As a busy entrepreneur, it can often feel like there is never enough time to really dig in and work on your Business the way you want to do. Unfortunately, that is a facet of modern business that is likely here to stay. However, there are some really great tools that can help you spend less time on routine tasks. This can equate to more time for doing what only you can do as a business professional.
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In this post, learn five essential time saving tools to help your business grow.
File Sharing Apps
When Dropbox first appeared, it revolutionized cloud-based file sharing technology. But today you have many options to choose from. If you are looking for free tools in particular, you also have many to choose from.
Free tools to try: Dropbox, Sharefile, Google Drive, MediaFire, OneDrive.
Project Management
Basecamp is perhaps the best known free cloud-based project Management platform, but there are many that can serve your needs here. Project management online software helps your entire team stay in touch remotely in real time so no one misses an email buried in a thread (for example) or drops the ball on an important task. You can also share files through this new breed of project management software.
Free tools to try: Basecamp, Wrike, Smartsheet, Trello, TeamworkPM.
Video Teleconferencing
Skype was the first tool to really put video teleconferencing on the map, but they certainly won’t be the last. Today, you can choose from a number of fabulous and free tools that permit teleconference, video teleconferencing, podcasting, webcasting and plain Jane free phone calls (including long distance) too.
Free tools to try: Skype, Google Voice/Google Hangouts/Google Talk, Jitsi.
CRM (Customer Relations Management) System
Customer relations management software is the way to go if you are in the market to bring in new business (and what business isn’t these days?). You will find the basic foundation of each packages tends to include similar features, including the ability to create and update a contacts list, set reminders and alerts, store files, customize modules and integrate with other types of useful software.
Free tools to try: SuiteCRM, SugarCRM, Capsule, Insightly, Really Simple Systems.
Social Media Manager
Very few businesses today can afford to ignore their online reputation, which can often be best monitored via maintaining a presence on various social media platforms. But checking and maintaining each individual platform can quickly get cumbersome and complicated. This is where social media management tools come in. They can aggregate all your social feeds on one central page and deliver analytics and reports to help you manage your brand, your company reputation and your marketing efforts.
Free tools to try: Crowdfire, Likeable Hub, Buffer, SocialOomph, Tweetdeck.
Conclusion
With a little time and research, you should be able to identify tools in each major area that can automate your routine business tasks for pennies a day – or even for free! From tracking who unfollows you on Twitter to who clicks through on your email campaigns, you can begin to make the most of your unique selling points to attract more of the right kind of customers.
Not only will it save you time in the future to take a bit of extra time now to set up automation tools, but each offers valuable intel through analytics and reporting that can actually help grow your business.
