4 Apps Your Small #Business Can't Survive Without

By Jonathan Payne at Social Media Today:

It was recently reported that more than 50% of America are now smartphone owners, and this has become a stark realization for business owners and marketers. This growing trend of on-the-go consumers makes it incredibly important for small businesses to evolve into mobile-focused organizations. Not only is marketing towards these mobile customers critical, but so is making sure you can operate your own business no matter where you are.

As this trend continues to grow, mobile phones will play a larger role in our lives and our businesses. If you don’t have a smartphone, now just might be the time to make that leap. Personally, I waited quite a while before getting one, and now I can’t imagine why I waited so long or how I could ever go back.

If you are a small business and smartphone owner, there are likely apps you use regularly to keep things going on the move. Mail, web browser, and the like are all pretty standard, but here are a few you might be missing out on. I have used each extensively and I’ve found the following apps to be essential.

These four apps make organizing your thoughts, finances, and marketing easier even when you’re away from the computer or office. The apps also sync with a desktop version, allowing a seamless connection between your smartphone and your computer.

1. Evernote (Free, iPhone / iPad / Android / Mac / PC)

Evernote is the quintessential note taking and storing app. It allows you to keep every thought you have written down, saved, and organized properly.

You can create different folders so your business and personal notes are kept separate, as well as tags for easy identification. Newly added, the app now features reminders that can be added onto each note you take so you never forget to do exactly what you wrote down.

Formatting text is a breeze like you can in other text editors. Sharing to social networks is also directly integrated. So if you put together something you’d like to share on your Twitter or Facebook page, you can do it directly from the app.

The computer version of the app also allows for seamless, easy syncing of all your notes. With this feature, anything you write on your phone will be updated on your computer, and vice versa. You’ll never skip a beat or need to copy already written notes over.

The bottom line is it makes everything easier — something every small business owner can use. Many people use Post-It notes to control the constant stream of thoughts they have every day when it comes to managing a business. Evernote makes it convenient for you to store those in an organized fashion for the long haul.

2. Wunderlist ($Free, iPhone / iPad / Android / Mac / PC / Web)

This app is about as handy and no frills as a to-do list app should be. I will be the first to say that an app which keeps track of things you need to do seems a bit frivolous. But after going sometime without it and trying to use other apps like Evernote to do the trick, I find this much better.

All Wunderlist enables you to do is create a running to-do list of all your tasks. And it works perfectly! You can make certain tasks a priority and keep them atop the list. Likewise you can set reminders or due dates, so you won’t forget. The app will send you a push notification ensuring you really remember to do that thing you wrote down last week.

I find that pretty handy with so much going on between life and business.

Naturally, you can add longer descriptions to tasks and include details if need be. You can share lists directly or via email with others who might need some guidance. For example, making a to-do list for an intern or employee might be helpful if you’re away or simply want to take a more hands-off management approach.

It helps keep me on track and organized, which is something I try to not take for granted. To mark tasks as done, just check their corresponding box and off they go. It’s kind of gratifying, like crossing off something on paper you needed to do.

Once again, this app has the syncing ability from smartphone to computer, so you’re always updated across the board.

3. Mint (Free, iPhone / iPad / Android / Web)

Finances in a quandary? No idea where your money is going? Can’t understand your bank’s outdated web dashboard? Then Mint is for you.

Mint is a simple and secure application that connects directly with your bank account to monitor financial activity. It produces these nifty, straightforward charts and graphs, so you can visualize your business’ spending.

It really makes things crystal clear when it comes to tracking revenue and expenses. Sure, your bank probably has a way of giving you reports and showing what’s coming and going, but nothing like this I can assure you.

Mint is widely trusted among people and businesses to track their money, so it’s incredibly secure. You can even setup a pass lock before gaining access to the app. Just sign up, link your account, and Mint will start tracking the numbers.

With a much clearer view of how your money is being spent, you can fine-tune your budget and allocations to work better for your business. Expenses can be grouped into categories and allotted a monthly budget. Going over this will prompt an alert, so you can keep a close eye on exactly what is happening with your money.

