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Our Top 20 Apps in 2010 - Social Media, IM & Business
Friday, 31 December 2010 09:15
Written by Jaime Steele
This is by no means an exhaustive list and I'm sure I've forgotten a few, but I thought I'd have a bit of a brain dump to show you what I use for internet marketing, social media and general management. Please let me know what you like and dislike and if I'm missing a trick!
For me Hootsuite is the number one Twitter web app. Some of my peers like TweetDeck and CoTweet but I'll take Hootsuite any day.
The main differentiating fctor for me when I started using Hootsuite instead of TweetDeck was that it's a web app and I can access all of my information on any computer anywhere in the world.
Hootsuite offers very simple Twitter management. The tabbed, customisable layout is great. Other great features includes team management, keyword tracking, follower management, tweet scheduling, multiple streams for Twitter accounts and other social networks, the ow.ly url shortner - which when used can track your tweet hits etc, lists, file uploads and most importantly and don't forget it - search.
That said I don't like the iPhone app. My preference there is the straight-up Twitter app which used to be called Tweetie.
After Hootsuite this is the app I use the most. I follow in excess of 500 RSS feeds and this list grows everyday. Google reader allows me to manage these feeds into categories and folders so I can dig into whatever I feel like that day.
It offers sharing tools so I can send interesting articles to my favourite social networks, to instapaper to read later and to my contacts via email. Pretty handy.
The best feature for me however is the recommended section which learns over a period of time what sort of blogs I like and serves me up a daily list of recommended new bones to follow and posts it thinks I'll like. How clever!
It's free and it's great. I use analytics everyday to monitor my sites to see how they are performing.
In-Page analytics, which is available from the content section of your reports allows you to visually analyse your website pages in order to assess how users interact with the pages. Very handy.
4. My6sense iPhone App
I'm using this a bit less than before but if I'm stuck without a computer it's handy.
my6sense syncs with my google reader account and watches how I interact with the posts. Then it serves me the ones it thinks I'll like best. It learns too.
Want to secure your brand name across multiple platforms? Use this.
6. Instagram
My favourite iPhone app of 2010. Instagram is a photo sharing social network. Yes I know Flickr is too but Instagram allows you to publish to multiple platforms and use geolocation to pinpoint where the photo was taken. They say it's photo sharing reinvented. We likey. Especially the effects you can apply to the photos.
I only discovered Quora a couple of weeks ago and wish I had found it a bit earlier.
The amount of help and information people give online never ceases to amaze me and Quora is the epicentre of this.
I’m a massive fan of the wisdom of crowds as James Surowiecki coined and I used to use LinkedIn Answers a fair bit to crowdsource information and share my expertise. But Quora is just so much better in so many ways.
In their own words ‘Quora is a continually improving collection of questions and answers created, edited, and organized by everyone who uses it. The most important thing is to have each question page become the best possible resource for someone who wants to know about the question.’
Quora quite simply is a a continually improving collection of questions and answers.
It’s simple layout and no-frills design make finding the information you want simple and quick.
The best way to learn about it is to sign up and get stuck in. Oh and follow me while you are at it! http://www.quora.com/Jaime-Steele
Needs no introduction. Online file storage with ability to share folders with other people. Very useful. the 2gb account is free and if you recommend people you get more free space. I've got quite a lot now thanks guys! Here's my recommendation link one more time
Basecamp is an online project collaboration tool. Not much fun but it's great for what it does. I trialled a few other, less expensive platforms but eventually decided that Basecamp would be Fleming Steele's home for management.
10. iTC Mobile - iPhone App
iPhone app that pulls in your Apple developer Analytics. Perfect for those on the move.
11. Godaddy - iPhone App
The Godaddy app allows you to manage your domain names on the go. I use it most when travelling and have a brainwave about a domain name that I should buy.
I do use other bookmarking services such as Delicious but Instapaper was my first love so I still use it. That and it is integrated into Twitter for iPhone allows me to store useful articles for future reading. I even know a guy who printed his entire instapaper, took it on holidays and read it on the beach. I'm not that sad.
If you don't want to get down and dirty in the seedy underworld of SEO but still want to have a peek at what's happening this is for you. Shows up to 1,000 links, page domain authority and linking domain roots.
Having used other newsletter apps over the past few years I've settled on Mail Chimp. I like the platform. It's intuitive, integrates really well with open source Content Management Systems and has a great analytics package.
Spending a ton of cash on junk filtering and email anti-virus? Route your emails through a free Google Apps account and do away with the expense. It's great. Many other great features too such as calendars etc. If you need to know how it's done put a comment below and I'll write up the instructions. It can be complicated!
I know it's nothing new and another one that needs no introduction. But we couldn't live without it. Now the iPhone app has video you can all see my pretty face on the move.
Just started using this in the last few months having previously been a SugarCRM guy. It's a simple CRM that links up with Basecamp and allows our team to manage contacts remotely. Store every conversation, email, call, meeting, document, and deal you've ever had with a contact. With Highrise you'll always know who you talked to, what was said, and when to follow-up next.
Another 37 Signals product. Campfire is like instant messaging, but designed exclusively for groups. Share text, files, and code in real time. Save transcripts so you don't forget.
We were and still are big Simplify fans and users but are using Grooveshark more and more. We can't work without some serious tunes and Grooveshark delivers them without the ads!
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