2009 Must Have Applications For Our Business

Posted on | December 21, 2008 | No Comments

I often get asked “What are the internet tools that you couldn’t live without for your business?”.  As an enterprenuer, I feel one of my strengths is to leverage avaiable technology into solutions for both my company and its’ clients.

Here are a few examples:

  • Dual Monitors – Running two monitors is no longer a ‘nice-to-have’.  I could try to switch to a bigger main monitor, but I prefer to have the primary and secondary work-spaces as I organize my work and attention to a main and secondary screen.
  • Firefox Browser – I have tried Google Chrome and was a user of Internet Explorer for years.   It does seem like the Firefox browser is slowing down a little bit these days, but with all of the plug-ins I have running that really shouldn’t surprise me.  Our team spends most days with 2 or 3 browser windows and 4-5 tabs open on my screens.
  • GoToMeeting – Working virtually has its benefits and drawbacks.  GoToMeeting.com makes is easier to run virtual meetings.  In addition to the desktop sharing, we also receive free phone conferencing for $50 – $100 per month.  I estimate our SEO team spends over 2,000 minutes a month using GoToMeeting teleconferencing and this is a huge savings.
  • Google Apps – We made the switch from Microsoft Exchange / Outlook to the Free Edition of Google Apps and the Gmail system.  So far, for me anyway, the transition has been seamless and even enhanced as I switched from using a Blackberry to a G1 Phone.  Being in the Search Marketing business with my livelihood actually being generated by Google, I figured I would go ahead and make it an ‘all-in’ from a technology perspective.
  • Google Analytics - Sticking with Google theme, we heavily rely on Google Analytics for the statistical tracking and performance of all the websites (over 100 in total) that my team and I are involved with.  The market share won by Google and the price point is reminiscent of the early browser domination by Microsoft.  Having a common stats package for the majority (>95%) of our clients allows us to efficiently monitor and report on our clients weekly and monthly performance.
  • Adwords Editor – Ok…make it 3 in a row.  While SEO is our top business priority, we do manage an ever-growing list of Paid Search on Google and Yahoo!.  This tool by Google has saved us literarily 100s of hours in setting up the structure and segmentation needed for most Google Adwords Campaigns.  Our general strategy is to optimize a campaign for Google and then provide that to Yahoo! during a setup process.  I have experienced some installation issues with the product, but another great Google tool for SEM.
  • WordPress – Websites are a critical component of our internet strategy even though we often find ourselves optimizing and promoting sites instead of building them.  When we do build them (and we plan on building many more in 2009), we use Word Press not only as a blogging platform but as a CMS (Content Management Systems).  With the large number of templates and themes available available, we hope to continue to find that we can leverage Word Press for all of our Internet publishing.
  • Project Management – Just a few months ago, I would have listed Basecamp, but we simply outgrew it as we moved through 2008 and are moving to an alternative project management system at MyIntervals.  The biggest downside we experienced in Basecamp was the ability to assign dates and really communicate at the task level.  It also became hard to manage ‘lots’ of projects as we moved beyond the 30 or 40 project level.
  • Web 2.0 – In wrapping up, we have moved as aggressively as possible for our company.  We maintain an internal blog, manage our books online, interact on social networks, and outsource all of our IT needs.  Our top priority for the beginning of the year is to find our solution for our CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software as we have tried a number of products and haven’t found one that really meets our needs.  Each of our individual applications may not be a must have application, but when combined together the entire suite of partners, vendors, and software as a service provider plays an important role.

I am sure that this list is not that much different than most Internet marketing companies.   Being virtual and doing search engine consulting means that we are heavily reliant on Internet technology that collects data and allows us to communicate and collaborate.  I hope to revisit this list often throughout the year and will be anxious to see what types of new tools and technologies emerge over the next year.

Category: Research Engine

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