Guest Post by Chrissie
I still can’t divorce my BlackBerry, try as I might I love the keyboard. Yes, that one little thing is what has kept me a loyal fan, definitely not the apps as they are severely lacking.
In looking at new cell phones I found the Samsung Galaxy. And, the good news is, being an Android, it is app friendly.
As a small business owner and/or blogger one of the most important things is constant contact with your website visitors. There are days that I can’t and don’t want to be chained to my desk so I’m learning how to make my phone(s) work for me.
Below are some of the apps I use daily to make running my small business that much easier. If I missed any, please do share in the comments!
Wunderlist – This app is a no-brainer, it’s free and it serves one basic function – a to-do list. It also has a Smart Lists feature that allows you to hide what you might not want included on your list for others to see. But, you will be organized in no time. My post it note to-do list stopped working because I would lose the paper or forget to take it. Oddly enough, I don’t forget to take my phone anywhere. I do however highly recommend the book, “Rapid Problem Solving with Post It Notes.”
Expensify – It’s that time of year again, Tax Time. If I can’t keep track of my post it note to-do lists, imagine how bad I am at keeping a years’ worth of receipts. Let’s just say, it’s not pretty and leads to unnecessary stress. The best feature, in my opinion, is the ability to snap a photo of the receipt and easily categorize it with your expenses or sync it with Quickbooks. The mobile version of Quickbooks allows you to track all your business finances in one place as well as send invoices and estimates right from your phone.
DropBox – One of the most important things is having all my business software readily available no matter what laptop, netbook or cell phone I am using; making Dropbox easily one of my favorite apps of all time. Work on an important document, store it in Dropbox and then access it from anywhere. How many times have you worked on a document only to realize you don’t have it when you need it? It used to happen to me all the time.
Evernote – I’m a huge book nerd and most days I require a lot of caffeine to get through my day. That means I have many ideas, things I want to read and not enough hours in the day. But I use Evernote to help with that. Just save the video or post you want to read later and you can access it from your laptop, iPad or smartphone.
This is by no means an exhaustive list as I could easily go on about all the apps I use daily which also include Kindle, Twitter and Facebook and more, but I wanted to stick to the apps I use to make my business easier to manage from my phone.
So, while you are working to make your site more mobile friendly or you are the person that lives a mobile lifestyle, you can make it work efficiently.
If I missed any apps that you use to run your business effectively, please share, I’d love to add to my list and I’m sure others would too.
About the Author: Chrissie is a freelance writer for various blogs, including Speedy Incorporation Service, which helps new small business owners incorporate online as well as offering advice and information about running their new business successfully via their small business tips blog.
About Lynn Terry
My smartphone is very important to me as well in doing business while on the go. Why stuck myself in a desktop when I can do quite good things with my phone while I am away.
Sarah, I agree completely! I don't know how I lived before the use of my smartphone! I do everything on it.
I love this list! I do bookkeeping with Quickbooks, too, and Expensify looks fantastic! I still have to learn how to do more with my Smartphone, and this list is a clever start to get my phone working for me! Thank you for sharing these great Apps.
Awesome to see you her again with your blog post.
Thank you for coming Lynn.
You always share the best ... amazing
This is a good list, thank you. I'm still learning things with my iPad...I now can't live without it! lol 😉
I'm also trying to do more with my iphone.
Thank you again! =)
I am doing many things on my tablet. Previously the same things were done on my phone, but display size is critical. Often I am not carrying my laptop anymore, as I can edit any kind of documents, check email, even blogging and analytics.
Great list! I use most of those already. Evernote is the one I rely on the most. I'm curious about the just-released Tempo calendar app that is supposed to integrate everything into your calendar. I'm still 26,000 on the waiting list to get it though.
Here's a few more that I use:
- Instapaper - for things I want to read later
- Password Safe
- Timer (allows multiple timers and they have an upcount, so you know how long you ran over your allotted time)
- my bank's app, so I can deposit checks on the spot
- MobileRSS so I can keep up with my feeds
-Boxcar for real-time notifications from multiple sources including Twitter, Facebook and RSS feeds
Thanks, Val for mentioning some that I'm not too familiar with!
I picked my Samsung Replenish last year because it looks like a Blackberry (full keyboard at the bottom) and acts like an Android ~ though I don't think they offer this model anymore. Admittedly I don't use that many apps, but I do my email triage from my phone before I even get out of bed in the morning LOL
I like my WordPress app on my iphone. Not for doing long posts but for short little status update style posts and editing of my blog on the run.
You are right Chrissie all the apps you mentioned are really helpful. Having used Dropbox personally I can actually understand the importance of these apps in our day to day life. I find Evernote too handy as it helps me catch up with something of my interest at a later point in time.
Expensify sounds like it could be a really great tool. I have trouble committing to apps like that, though, so it is probably out for me.
But Evernote and Dropbox are must-haves. Between the two of them they take care of just about all my app needs beyond angry birds 🙂
Mobile apps undoubtedly have made life easier more than ever. They can do almost anything and everything, no doubt why we are becoming so dependent on it. However I am a true fan of Expensify asI am very bad with paper work, I can not keep any records, this app is made just for me.
My life is dependent on Dropbox and Evernot and can not imagine a life without it. I have not tried Expensify but seems like an amazing app. I am gonna use it for sure and will tell you my ecperience.
I've been an avid iPhone user for awhile now but was thinking of upgrading to Samsung Galaxy 3 or Note (not sure which one yet). I think they are both very similar except the Samsung Note has a stylus which I might like (not to mention I can probably use my fingernails too after I come back from the salon LOL). Enjoyed reading this post as it is making me lean more and more towards getting an Android.
http://www.vanetworking.com/varesources/grow-virtual-assistant-business-iphone/
I've been an avid iPhone user for awhile now but was thinking of upgrading to Samsung Galaxy 3 or Note (not sure which one yet). I think they are both very similar except the Samsung Note has a stylus which I might like (not to mention I can probably use my fingernails too after I come back from the salon LOL). Enjoyed reading this post as it is making me lean more and more towards getting an Android.
I really can’t think about maintaining my business without the use of Dropbox and Evernote. Apart from this, I also use Google Drive, Bump and Tripit. Since Google apps is already the top choice for small business webmail, Google Drive is best when it comes to building docs, and edit corporate files. Thanks for sharing this amazing list of mobile apps!