The app’s sleek design combined with insightful metrics make it a win-win for small business owners.

4. Facebook Pages App

A little more than six months ago, the main Facebook app wouldn’t have made it to this list. It took the developers at Facebook far too long to get an app right. Not only was its design clunky for years, but it didn’t encourage users to keep using Facebook on their phones.

I doubt they truly realized the importance of this fact until it was completely updated and turned into the app we have today. Right around the time of this redesign, they saw a big boost in mobile users. Today a huge portion of their traffic comes from people using the app, and it’s pretty clear why.

With that said, the Facebook Pages app is right on target, allowing business owners and marketers to easily monitor their pages.

Simply log in and add a post, picture, or video, and share away. The mobile-friendly nature of the app encourages business owners to keep their audiences in the loop no matter where they are.

Events, news, or spontaneous updates now have no trouble being shared immediately with your following from the app. You can moderate comments just as you would on a PC, monitor your page’s Insights, and use plenty of other helpful features, making the management experience a piece of cake.

Plain and simple, if you manager or contribute to a Facebook page for your small business, get the app.

5. Bonus – Gmail (iPhone / iPad / Android / Web)

This one is added as an extra since not everyone uses Google’s email platform for their business. Personally, I have 3 Gmail accounts and keep tabs on them all on my smartphone so this app is essential.

Even if you just use Gmail for personal email, I would recommend trying this app out. They redesigned it completely not long ago and it really excels. The design and layout is nearly flawless now in my opinion. Plus multiple account integration is a breeze.

If you didn’t know, for only $5 per month, you can use Gmail as your mail provider with a specific domain address. Your email can still remain examples@example.com, but instead of using the regular client, you can use Gmail.

Not worth it to everyone, but for lovers of Gmail on mobile and the web, it’s definitely an option worth considering.

What Must-Have Apps Would You Recommend?

So there you go, those are my 4 (or 5) best smartphone apps for helping you run your small business. Nothing fancy or intricate about any of them, just good, solid apps to make your day-to-day business tasks easier.

The Best #iPhone Productivity Apps of 2013

By Joshua Leatherman at Social Media Today:

When Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone in 2009 I thought, here, finally, is a device that will bring a little more organization to my life and which will, surely, make me more productive. And so I sold my Palm Treo and delayed my anniversary vacation so that my wife could wait in line for me at the AT&T store in order to fork out $700 for one. While the original iPhone was a noticeable improvement over previous smartphones, it was still very limited. After all, it had only half a screen of applications and lacked basic tools like a task manager. Fast forward to 2013- past the advent of the app store, social media, cloud-based solutions that sync data, and better hardware (including gps and the accelerometer). The iPhone has become a much more integrated device for managing productivity. More recently, a new breed of iPhone apps have begun to hit the App Store that have more intuitive and sleek interfaces.  After testing many, here are 11 of the best productivity apps that I've found for the iPhone.

Buffer

If you desire to build a social media following- and you should- then Buffer is an essential app for you. In my book If Social Media is a Game, These are the Rules, I write about the importance of consistently posting to social media networks in order to build both influence and followers. But let's face it, that can be impracticable on some days. Buffer is the solution. With Buffer you can add updates, links or articles to a "que" and then the app releases them at scheduled times allowing you to be more consistent. In one hour you can create weeks worth of social media posts. To set Buffer up, simply connect your social media accounts online and then create a schedule for how often you'd like to post to each network. From there you can easily add updates anytime from the app or online.

Evernote

Evernote is my go-to app for organizing the big-data of life. I keep everything in it; meeting notes, audio notes, quotes, blog ideas and drafts, important documentation, articles that I've saved and a great deal more. Evernote is the last notebook you'll ever need. It's easy to get notes into Evernote by either typing, clipping (from your iPhone or web browser), scanning or uploading. And within each note you can include audio files, photos and other attachments. The true power of Evernote resides in its unique search capabilities that allow users to filter notes and documents quickly to access the information they need. If you're using Evernote for your iPhone, I highly recommend EverClip- a companion app that runs in the background and allows you to easily clip items to Evernote without having to leave leave the app that you're in.

