Who says that Blackberrys should dominate the business market? Aside from being supercool and fun to use, iPhones can also lend themselves to the business world. In fact, the App Store is bursting at the seams with useful apps for the suit-wearing, executive iPhone user. But which ones should you go for? Which are a waste of time? Read on to discover five of the App Store’s most useful iPhone apps for
business networking.
First up, there’s
Happening. Happening is an app that allows you to make connections by finding nearby events, and by displaying your own events and those of your friends. You can then view who’s attending, where the event is taking place, and what the event is all about. The application relies on
Yahoo! Upcoming, a social events calendar system, to supply nearby event data. Happening is priced at $1.99 and is available in the App Store
now.
Next we have
LinkedIn - a free app designed to aid in the exchange of information. LinkedIn allows you to send personal information to other users and to
contact them - even through Bluetooth. You don’t get the nerdy thrill of bumping your iPhone with another, but you do get a pretty awesome app. And don’t forget: it’s free.
MeetMe solves the common problem of choosing a midpoint venue when arranging to meet with a colleague. For $0.99, the application finds potential points of interest that are roughly halfway between two entered addresses - or the address of your contact, and your own current location. You can narrow down the search by venue type, and you can store favorite venues for future use. From there, you can then email directions to both yourself and to your colleague.
WorldCard Mobile allows users to store business cards through the rather well-tuned art of scanning them with your iPhone camera. The application devours as much information from the card as possible, and saves it to your contacts. Any errors can then easily be re-scanned. A
Lite version of the application is available to download for free, but it does have limited exporting abilities. The only problem with WorldCard Mobile is that it works with iPhone 3GS and 4, but not with earlier models. This is apparently due to poor camera quality.
Finally, you can manage your business relationships with
Contacts Journal. The application ($1.99) allows you to keep detailed notes on all of your interactions with a particular contact (meetings, phone calls, emails etc.), and also to plan for the future using upcoming events and to-do lists. You can even call, email, or SMS from within the application. Contact Journal is also available in a free
Lite version, and an
iPad version.
Remember: these five iPhone apps are only a glimpse of what the App Store has to offer. Be sure to tell us your preferred business networking apps in the comments box below!
[via
Mashable]
