Customer relationship management isn't just for the Fortune 500. Even one-person shops can benefit from a more ordered approach to managing the sales process, tracking leads, and ensuring that follow-ups are done in a timely fashion. Salesforce.com requires some training and patience due to its vastness, but its exhaustive feature set and affordable pricing options make it a business must-have. ($8.25 to $250 per user per month)
Database
Access is a part of many editions of Microsoft Office, but if you don't already have that database program in your toolkit, consider springing for FileMaker Pro instead. This database application is more intuitive than Access, while offering high-end features like live SQL data source support and easy Web-publishing capabilities, so your whole team can access the database via a browser. And its array of prebuilt templates helps you get up and running in no time. ($299)
E-Commerce Service
You'd be surprised at some of the sophisticated things being done with the simple e-commerce service at Yahoo Small Business. Yahoo provides everything from templates and wizards to credit-card processing and sales-tax collection. If you sell less than 50,000 units, this is definitely one of the easiest and quickest ways to go online. Even better: A small army of third-party developers stands ready to create Web designs that work specifically with the service. ($40/month and up, plus transaction fees)
If you have Microsoft Office, you already have Outlook, the industry-standard e-mail app. But if you're looking to save a buck and still get most of Outlook's features, Thunderbird is a capable, free alternative. Message tagging and a speedy, integratedsearch system actually offer a few improvements over off-the-rack Outlook. (free)
Another interesting, non-Outlook e-mail option is Zimbra Desktop, which Yahoo acquired earlier this year. In simple terms, the Zimbra Desktop is an offline version of Zimbra's capable Web-based e-mail manager. It includes everything a small-business user needs: a contact manager, an impressive calendar, a to-do list, and even a simple, integrated document manager for quick note-taking. (free)
E-Mail Marketing
Don't call it spam: Communicating via e-mail with your customers is cool, as long as they opt in. Topica has been in the e-mail marketing/mailing-list game for years, and most spam filters are pretty kind to messages that are sent through its service. Topica is also one of the most affordable of such e-mail marketing platforms that you can find on the Web--and it sure beats running a mailing list server yourself. ($50 per month and up depending on e-mail volume)
Instant Messaging
You don't have to run four different instant-messaging applications just to communicate with your clients and with everyone in your office. Multiprotocol software like Pidgin allows you to communicate with users across more than a dozen IM services: Not just AIM, ICQ, and other biggies, but also lesser-known ones like Gadu-Gadu (it's Polish) and Zephyr. Trillian is similar, but it supports fewer services. (free)
Invoicing
Don't need a full-fledged accounting app like QuickBooks? Zoho Invoice is a near-perfect Web-based solution for managing simple billing needs. Create and manage customer accounts, build invoices, and then print or e-mail them with a mouse click. You can also tie in your use of Invoice with Zoho's other, extra-cost business services. See our full review of Zoho Invoice. (free to $35 per month depending on invoice quantity)
Mobile Device Remote Access
It's one thing to be stuck in an airport without access to a critical file back at the office, but what if you don't even have access to a computer? Enter SoonR, which lets you snag files from your PC or Mac via a mobile phone. SoonR isn't built for serious data transfer needs--but it just might get you out of a jam when it counts. (free)
Office Suite
Like it or not, any business, big or small, probably needs at least one
Comments
Great list! I use 99% of these myself for my freelance operations. If I might add one to the pile: TSheets. I use TSheets to track billable hours and to manage my own personal time. Their reporting features are great, and I recently found their app to go along with my shiny new iPhone. Great stuff.
http://www.tsheets.com
For a completely impartial review of your business tariff, speak to the Mobile Advice Bureau, they deal with only the top 5% of mobile phone dealers and the networks themselves to find the best deal for your requirements. You can also stipulate which networks you want to consider (so that you dont get sold anything you dont want). The advice is completely free and impartial and if they cant save you any money whilst using a reputable company then they wont send anyone to see you! Only available in the UK (not US sorry) their web address is www.mobileadvicebureau.co.uk
The major problem with most people who decide to build their internet business is that they do all the worrying after they’ve decided to start their online business. This causes a great deal of stress in their lives and doubt in their choices at first time. If you approach the senior of the business friends and better to read the e books regularly.
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You may also never forget to use a lead tracking software especially if you have leads to maintain. This is very important as you want to make sure that you don't get to lose one potential client or customer simply because you fail to make a follow-up or put a good amount of attention over their interest in what you're offering. With the kind of competition there is on the Internet (it's a dog-eat-dog world out there), you have to keep close watch over your leads. You can read more about what I'm talking about at Lead Tracking Info (http://www.leadtracking-info.com).
The list can be useful, but I think the author should have pointed to other options too. Just name some alternatives for each category. The thing is there're no best or worst tools, they are all imperfect. Each business finds the one that's best for it. Basecamp is a great tool, but it offers its own philosophy that might not suit some companies. Millions of business people use emails today, and email will remain the most popular communication tool. Basecamp does not leverage this fact, but tools like Wrike do.
Another online note-taking/wiki application you might wanna try out is Springnote (http://springnote.com/en). It’s a free hosted service with 2GB of file storage. On top of that, it comes with an easy wysiwyg editor - no need to know markup at all. Just like Confluence, it has search, tagging, page categorization/hierarchy, and file exporting. It’s already been covery by many famous media entities, like Lifehacker, ReadWriteWeb, and WebWorkerDaily. Definitely worth a look!
Don't forget www.tablists.com for online to do lists; and the best addin for Outlook 2007, OutlookTrackit, makes keeping track of emails you send to others a breeze.
If you'd like a tool for managing your projects, you can try this application inspired by David Allen's GTD:
http://www.Gtdagenda.com
You can use it to manage your goals, projects and tasks, set next actions and contexts, use checklists, schedules and a calendar.
A mobile version and iCal are available too.
Hope you like it.
That's a great list of useful tools - but be aware that for $5 a month you will only get the personal version of Mozy (MozyHome). This version specifically excludes backing up business data. MozyPro is the business version and is significantly more expensive.
Another option is to use Angel Backup for your online backup solution. Business data is permitted, it works out cheaper than MozyPro and comes highly recommended.
I think it's an interesting feature...,
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