First up, I’d like to send out a massive HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all my brothers and sisters from the ‘other side of the pond’, as we say in England – hope you guys have an awesome day with your families…!
Welcome to another VBL Discussion post. For those of you who haven’t been here before (read the first one here), every Thursday (I may skip the odd one!) I kick off a discussion with my two pennies worth on a topic related to the Virtual Business strategy, and then you guys pitch in with your take on the subject.
Hopefully, in the process, we give each other a ton of new ideas on how to get more productive, live awesome lifestyles, be excellent at what we do, and a whole lot of other important, interesting and inspiring stuff. So, today, I am opening things up on the subject of the three top tools that you use, online, to get things done.
For me, as someone about to become VERY virtual, I’ve been studying up in regards to online tools more and more and more recently. At present (and this might change in the future) my top three online tools for remaining productive are as follows:
Gmail & Google Calendar
Being able to check my email (across several accounts) from any device or computer connected to the internet is just a pure Godsend. Plain and simple. The fact that I can also access my entire schedule is even more awesome (although GCal has had a couple of brain farts recently that I haven’t been all that pleased about!). This set-up is a MUST HAVE for any virtual entrepreneur. Check it out at Google.com
Dropbox
I work with several staff in my company, and several staff that do not working directly for my company. Dropbox gives me the freedom to share files with everyone I give access to, they can then update them at your end and upload the newly amended file to everyone else in the Dropbox folder to stay up-to-date with everything. Sheer genius. I use this every single day, without fail. Check it out at Dropbox.com
Evernote
Since becoming an iPad user, I use this device a lot more than I do my laptop. I love that fact. Evernote gives me the freedom to make notes, jot down ideas, and to capture great content from the web to read / listen to / watch at a more convenient time. You can also attach images and audio recordings directly to your notes. It’s super powerful. Check it out at Evernote.com
Over to you guys!
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Happy Thanksgiving, Chris (even if you don’t celebrate)! Your top 3 online tools are great, and I use them each daily (with the exception of Evernote, not sure why).
One tool that I recently wrote about on my blog is TeuxDeux. It’s a very simple (and free) to-do list application that will sync up with its iPhone app counterpart, and I find that it’s been excellent for me to keep track of my daily tasks.
Interested in reading the rest of the discussion here!
- Eric
I honestly don’t use many online tools per say, besides Gmail. I’m a bit of a Microsoft Excel nerd I have almost everything in Excel and it works for me.
However I heard about TeuxDeux and but never really made up my mind about it, I’ll check out your post.
Jason
Hi Jason
Hey, whatever floats your bloat, right??!
If Excel is all you need to get things done, go for it. But, keep your eyes open, there is tons of cool stuff online….!
Chris
Hey Eric
Actually, I do celebrate… I just finished dinner and drinks with friends. Any excuse for. Party and good food…!
I’ve played around with TD before and liked its simplicity. Good job!
Get involved with Evernote, man. It totally rocks!
Chris
Hi Chris
I’d also add in “anything from 37signals.com”
I use backpack all the time a great tool.
Regards
Amen to that, my man.
Absolutely.
I especially like Basecamp and although I don’t use it regularly nowadays – I have done on many occasions, and I know a lot of my clients do so every day, too!
Thanks for the comment.
Chris
Hello Chris! Just wanted to say THANK YOU for being an inspiration through your blog and website. I’ve dropped by many times to glean from the wealth of information you offer for us late start entrepreneurs!
This Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for you – and featured you as one of my favorite bloggers!
Again – THANK YOU!
Hi Alex
Thanks so much for the kind words, buddy – much appreciated.
And, thanks also for the mention on the problem, too – very kind of you.
Hope to keep inspiring you, bud. Now you’ve broken the ice I also hope to see you commenting more often and contributing to our community here.
Thanks, again.
Chris
Great list Chris! I need to check out Evernote… first I’ve heard of it.
In the Google family, I’ll add Google docs. I don’t keep a single excel sheet on my computer hard drive if I can help it – everything goes ‘in the cloud’ so I never have to worry about backing up, and sharing with VAs is as easy as sending a link out.
I have so many docs in Google that I create PHP redirects to them so they’re easy to rememeber – IE ‘mysite.com/research’ redirects to a particular doc related to that domain. This makes is really easy to manage lots of sites (which I’ve got!)
Happy Thanksgiving!
- Devin
Hi Devin
Evernote is not for everyone, but for me, its a Godsend. Especially the fact that I can ‘clip’ pages from the web to read later on my iPad, etc. Love that little tool alone.
Great system you’ve set up with GDocs. Nice ideas – I’m sure a load of people will love them.
Thanks for sharing.
Chris
As a graphic and web designer in a previous (read: corporate) life, I quickly learned the value of Google Apps. Google Docs has always seemed a bit buggy for my taste, so I’ve made a habit of using Dropbox to the fullest extent.
Now that I’m living the passive life (story here: http://www.PassiveJourney.com/about), I’ve been testing the limits of these tools, using them to work wherever my family may be.
Hey Chris!
I’m a GMail, Dropbox user as well. I love them.
I’ve tried Evernote but never really gotten on with it.
Yes indeed, I love drop box more than some of my friends, now when are you going to get our sexy interview up Chris…I am about 2 days away from a forfeit.
Sexy…? Ah, oh yeah, THAT interview!!!
Coming up this coming Wednesday, bud.
Chris
Chris,
Triple play! If there are 3 tools that every small biz should be leveraging… you named them.
Still amazes me that many people are not using tools as simple and powerful as Evernote and DropBox.
Best wishes,
Craig
Craig
Awesome to hear from you, buddy! Thanks for dropping by.
I love Evernote, got into using it even more since I got my iPad, too.
Was a pleasure meeting you in Vegas. Hope all is good.
Best,
Chris
I actually don’t use any of these, but my top ones are probably…
Blue Host – email, site host, etc.
Google Analytics – statistics and analysis
Market Samurai – keyword research
Aweber – newsletter service (getting this for Xmas)
I’m sure there are others, but these are the main ones.
Hi Steven
Thanks for the comment, buddy.
So, I am guessing youre an online marketer, based on your tool preferences. Easy to see WHY you note down the tools you do. I also actually use all of these, but, I listed my primary three in order to note the difference between GTD and the ‘normal’ work that goes on in the background.
AWeber is awesome. You’ll love it, I’m sure!
Look forward to seeing more of your comments here at the blog.
Best,
Chris
Hey Chris, I’ll join the GMail, GCal and Google Apps chorus. I tried Evernote a few years back but couldn’t break my preference for hierarchical outlines. So far I haven’t seen a good online outliner tool.
I finally buckled down and got things set up in Basecamp for a project I’ve been letting slide for a while.
I’ve also tended to just use my websites to push stuff around rather using Dropbox. But I can see cases where it would come in handy.
Dropbox, for me, has completely changed the way I share files with people that work with me – whether be in my facility, or outside of its doors.
Its simple, easy to use and get set-up. And, unless you’re moving monster sized files, free – so you cant go wrong really!
Cheers,
C
Thanks for the great tools!
Any recommendations for handling social media?
Thanks.
Regards,
Edward
Hi Edward
I suggest you look into ping.fm – its a great little piece of online software that will allow you to get going with ALL of your social media accounts, from one page. There are many more, but these one I am familiar with and find easy to use.
Chris