreshBooks is an accounting software that helps you streamline your business invoices and accounting solutions by automating everything.

With FreshBooks, effectively manage:

  • Invoicing
  • Expense tracking
  • Tracking Timelines
  • Storing conversations, files, and feedback\
  • Faster payments, automatic deposits
  • Comprehensible reports
  • Connectivity with clients.

Moreover, FreshBooks is a cloud-based app, therefore, you can securely access it anytime, and from any device including your computer system, phone, and tablet.

6. Evernote

“Focus on what matters the most with this note-taking app”

Evernote is one of the best, if not the best note-taking app. Each and every entrepreneur must have the Evernote app installed in their device. After all, you might come across an idea worth noting anytime and anywhere.

What makes Evernote stand out from the legions of many other note-taking apps available is its ability to clip-on content directly from the web. With the Evernote web clipper, you can save web pages, add tags and access them later on. Moreover, Evernote supports various file formats like PDF. This means that you can even save ebooks, and visual content to access them later in the day.

7. Google Analytics

“Helps you monitor your business on the go”

Google Analytics is unarguably one of the most robust web analytics app available today. I doubt there’s an enterprise that hasn’t used Google Analytics to monitor the traction their business is getting. From your social media success to your website traffic, Google Analytics provides an insight of all your business efforts.

Here are the attributes that Google Analytics keep track of:

  • Mode of traffic – desktop, mobile or a tablet?
  • Bounce rate
  • Conversion rate
  • Visitor demographics including their language and location
  • Social engagement statistics

And the best part is that Google Analytics does all this for free.

Summing It All Up

From ScanBizCards app to Buffer and from Slack to Google Analytics, all the apps come in handy for an Entrepreneur. However, make sure that you use these apps or any other apps cautiously and sensibly lest you end up falling prey to an unanticipated yet devastating data breach.

People get their business cards made even before the business is underway. From the thickness to the coloring and from the typography to the content, everything is carefully designed and scrutinized.

If you don’t have a business card, then your business doesn’t seem to have an identity.

But let’s face it – is it not as helpful to customers as it is touted to be?

I’ll be honest. While I often collect business cards for contact information, I don’t seem to find them when I really need to reach out to them. And I’m sure you aren’t any different.

But fret not! We have some good news.

This is where ScanBizCards app comes into play. Apart from adding them to Rolodex, I’m sure you have also tried storing the information digitally in your computer systems and mobile phones.

But this also has two downsides:

  • For one, when you add the contact information manually, there are high chances that you might end up transcribing the information incorrectly.
  • Secondly, it is impossible to store hundreds and thousands of contacts at once.

These two problems cause a serious dilemma.

Have you ever wondered how marvelous it would be if you could capture the contact information on the business card by simply using your phone’s camera?

ScanBizCards app turns this dream into a reality.

scanbizcards

ScanBizCards app is one of the most effective productivity tools for businesses. Now professionals don’t have to go through the hassle of manually entering logging contact information. This ScanBizCards improves your sales productivity by allowing you to simply use your phone’s camera to get the business card contact information and helps you export contacts directly into Salesforce.

This business card scanning app is like a holy-grail for every frustrated sales professional who is tired of managing prospects’ contact information.

There’s an Enterprise version of the app that stands out the most. This version offers packages for varied business needs.

enterprise

ScanBizCards Enterprise

Let’s have a look at some of the most prominent attributes of the Enterprise package of this business card scanning app.

  • Quickly & Accurately Exports Contact Information – Uploads contact information into your Salesforce CRM within seconds.
  • Connect with Accounts – Attach contacts to new or existing customer accounts.
  • Assign Lead Owners – Allows you to assign lead owners and campaigns to new contacts or leads before exporting them to Salesforce.
  • Admin Panel – The panel allows each sales rep in the team to oversee all the associated apps.
  • Export Cards in Bulk – ScanBizCards allows users to seamlessly export multiple cards to Salesforce.
  • Duplicate Prevention – ScanBizCards dedupes your records, making sure that pre-existing contacts do not get exported to Salesforce.
  • Customizable – The users can customize all the captured fields to suit their individual needs.
  • Keep track of Analytics – Admins can keep track of user activity reports, business card scans, and email signature capture.

