5 Free Tools for Your Business and Life
Wednesday, October 6, 2010 at 12:55PM I haven't disappeared I promise! I am still very much a part of the Yakezie so I hope you guys haven't forgotten about me :) Between new clients and grading exams I feel like my blog was the thing that suffered the most. But fear not - I am back. I am trying to implement a better time management system so that I can balance everything I see coming, and even some of the things I can't see. Like right now, I'm compiling this post while sitting in the Student Commons at Bay Path between student meetings. See all about using time efficiently. The idea of efficiency is what sparked the inspiration for this post. So what I wanted to share with all of you were a couple of things first is my promise to get back to my regular posting schedule and second a few of the tools I use to help keep me organized - professionally and personally. If you are looking for a little more insight on a more in depth way to plan your life I would suggest you check out an older post like Life's Business Plan
1. Doomi - this is an amazing little to-do list app that eats up almost no memory and creates almost no clutter. It's totally free and after you download it it just floats around your desktop. You can add to-do's, mark them checked, look for things you have done, and even print from the list. I think it's leaps and bounds ahead of just having one of those little sticky note programs - talk about clutter, if your list is long enough your background becomes a sticky note.
2. Freshbooks - Now I understand that not everyone out there is going to be in business for themselves. If you are in business or are even thinking about doing a little freelance (great way to earn some extra cash just ask Ramit) this is a great book keeping, invoicing, report generating, time and project management tool. I have been using it for a while and I even do business with some of my own clients entirely via the web - Freshbooks emails the invoices and clients pay electronically. It's entirely customizable and scalable which is what's really amazing about it. You can input and track, using 100% of the sites functionality, for free up to three clients. I was hooked from the go and instantly converted all my active clients to it.
3. Twitter - Now before you get all judgmental and cast your social media stones you should hear me out. I use Twitter and I Tweet...a lot. But I try not to focus on the media super stars or the self proclaimed gurus and experts. Sure I follow a few of those and stuff that I enjoy personally but it's not the focus. I spend a lot of time developing relationships and connections with people that are relatively local. I have made countless contacts through Twitter with professionals who have become friends, I've done business with, or they are doing business with me. I think if you use Twitter right you can make some real connections and you have a real shot at establishing yourself in your community.
4. Google Cloud - If Google prefabricated a house I would probably live in it - and it would be my sanctuary. It's probably not a good or healthy thing to admit but I rely a lot on the Cloud and the services they provide. I run almost all of my firm out of it - which is awesome especially when I am collaborating with clients or other consultants on projects. Everything from my email, docs, everything I read on a regular basis and even URL shortening can be done via the Google umbrella.
5. Mozy - So you can obviously see how much I enjoy accessing information from virtually anywhere. This last tool goes along with that. Mozy is an online storage space that offers 2GB's of space for free - then you can pay really competitive rates for more space. I have TB hard drives and a rainbow of thumb/jump/stick drives but still I manage to forget to back things up or take things with me. Yes you can email yourself but then that clutters up the ol'inbox and your not always in front of your main machine. I use Mozy as almost a back up's back-up - in that I know I'll have certain files with me where ever I go and backed up in real time when changes to the files are made. We all know how important it is to save in multiple places right...no one really buys the dog ate my homework, business presentation, or copy of the purchase and sales agreement anymore.
I hope that this list wasn't too stale for you and that you can at least use one of these five things where you weren't before. I am constantly running all over the place between coaching/consulting on client sites and teaching my classes at Bay Path College so having access to information and materials is HUGE for me. I hate to admit it but my office space has become more of a storage space at this point - or rather a depository of things to be organized at a later date :).
Reader Comments (2)
Freshbooks and Doomi sound interesting. I'll have to check them out. Thanks for posting this!
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