April 22, 2009
Must Have Tools and Resources
When you are running a business it's critically important that you have access to the right tools and resources. I must admit it sometimes scares me to see people asking: "Where can I get a free programme to do this?" type questions.
If you ran a car hire company would you try to find free cars to carry your passengers?
If you ran a restaurant would you look for free ingredients to make meals for your customers?
So, why do people think everything about an online business should be done for free or on a shoestring budget?
Successful businesses invest in the right assets. Sure, if you are just starting out and funds are tight, be careful with your cash. But when you are up and running.. invest in the best you can afford.
Here's my basic Internet Marketing business toolkit
- Mozilla Firefox – my browser of choice because it offers tabbed browsing and lots of great add-ons
- TextPad – my favourite text editor with lots of features and functions that are lacking in Notetab.
- OpenOffice – Yes, it's a free programme. I prefer it over Office and it has a built-in PDF engine!
- Dragon Naturally Speaking 10.0 – Allows me to "dictate" articles, blog posts, emails, forum posts, special reports and ebooks. It has literally saved me hours and hours of valuable time.
- ClipMate 7 – extends copy and paste with a searchable and archivable clipboard. A superb research tool.
- Audacity – Another free application that I use to record podcasts and to edit audio files.
- Camtasia Studio – These days video is becoming increasingly popular and Camtasia does an excellent job. Recording "procedures" and instructions for your staff can eliminate misunderstandings and save you lots of time.
- Macromedia Dreamweaver – my HTML editor of choice.
- IrfanView – A superb little programme that makes image editing very easy.
- HyperSnap – My favourite application for grabbing screenshots.
- FileZilla - In my opinion the best FTP application know to mankind.
- Skype - VOiP, Chat and networking client that makes keeping in touch really easy. I also use it in combination with CallGraph to record interviews.
- TweetDeck - An excellent application that I use to manage just about all my activity on Twitter.
- RSSbot – a must have tool for bloggers – streamlines the submission of RSS feeds to lots of directories.
- Socialbot – Automated bookmarking programme, a huge time saver.
So, I'm sure you have an opinion..
What did I miss?
What are your favourite must have tools?
Please comment below…
Filed under Product Picks by John
Comments on Must Have Tools and Resources »
Great ones, I used few of them and are very handy indeed….
I will add rest of them as well..
Valuable Internet Information » Must Have Tools and Resources @ 8:17 am
[...] Here is the original: Must Have Tools and Resources [...]
One of the very first utilities I ever bought was Roboform. It has saved me so much time and keeps all my logins so I never forget any. There are some things you just have to buy and this is one of my best ever purchases.
Terence’s last blog post..Is XSitePro A Good Choice For Internet Marketers?
I would have to add TextWrangler to that list. Being able to do find and replaces across whole file directories and also to compare files is invaluable.
The Web Developer Add on and Google Notepad add-ons for Firefox are tops too
And I like Google Analytics. True, from a Google is Big Brother point of view it scares me – but as a means as to which, as a team, we can analyse how users engage with our clients sites it's invaluable.
I purchased Dragon Naturally Speaking 10.0 a little while ago. To be honest with you I have not used it very much. Based on your recommendation I'm going to try it again. Thanks.
Hans Kristian Anderson’s last blog post..Flip Digital Camera
John … You stopped my blog the other day and I thought I would take a look at what you are doing here on your site.
Regarding some of your recommendations, I have been using Dreamweaver for years and really like it. For a browser I also prefer Firefox for a variety of reasons. You mention Camtasia for video. I have never used it but just getting started with YouTube videos, I started playing with Adobe Premiere. Of course, I already own that and dont own Camtasia. Self teaching myself it took me most of a day to put together a video. But, I think the app did fine itself. But, the one link you have on your list I probably really need to check out is Socialbot.
Tom Matteson’s last blog post..Dealing with SPAMMERs … a follow up
I use many excellent tools of the trade that I couldn't do without.
I use the poor man's PhotoShop: Ulead PhotoImpact (now Corel)
for graphics, as well as Fractal Explorer, the Gimp, PaintShopPro (also now owned by Corel)
I use Notepad++ as my HTML editor, and another HTML editor I like is FirstPage2000. Another great little tool is Pixie by Nattyware, which I use a lot.
Firefox add-ons that are important for me: Web Developer Tools, Firebug, IEtab
Karen’s last blog post..Celebrate With Me!