5 FREE Business Software programs I just can't live without.
Here are 5 Completely FREE Software programs that help me run my business. As a business owner, I like to keep my costs down and rather use free software if it does the same thing as other paid software. It makes sense.
Skype
More than just for calling your friends and family overseas. Skype is great for connecting to your clients almost immediately. Having this immediate contact allows for quick response through clients and suppliers at no cost and also has the recording of conversation with the messaging. The video is an added bonus, but for the most of my conversations with my customers is done through messaging.
Did you know: That you can connect your Skype account with Facebook? Skype then imports all your Facebook contacts and allows you to communicate with them without even having the Facebook website open. This allows for your immediate contact while having Skype minimised in your task or menu bar.
Thunderbird
Mozillia, the creators of the Firefox browser, have their own version of MS Outlook. This is called Thunderbird. Such a simple and more robust tool than MS Office as it operates on both Mac and Windows seamlessly. MS Office only until recently release their latest version for Mac, but if you only require Outlook I would suggest using Thunderbird as it is just as, if not more, simpler to configure. Great speed and takes up minimal processing power, which is a far cry from it's cousin MS Outlook.
Did you know: That HTML Emails are more dysfunctional on MS Outlook than any other Mail Client? This is because it runs of the MS Word engine which isn't 100% W3 supported, in response to this Mozilla integrated full HTML support into their Thunderbird making it more HTML Friendly for those nice shiny emails that marketers (like me) spend hours creating.
Google Docs
Do you have a Gmail account? Then you have full access to Google Docs. Quite Simply this is a cloud based software that allows you to develop .pdf files and word documents with ease requiring nothing to be installed on your computer. Completely ideal for those using Devices or travelling using their laptop when their main machine is at home. You can create, edit, and store on Google's new Google Drive which now has over 1Gb of FREE Cloud space when you register and use Google Docs. If you don't want to install any software and want to take your Business into the cloud I suggest migrating all your business into Google's services.
Did you know: That you can operate your entire business through Google? With Gmail and now Google Docs with Google Drive, it's like having your own server. Check your emails from anywhere in the world, also work from any computer in the world. Google has really captured the cloud service and offered it to the globe for free.
Register with Google Docs Here
Open Office
Open Office Org (OOO) has developed an open source software to mimic MS Office. Using different file extensions for their files, but ultimately the same thing, you are able to perform all your normal tasks through Open Office in one neat little package. Instead of operating several different software packages with MS Office, Open Office is all one program, allowing you to minimise processing requirements and utilise the same engine when operating.
Did you know: that Open Office Org is a not-for-profit organisation? Part of being Open Source is giving the globe a platform that lifts the standard of programming. As a not-for-profit organisation you can be glad to know that you do not have to shift through advertising to achieve what you want with the software.
Dropbox
This incredibly easy to use software makes Low storage USB Drives obsolete. With the CDR and DVDRW a thing of the past already this software allows you to 'share' a folder on your computer and this then becomes part of the cloud. You can then invite people to contribute to this folder and share content like it was on your own network. So no more files too big to email, just through it in the dropbox and have the other person collect it once it is finished uploading to the cloud. Not only is this a great file sharing tool but because it is on the cloud it is hosted by backed up server hardware. So you know that your files will be safe on the cloud in case anything goes wrong with your computer.
Did you know: That you can operate essential backup files on Dropbox? You can host all your MYOB and other essential software files on the cloud knowing that they will be backed up daily incase something was to ever go wrong with your computer. Not only that, you can then use MYOB from anywhere in the world provided you have shared access with the computer you wish to operate.
