Making a Small Business Work
I started this post in September, got distracted with running a company and finally am finding some time today to finish it. What are the tools that I'm using to run Natiiv? I think it's worth taking a peek under the hood of the company and let you know what's working for me.
Trusted Consultants
I don't try to do everything myself and honestly, should hire outside consultants more often. Idan Gazit of Pixane Design named my company, designed the logo, and then designed and built my website. In preparation for the onslaught of traffic I thought the segment on Fox News would bring (it didn't), he also worked to make sure the site wouldn't crash. He's top notch.
My CPA is Bill Courtright. Looking for someone to keep you in line with your taxes? Look no further than his email.
I keep Anywhere Admin on deck. It is a company founded by Melissa and Melody that has a team of virtual assistants ready to tackle projects.
Online Tools
I run a lot of webinars and to do that I use the combination of GoToMeeting + Eventbrite + (Google Checkout OR Paypal) to make things happen.
To keep my finances in shape, do invoicing and track expenses I'm loyal to Freshbooks. I've found that it works for me to manage invoicing for lessons and retainers.
I choose to skip Google Analytics for Clicky to measure web traffic to Natiiv and my personal blog. I like the way Clicky displays data. It just works for my brain and the free 30 day trial will get you hooked.
For internet I use Clear when I'm in Chicago or Austin and Boingo when I'm on the road. The combination keeps me connected. I'm sure I could tether on my blackberry or something, but I keep it simple knowing I can get online almost anywhere with Boingo.
I've finally come around to using Google Reader over Bloglines and really enjoy the shared items. I'm also using Tumblr and Delicious to some extent for storing links and quotes.
Finally, I'm using Google Apps for Natiiv's email and love it. It works well with my blackberry and I can keep my personal Gmail and Natiiv Gmail open on the same browser in different tabs.
What tools do you use to keep your small business rolling? What did I forget to share with you?
Leah Jones wrote 1 year, 9 months ago:
So many of my friends are using Evernote, I need to add it to my "check it out list"!
Lisa wrote 1 year, 9 months ago:
I just started using Freshbooks last week and LOVE it. What Twitter client do you use?
Jack Zaientz wrote 1 year, 9 months ago:
For internal collaboration / knowledge sharing we use SocialText, a blog/wiki service (http://www.socialtext.com/)
For a virtual/distributed watercooler, we use Yammer (http://www.yammer.com/)
For individual and group calendaring we use Google Calendar (http://www.google.com/calendar), with a company specific domain setup.
Leah Jones wrote 1 year, 9 months ago:
Lisa - I use Tweetdeck and Ubertwitter, but to be honest I almost always default to twitter.com.
I left out Google Calendar! I definitely use that for personal and work.
Tim wrote 1 year, 9 months ago:
For freelancing and keeping track of hours I use Billings for mac--it's amazing and easy to use accounting/invoicing for any type of freelancer. Adium to chat with everyone on all the different platforms. Also MediaLink to share my iTunes library with my PS3 for streaming all that video to the big screen in HD, Google Apps premier for webmail, wiki, and a centralized web space--and considering using the P2 theme for wordpress to get that web-like internal twitter for the "virtual water cooler" (It's kinda like Yammer)
Last.fm for tunes as well which also scrobbles to our website which is totally awesome.
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Heather Whaling wrote 1 year, 9 months ago:
Like you, I'm a relatively new business owner, so I'm always intrigued to learn what tools people use to keep everything moving full steam ahead. I use a lot of the services that you mention -- and will definitely be checking out some others! One that I would add to your list is Evernote. I just started using it a few weeks ago, and it's really helped me keep notes, future blog posts, ideas, speaking topics, etc organized. With mobile, web and desktop applications, it's accessible from everywhere, which is very helpful. I love it! I've also found toodledo.com to be the best to-do list service. I'd be lost without it!
Now, off to check out some of your other recommendations!
Heather
@prTini