Dropbox

On the surface, Dropbox is another app that allows users to sync, store, share and access files across all their devices.  It solves the problem of having files that are always inaccessible or out of date at the most inopportune times. Because Dropbox supports Apple, Microsoft and Android platforms, it is by far the best app for collaborating, storing files and backing devices up. I've set Dropbox up to automatically back-up the photos taken on my iPhone and my wife's iPad (no more having to connect our devices, transfer them to the computer and then try to back them up onto a hard-drive). It's easy to do- simply turn on the Camera Upload option in your Dropbox settings (but be sure to turn off the "use cellular data" option if you have a limited data plan). I realized the value of this for the first time when my iPhone went swimming in the Caribbean Ocean with all my vacation photos on it. While Dropbox is a free app and comes with 2GBs of free storage, it's become such an essential tool that I pay for the 100GB plan ($9.99/ month). The ease and assurance that it provides make it well worth the price.

Mailbox

I hate email. Actually, hate is not strong enough a word- I despise it. Email is a productivity killer. Too many email apps, including the native iPhone mail app, have tried to bring the desktop email experience to mobile.  But, they're cumbersome and impractical for organizing email. Mailbox is a tool that allows users to manage their email instead of letting their email manage them. Mailbox has rethought how to process email on a smart phone making it easy to reach the fabled Inbox 0. It does it by introducing a scheduling option to email. Rather than reading through emails and then letting them accumulate in your inbox, you can utilize several intuitive swipes to either archive, delete, file, or schedule them to reappear at a later time. Mailbox is new and only supports Gmail for now- I'm looking forward to them rolling out support for other clients and for IMAP.

Any.Do

There's no shortage of task managers in the App Store. The difficulty is in finding one that doesn't take longer to enter tasks than to do them. Any.Do has a sleek interface that marries simplicity and functionality. Tasks are easily created by swiping down on the screen and it's easy to prioritize, add notes and alerts to them. Any.Do recently launched a feature called Momentwhich is designed to help users plan out their day quickly and with focus. What's more, Any.Do also gives users the ability to share, assign and collaborate on tasks with others. The tasks sync almost instantly across each device making Any.Do more of a project management app than just a task manager.

1Password

Humans have used codes, cyphers and encryption like passwords to safeguard information for a very long time. Unfortunately, we're generally not very good at creating or remembering strong passwords that don't include our pet's names or the last 4-digits of our social security numbers.1Password encrypts and stores login information, credit cards, account numbers and other critical information so that users need only remember 1 password to access them. It has a built in internet browser that will automatically log users in to websites and auto fill account information as they browse on their iOS device. And as a bonus, it has a built in password generator for people like you. 1Password can be backed-up to either iCloud or Dropbox. Users need only purchase the app once and it's available on all of their iOS and MacOS devices.

Tempo

While many calendar apps, including the native one, are designed to allow users to create and manage their appointments, Tempo uses artificial intelligence to provide users with relevant information and action-items as events are created and when they're referenced. Tempo processes information found elsewhere and attempts to pull relevant maps, email threads, contacts, documents and presentations into calendar events.  If you're running behind, Tempo knows it and will prompt you to send a pre-populated message to attendees telling them so. Tempo supports multiple calendars- including Exchange, Gmail, Yahoo and Facebook.

Mint

Mint is a free personal finance tool that allows you to connect your savings, credit card, loan and investment accounts and view your balances and bills in real-time. It also allows you to create a budget and then track and analyze your spending habits.

Sleep Cycle Alarm

Sleep deprivation is responsible for some of the most notorious industrial accidents in history including Chernobyl, the Titanic, the Exxon Valdez and the Challenger.  It not only impairs concentration and motor skills, it's also a big reason that people are so sick. Sleep Cycle Alarm utilizes the accelerometer in the iPhone to analyze a users sleep cycles and then wakes them when they enter the lightest sleep phase- the phase that our bodies would naturally wake if we didn't have an alarm.  It's when we're woken from the deeper phases of our sleep cycle that we feel groggy and as if we didn't get a good nights sleep. While Sleep Cycle will not help you to develop better sleep habits, it should help you to wake up feeling more rested and ready to tackle the day.

