06 Jul 2010 |
|
Here is a list of those tools: 1. Google Whether you use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or any of the other tools/services that I list below, Google has created accounts and services that sync with it all (at least, the developers have integrated Google Accounts into their products). Because of how seamlessly all of Google's services work with each other, I lump them all in as one tool. But, for simplicity's sake, I find myself most often using these services:
2. ThreadsyObviously, I'm on Twitter. I'm also on Facebook. And I use email almost constantly throughout my day. Before I found threadsy, I kept three tabs open in my browser at all times (one for each service). After threadsy, though, I have a single tab that not only allows me to manage all of my Twitter and Facebook accounts with ease, but it also syncs with my gmail account and pulls in my email for replying to. There are a ton of features that come with threadsy, and I don't want to rush through a whole list of them right now. Instead, check out my recent article about threadsy on my personal site, and then go check it out for yourself. Excellent service that simplifies my life almost more than anything else on this list. Another service was dropped in favor of threadsy - Rapportive. Check it out, too, if you use Gmail. 3. Hootsuite
While threadsy gives me fast access to being social, I also like to use Hootsuite for managing my Twitter and Facebook accounts in a more detailed manner. With Hootsuite I can track statistics, skim through my saved searches, watch my Facebook fan pages for updates and become a Twitter power-house with little effort. The best features of Hootsuite, by far, is the integration with their Ht.ly URL shortening service. Like Bit.ly (which was my previous URL shortener of choice), I can track a lot of statistics on the URLs that I add. On top of that, though, Ht.ly also adds a cool Social Media toolbar to the top of any link that you share with your followers. This toolbar allows your users to quickly add their own comments, share the link with their followers/friends and rate the page (plus more). The more that people interact with the links that I share, the more that I understand about my followers and their interests (which means that I can be more effective in the future with other links). 4. BatchBookI haven't had to use BatchBook a whole lot yet, but that's probably because I don't really yet understand how useful the service can be (like Chris Brogan apparently has). However, that doesn't mean that I don't value the service or use it, and in fact I do. The BatchBook service is great for managing contacts (which are synced through Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc...), tracking how you communicate with them, upcoming events that they are affiliated with, company relationships and a lot more. Once I get some time to go through and tag people, add in their connection details and link their social media accounts/streams, I know that BatchBook will be VERY important to my daily routine. Until then, though, I'll keep using it to track my communications with people and syncing contacts across all accounts. 5. Palm Pre (with webOS)Last, but certainly not least (possibly the greatest, in fact), I have to mention my Palm Pre with the very amazing and intuitive webOS. Using this mobile device I am able to communicate with people through every social media account that I actively use, through my blog, through email, phone conversations and (of course) SMS. But, far beyond those communication features, my Palm Pre allows me to manage my life in a much more efficient way. Synergy syncs all of my Facebook, LinkedIn and Google Contacts for me so that I don't ever have to manually input the information. It integrates Google Calendar for keeping track of upcoming dates and tasks. It has nearly 3000 great apps available in the catalog that are all superb in accomplishing some of my daily responsibilities (like Time and Expense Trackers, YouView Visual Voicemail, AniWeather, Cabbie, Zip-Code Tools and a TON more) and quite a few that are just for fun (Paratrooper, Pandora Radio, Assassin's Creed, Hulu Plus, Need for Speed, TweetMe, Twee2, Digloo, etc...) Check out this fan made video for the Palm Pre:
Without this device, I might be lost (literally... cause it's also my GPS system with Google Maps). Other ServicesOf course, you may want to know what other tools that I use regularly that don't really take a lot of explanation:
What services/tools do you use? Comments (1)
 |
One of the things that I spend a little bit of time on each week is trying to find new applications to test out and integrate into my daily life. I want to be as efficient as possible with email, social networking, writing, and communicating in general. No doubt, after a few years of switching between applications, at some point I would be settling on one set of tools that allow me to perform all of my tasks very well and very efficiently.
Gmail 
