5 Ways to Use Your iPhone to Grow Your Business

I just joined the Apple family by getting my first iPhone a couple of months ago! I've been having so much fun with all the cool features and completely understand why when you go Mac, you never go back!

If you are a new user like me or considering getting an iPhone, I wanted to share a few nifty tricks I've discovered on how to grow my business using my trusty device:

1. Learn a quick tip or strategy to increase your profits - There are SO many ways to do this. You can download an eBook using the free Kindle app, you can check out the latest blog post on your favorite blog or read an email newsletter. Just because you're on the go doesn't mean you have to be out of touch. Keep up with weekly reading by using your waiting time to educate yourself on how to grow your business.

2. Capture ideas - Do you ever find yourself inspired by something you see/read/hear while you're out and about and suddenly have a fabulous new idea to create more profits in your business? It happens to me all the time! And of course, when this happens, we don't want to lose that great idea. We want to hold on to, brainstorm about it, and outline a plan to implement. My favorite tool for capturing ideas is Eve
ote. And of course, they have a trusty iPhone app. Both the service and the app are completely free and you can organize your notes any way you see fit. No more sticky notes and coffee stained napkins!

3. Do market research - Wondering how your target market feels about a particular topic or trend? Researching information on your phone is a breeze using the Google Search app. It looks almost identical to the Google Search function on your computer and provides quick access to whatever information you need. Of course, you can also search for up to date information on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook, or whatever social network you choose. One of my favorite marketing research companies has a fabulous app where I can read articles, reports and more. So check with your favorite vendors to see if they have an iPhone app available.

4. Create videos - The video quality on the iPhone 4S is simply incredible! I didn't believe until I saw it with my own two eyes, but you can record high quality videos to share a quick tip or resource with your audience and publish them directly to YouTube! In fact, that is exactly how I created this video: http://youtu.be/0pPttB57kLI. It only took me 3 minutes; 2 minutes to record the video and about one minute to upload it!

5. Record an audio podcast - There is a handy built in app called Voice Memo that has one touch voice recording capabilities. After recording your audio, you can email the file to yourself and then upload it to your blog as a podcast. Quick and easy! This is also a great tool for capturing ideas or even recording content for your blog. If you don't love to write, you can spend just a few minutes recording your content, have the audio transcribed (which will literally cost you a few dollars), clean up the transcription and post the article on your blog! Voila! Easy breezy content marketing!

With each of these tips I have a quick simple way to educate myself, take the next step forward with my marketing plan, create more visibility for my work and be of service to my audience. You can model any one these (or all of them) in your business at NO additional cost to you. How's that for leveraging technology to increase your profits!

If you are a seasoned iPhone user, I'd love to hear your thoughts on what tricks, apps or features you use to market and grow your business.