Clone Yourself With These Small Business Prouctivity Apps
The old truism that “you can’t be in two places at one time” used to hinder a lot of small business owners. However, thanks to the mobile app revolution that truism isn’t quite as true anymore.
And, I’m happy to say that according to a recent SurePayoll survey, small business owners are becoming “immersed” in mobile technology. This is certainly boosting productivity which helps startups make it through those crucial first years and allows established small businesses to expand more easily and push more dollars to the bottom line.
SurePayroll’s infographic (see below) does a good job summing up the survey findings and if you want to really get into the weeds, check out the company’s press release.
Let’s pick up a little on the idea of being in two places at one time and take a quick look at a few apps that allow you to do that, in as much as the laws of physics permit…
Doodle. Have you ever spent a big chunk of your morning trying to find a meeting time that works for everyone? With Doodle you can poll your invitees and find out what time works for everyone. While they’re answering the poll, you can be somewhere else, being productive. By the way, that’s just one feature it offers.
Zite. How much time to you spend managing RSS feeds, searching Google and scrolling through your favorite news sites? Zite learns your interests – getting smarter as you go along – and curates your reading material. While Zite does your searching, you can be productive.
OfficeTime. Does your business track billable hours and expenses? Liberate yourself from the tedium of pulling together the details when you get back to the office. You can also track to projects so you always know exactly where you stand and can invoice clients almost automatically.
Sharing apps. There are several excellent file sharing and idea sharing apps and if you haven’t yet mined the gold they have to offer, now’s the time. Explore Google Docs, Dropbox, Evernote, Cubby and Microsoft OneNote for starters.
HootSuite. If social media marketing is an integral part of your small business, the HootSuite “dashboard” gives you excellent control wherever you are. Further, anytime you’re online and something catches your eye, you can capture and schedule it as a post for virtually all of your social media accounts. It’s auto-scheduling feature really is like enabling your brainpower to be in three places at once.
GoToMyPC. This app gets my award for most literally delivering the functionality of being in two places at one time. If you’re on the road and you need something that’s on your computer back at the office, this app offers a free magic carpet ride through cyberspace. It also comes in handy if you are your small business’ “tech support” and have to show someone back in the office how to get something done.
Finally, all customer relationship management solutions have mobile apps. Make sure you and your staff are using one.
Admittedly, this is a short list and there are many great apps that boost small business productivity. What are some of your favorites?
Image: By Methodshop, used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license.