While this business card scanning app offers a multitude of attributes, the fact that it is very easy to use and navigate is also impressive.

With a few quick and simple steps you can export all of your contacts to your CRM. Check out our Help Center to understand how you can export your scanned cards into a CRM.

Since you’re already grappling with a lot of clutter and have no time to organize it, using ScanBizCards to manage your prospects’ data is a no brainer.

That said, ScanBizCards is much more than just a card reader. The app is particularly helpful when it comes to lead generation as well as lead nurturing.

How can ScanBizCards Improve Lead Generation?

For one, ScanBizCards improves the management of your business. If you are hunting for leads the right way, then ScanBizCards can help you. For example, when you go to networking events, ScanBizCards app makes it easier than ever before to quickly enter the prospects’ contact information into your device or send it directly to your CRM.

Then once you have all the relevant contact information in your database, you can use this contact list further for email marketing, cold-calling and more.

You won’t even have to worry about duplicate records as ScanBizCards dedupes all of your records before adding them to your CRM!

While ScanBizCards app is lauded more for its card-scanning capabilities, it can also solve the daunting task of contacts organization for once and all. As a result, your sales team will be more adept at tracking the incoming and outgoing leads along with their follow-up plan.

Summing it all up…

The best things about the ScanBizCards app is that it offers a 14-day free trial for which you don’t have to pay even a single dime.

So, even if you are a bit skeptical of the app, you don’t have to purchase it right away. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t try it out for once and see whether it bolsters your sales productivity or not.

Pro tip: While you are at it, don’t forget to take advantage ScanBizCard’s easy to track activity reports and email signature capture feature.

The festive season is in full swing, and holiday shopping is on everyone’s mind. This encourages people to begin their online search early on in anticipation of lucrative offers and discounts. So while people are already on a spending spree, perhaps this is a great time to capitalize on your prospects’ cheerful mood.

Plan strategically and creatively, and you can bolster your sales and marketing outcomes during this holiday season.

A Creative Mind and Clean, Updated, Robust Data is all You Need

While there’s no limit to how creative you can get with your marketing campaign or sales pitch, inadequate contact data can quite certainly be a limiting factor.

Coming back to the data– whether the contact data is manually saved on your phone’s address book, added from a business card scanning app, or captured through email signature capture; the data must be clean, accurate and up-to-date.

Once you are sure about your data quality, you can use the following tips to generate more leads this holiday season.

8 Useful Tips to Generate More Leads This Holiday Season

Offer useful downloadable content with the holiday season theme: Bundling an ebook, a tutorial video, or a white paper around the season’s holiday theme creates a great subliminal impact. Every download you get is a qualified prospect.

Offer a special unboxing experience: Delight your buyers during the holiday season. Surprise them with holiday colors, themes, images, customized messages, and content. Give them additional goodies for every new referral they make.

Use creative push notifications: Push notifications are a great way reach out to your prospects and customers directly using web/browser push or mobile push notifications. Couple it with a push SMS campaign to gain more attention.

Use intent signal monitoring to uncover moments of relevance: Tap into your customers’ intent, and offer compelling limited offer deals to those closest to a buying decision. The holiday season can be especially a great time to bring additional prospective leads.

Co-brand your campaign: Co-branding with a partner can help improve your website’s ranking and increase the traffic flow to your website speedily as brand mentions can have a significant positive impact on your brand perception. This can also help increase your search engine visibility in a short span of time.

Use social media to offer season’s discounts: Use social media campaigns and creative emails around the holiday season theme to make your potential customers aware of upcoming discounts a few days in advance, and make the deals easy to claim. Showcasing interactive videos or infographics reflecting the festive mood can boost engagement.

Use persuasive Call to Action: Correlate your call to action with a visual component to create a sense of urgency — for example, ‘Get your free eBook now’ is more effective than ‘Download your eBook’ to induce action.

Offer limited period discounts: Reach out to your prospects directly over email or push. Communicate assertively that the slashed prices are available only for a limited time to bring more prospects to your landing page.

Hence, incorporating holiday themes into your marketing endeavors at this time may be a good idea, and while it’s always beneficial to plan in advance, it’s still not too late. So, jump on the bandwagon, weave instant offers around Christmas carols, and ramp up some holiday cheer as a business.