iPhone in Business

For nonstop communication on the go, Berson relies on iPhone. “My business is always on the move,” she says. “I’m often out of the office, networking, pitching, or traveling. With the iPhone, I never miss a thing.”

At any given time, Berson might be checking a high-resolution image before it goes to print, forwarding client information to an editor, texting with a writer, or responding immediately to a request for a pitch.

“Whether it’s a call, email, or text,” she says, “people expect you to be accessible all the time. If you can’t provide something to an editor when they need it, they won’t work with you again. The iPhone allows me to be accessible. So I don’t miss any opportunities.”

A very reliable business tool

Berson’s Los Angeles firm specializes in beauty, fashion, and lifestyle brands, where image, and images, are critical. And with iPhone, she can bring up those images without any hassles. Websites, PDFs, and photos all show up beautifully on the high-resolution display.

“I might be at lunch with a business associate, and we’ll look at a website together. They’ll be searching on their phone’s browser, and it comes up with a slimed-down version. On my iPhone, the web looks just like it looks on my computer. So I can use it as a real representation of my clients’ websites.”

“If you’re a small business owner on the go, there’s no better tool than the iPhone.”

Berson also appreciates that she can run different applications on iPhone. “I can toggle quickly between the web browser, email, address book, calendar, and other apps, and the phone handles all those requests very quickly.” With previous phones, she often found herself apologizing to business contacts when her phone would shut down or restart in the middle of a call.

For business travel, Berson uses iPhone - and nothing else. "I don't take a laptop," she says. "My iPhone serves as a mobile computer."

After meetings in New York, she updates clients via email and text. She uses the Notes app to make lists of action items and keep track of follow-up. And her address book, calendar and iPod are always in her pocket for the flight home.

Social networking via iPhone

The first time Berson used the App Store, she grasped just how significant iPhone could be for her day-to-day business tasks. “To be able to add travel apps, restaurant apps, social networking apps to help me stay connected. That was extremely powerful for me,” she remembers. “I thought, ‘The sky is the limit with this phone.’”

True to her business, Berson’s favorite apps tend to be oriented toward social networking. She uses TwitterFon Pro to stay connected with her community. “I can tweet photos from an event. I can live-stream images from a runway show and expose my clients and their brands to the people that follow me.” In this way, Berson has herself become a media outlet, giving her clients exposure daily.

She also uses Yelp to help sharpen her own image. “I was out and about one day, and I needed to meet an editor from out of town. I used the Yelp application to find a restaurant near her hotel — one with great reviews and a cool ambiance. I felt confident about the spot even though I had never been there.”

The hip factor doesn’t stop there. “When I pull out my iPhone, people definitely have cool envy,” she says. “It’s so sleek and stylish.”

Growing the business, reducing costs

As a small-business owner, Berson is constantly networking, making connections and growing her contact list — a step in the path to growing her business. And with iPhone, she can do it without breaking the bank.

“I’m always looking to keep my costs low,” she says. “My business is competitive because our rates are lower than those at big agencies. And I’m able to keep my overhead low by focusing in on really powerful technologies that don’t cost a lot, like the iPhone.”

“Honestly,” she says, “it’s one of the best business investments I’ve ever made.”