Habit Lists

We are, by nature, creatures of habit. Now, there's an app that will help you to break bad habits and develop good ones. Whether you'd like to drink more water each day, exercise, read the Bible in a year or stop drinking soda, Habit Lists is designed to help. Simply enter the habits that you'd like to develop, or the one's that you'd like to break, then enter the intervals in which they should repeat. Each time you enter a new activity, you begin to develop streaks(the number of consecutive intervals in which you've successfully completed an action).  The app can be addicting and, if used regularly, it works.

Focus Time

In my article How to Use Batching to Become More Productive, I wrote about the adverse affect that disruptions have on productivity (every time our focus is disrupted, it takes an average of 15 minutes to regain complete focus back). Our brains have become attuned to the beeps, buzzes and vibrations of our phones and never before have we given a device permission to be a bigger disruptor of our lives. Focus Time is a simple tool, built around the Pomodoro Technique, and it helps users to build healthy habits of "batching" similar tasks into uninterrupted blocks of time. These are my top iPhone productivity apps for 2013, what's yours?

Must Have Apps for Bloggers

Working remotely is one of the biggest benefits of bloggers. You have the freedom and control of setting up a mobile office with your laptop wherever you please. The increased popularity of mobile devices and the plethora of new apps available allow even more freedom than before. Manage your blog and your business from the comfort of your tablet or smartphone. Read on to learn our top 10 apps for bloggers.




1. Dropbox

Keep your mobile blogging lifestyle by accessing your files no matter where you are. Dropbox allows you to access all of your files from any registered device.


2. WordPress & Blogger

If you happen to host your blog one of these popular blogging platforms, you can conveniently update your site while out and about, read postings & comments, edit postings, manage comments and perform other tasks.


3. PayPal

Many Infolinks bloggers monetize their sites via PayPal. This mobile app allows you to completely manage your Paypal account with a wireless connection.


4. Evernote

Quickly access for easy organization of all your videos, images and other items saved on your phone with Evernote, the archive app.


5. Adobe PhotoShop Express

Easily use the professional photo editing capabilities of Adobe Photoshop to touch up or edit photos and graphics from your mobile device.


6. Hootsuite

Manage all of your top social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare from this easy to manage mobile app. Hootesuite is a great way for you to update all of your social media platforms and monitor what is going on while on the move.


7. SkypeFor important business meetings and phone calls, Skype is the only way to go. Stay in touch with your partners, guest bloggers or anyone else for free with an internet connection and your mobile device.


8. Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a must! Discover who is reading your blog posts, where they are coming from and how many site visits and page views your blog is receiving. Effectively analyzing this data will reveal which blog posts are the most popular to help you optimally tailor your content for the future.


9. Byline

Reading other blogs and articles on the regular is crucial for good bloggers to get even better. With byline, you can read the latest news from your favorite sites and blogs, even when you’re offline. It easily syncs with your Google reader account. Overcome your writing block with this useful app


10. Infolinks Real-Time

Infolinks mobile app, delivers real-time reports so you can always know exactly how your Infolinks ads are performing on your blog. Check on your payments and have a fast connect to our blog and other info as well.






This entry was posted in Blogger Tips

Top Apps and Tips for Mobile Bloggers

By Jane Johnson at SpiceUp Your Blog:  
Today’s smart phones and mobile devices are making it possible to blog from anywhere, anytime. I take my iPad with me whenever I travel so that I can post a daily blog from the airport, train station, or aboard a bus whisking me to another state. I’ve even been known to take a coffee break during road trips so I can post a quick blog from the comforts of a padded booth with an apple fritter at my side.

