By: Jonathan Boyd

Do you know which fork to use during a formal sit-down dinner? Do you know how to properly compose emails?

If you answered "no" to these questions, then you need to brush up on your business etiquette. The first impression is everything when you meet people. As technology takes over the business climate, professional etiquette has become sloppy and almost a thing of the past.  Stop bad manners in their tracks by following these top 4 professional etiquette rules.

Think about the networking events and trade shows you have attended in the past. Think about the amount of business cards and marketing material you left with. What did you do with it when you got back to the office? Maybe you scanned in the business cards and spent the time fixing OCR mistakes. Maybe you tossed the marketing materials. Maybe you manually typed in those business cards into your email client. Whatever the case may be, it is time consuming.

Your time is criticaly important to you. As a professional and/or a business owner efficency is what makes your job easier. Poken had solved a number of problems that are a drag on business owners and professionals.

By Greg Hyer and Martin Brossman

Do you Poken? Chances are you have no idea what I’m talking about. Pay attention because this term will become the next hot thing like tweeting, friending and connecting.

Think about all the events and trade shows you have gone to over the years. Think about all the business cards and marketing material you have seen over the years. Chances are you have tossed the marketing material and scanned in the business cards then archived them. Sounds wasteful once you take the business value out of it. Poken solves this problem. How? By eliminating the need for business cards and mindless marketing print and putting it online.

Maybe you have been to a number of networking events or maybe it your first time. Regardless, you should be prepared with a plan if you have a purpose for attending a networking event other than to socialize. Below are a few tips to consider when attending a networking event.

1. Stop thinking "What's in it for me?"
Yep, you may be attending an event to help yourself but you have to get at cynical thought out of your head. If all you think about is yourself and go into these events only looking to help yourself, stay home.

I have been coaching high-quota Sales Professionals for many years and believe LinkedIn is one of the most important free sales tools available today.

Remember, LinkedIn is a professional tool for solving tasks.  It is not a cold calling list or directory of your target clients.  It IS a first place to check for current and future contacts and business, due to the high quality of the data when it is present. Since each profile is about an individual, automatic self-interest is generated for being well-represented on the web. 

Last week I convinced my friend Bob of the value of using Linkedin for sales.  It happened right after I saw him having lunch with John, another friend of mine. 

When Bob called me later to let me know that he was doing well in his new position and to make an appointment with me for continued sales coaching, I mentioned that I knew John well. I asked him if he had used Linkedin before he talked to John.  Bob said no, he hadn’t. I was sitting at my computer at the time.