However, it wasn’t always like this. It took me some time with my iPad figure out all the little tricks and shortcuts that I could take advantage of. Once I did, it became my favorite device, and now I use it far more than my laptop—and it’s much lighter to transport too.

Why I love blogging from mobile devices as opposed to desktop or laptop computers:

• Tablets and smart phones are extremely light weight and specially designed slide into any carry-on bag
• I personally find, that when I use my iPad, I’m less likely distracted because its software architecture is basic compared to my laptop—so fewer distractions
• Mobile devices have pretty good battery life—I find my laptop dies after about 4 hours while my iPad lasts up to 10 on a single charge

Now that you see the benefits of using your smart phone, I’d like to share my personal tips for using one to blog effectively using some easy downloadable tools:

For brainstorming ideas and capturing notes I use…

Must have blogging tools for publishing on the go!

1)  iThoughtsHD ($9.99 – for iPhone and iPad)

As a blogger, having a tool to generate ideas for my blog posts is important. The iThoughtsHD app is a mind mapping app that synchs up to Dropbox (a central storage app) so I can create a mind map to help me brainstorm blog topics, themes, drafts, and then save everything back to Dropbox, so I can take my drafts with me and access them whenever the mood to write strikes.

2) Evernote (Free – for Android & iPad, iPhone)

As far as free apps go, Evernote is the best note taking and storage app you will find! Simply take notes whenever you have a “eureka” moment and know that all will be saved and stored across all devices—your desktop, laptop, smart phone, and tablet device. Evernote provides peace of mind for bloggers like me who like to transport all of their work with them when they’re on the go.

3) Blogger (Free – for Android & iPhone & iPad)

The must-have publishing platform is available for your mobile device. The Blogger app makes it easily to publish quick blog posts, and even upload pictures, add hash tags, and location information. However, the thing I like the most about Blogger is the list view of posts that it offers—you can view all blogs across multiple accounts and easily switch between them with ease.

4) Dropbox (Free – for Android & iPhone, iPad)

When it comes to reliable storage, you can’t ask for more than Dropbox. This all provides storage and synchronization for all of your photos, documents, and videos for free. Any file you save to your Dropbox will be instantly accessible from all of your computers and mobile devices. You can even save items to your favorites for fast access and viewing.



Author - Jane Johnson is a writer for GoingCellular, a popular site that provides cell phone related news and commentary as well as reviews on popular providers and devices like the popular Samsung phones.

Evernote for Windows Phone Update: More Social & Gains Ability to Pin Notes to Start Screen

By Todd Ogasawara at SocialTimes: 
Evernote is one of the most useful services around. I use it everyday on a variety of devices using both its web interface as well as native clients which are available for a number of desktop and mobile devices. Evernote just updated its Windows Phone app to take advantage of that platforms unique features.

Evernote for Windows Phone Update: Note Pinning, Templates, New Language Support, and More
One of the unique-to-Windows Phone features is the ability to pin an Evernote note to the start screen. This can be, for example, a to-do list. However, pinned notes are not limited to text. These pinned notes can also be audio notes or snapshot (image) notes. Entire notebooks within an Evernote account can be pinned to the start screen too.
Another new feature for the updated Evernote for Windows Phone app is the ability to create “Template notes” with pre-filled information or even with a workflow that initiates, for example, taking a photo for each new note.
Finally, Evernote notes can now be shared via Facebook, Twitter and Windows Live.
If you do not see the update available for your Windows Phone, just be patient. It can take up to several days for updates to propogate.

5 iPhone Apps lets you do move with Evernote

When you test as much software as I do on a fairly regular basis, you tend to notice which apps you rely on and which ones fall off your radar after a while. Evernote, which is a handy note-taking and web clipping utility, isn’t necessarily one of those apps that I’ve been using regularly, but it is one that I keep coming back to again and again, and I’m always looking for ways to incorporate it into my routine.
Did you ever notice how the most popular apps & platforms have lots of additional add-ons and extensions that were created for them? Evernote is no different. In this article, I’ll show you a few of the simple applications that will help you do even more with Evernote.