Below are the top applications I recommend you download to improve your Small Business. Most are free. Rest assured, I only recommend applications that I personally use. And these are the best of the best. I’ve also written articles on how to get the most our of each download, so just refer to the supplied links for more information.
Feel free to share this page with others. I will add to this page from time to time.
Firefox
Web browser
Price: Free
Personally, my standard internet browser is Opera (it’s speed dial and file download options are superior in my view). However when it comes to plugins and accessibility, Firefox is the way to go. Plus, apparently only dumb people use Internet Explorer. Most of the online tips and tricks I give out on SmallBusinessPlanned.com are available only through Firefox. Download Firefox
Evernote
Note saving
Price: Free / Paid
Yes, I’ve described this application as ‘note saving’, but it doesn’t do it justice. I can’t give Evernote enough of a thumbs up. It’s one of the first applications I open when I boot up my PC. Evernote allows you to shoot off quick notes and have them archived or combined into neat categories. And the search capability of the program is stunning.
> More information: My Evernote Review
> My insane top reasons to download Evernote
PDF X-Change
PDF mark up application
Price: Free
There was a time a few years ago, that PDF’ing a document was limited to only a few approved applications. These days, anyone can PDF anything. However adding comments and mark-ups to a PDF is a bit more difficult. This straightforward program allows you to do just that. Markup up your PDFs with comments before forwarding them to your designer, solicitor or marketing consultant.
> My PDF X-Change article
Paint.NET
Graphic design application
Price: Free
Photoshop is the standard in slick graphic design software. It’s super powerful and has a library of plugins and brushes/textures and complementary applications to achieve any design task. But this comes at a price. A few hundred bucks. And if you just want a program to do some basic image manipulation, this cost is hard to justify. Paint.NET is an alternative to Photoshop that, for its size packs some punch. It has layers, brushes and pretty much everything else that the armchair graphic designer needs to produce a reasonably professional artwork piece
> My Paint.Net overview
ColorPic
Colour identifier
Price: Free
ColorPic quite simply allows you to identify any colour that you can see on your screen. Simply install the application and hover the eyedropper over the colour you would like to identify, and ColourPic tells you the CMYK, RGB and HECS code. Handy for when you’re trying to colour match
TweetDeck
Twitter ‘single eye’ view application
Price: Free
If you’re an avid twitter user/responder and you’re not using TweetDeck, you’re making life hard for yourself. TweetDeck provides a dashboard so you can see all your friends tweets (in realtime), all your messages and all the hashtag conversations you are following. This application directly hooks up to your Twitter account, so you don’t need to visit twitter.com again – TweetDeck handles it all. No wonder Twitter bought them for a cool ~$40 million-ish.
Dropbox
Synchronized file storage
Price: Free (up to 2GB)
Gone are the days when we had one information device (a desktop). These days we have desktops, laptops and smart phones. So access to up to date files becomes a real issue. There’s only so many times you can email and re-email files before you start getting confused about which version is the most up to date. Dropbox solves this problem by creating a virtual folder where you can ‘drop’ any folders you want. The information within these folders can be made visible to anyone you choose (who has Dropbox). They can copy these files to their own computer, or keep them in the magic Dropbox folder and have their updates synchronized. Again, it’s simple to use. And once you start you’ll wonder how you ever did without it.
The free Dropbox account gives you 2GB. But you can score an additional 250MB for free, by signing up with this link (I get an additional 250MB free too, so we both win)
SugarSync
Synchronized file storage
Price: Free (up to 5GB)
SugarSync is the forgotten cousin to Dropbox. But it’s an intelligent cousin who’s pretty attractive. For a start, you get 5GB for free, which is 2.5 times the free space Dropbox blesses you with. And where Dropbox only allows you to sync one folder, SugarSync allows you to sync many. The pro plans are also cheaper and provide more space. Put simply, SugarSync is superior from a functionality perspective and it has to be to draw a market, because Dropbox is by far the market leader.
Read my SugarSync review. I use both Dropbox and SugarSync, for maximum storage. Just ensure you know which files you keep where. As stated, the free account gives you 5GB. But you can score an additional 500MB for free, by signing up via this link. (Plus me gets it too)
Enounce MySpeed
Video/audio accelerator
Price: $30-99
Ouch, I hear you say. I was getting use to these free applications, why should I shell out for a premium application? I thought the same thing. I ummed… I stalled. About a month went by before I downloaded the trial. And then I was hooked. I watch a fair bit of online video, be it TV episodes, YouTube clips or DVDs and Enounce allows me to speed up the video without an issue. This means I can typically watch and easily comprehend a YouTube clip in half the time. I recommend you download the free trial. This program is a delicious time saver that prods the waffling speakers to get to the point. Thoroughly recommended.
> My Enounce Review
Filezilla
FTP application
Price: Free
If you manage the files behind your website, then Filezilla is the program for you. Filezilla is an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) application that allows you to effortlessly drag and drop files from your computer into your website host. And vice versa. Great for uploading images in bulk or backing up entire folders.
> More information: FTP Manager: Filezilla and FireFTP
CCleaner
Hard disk cleaner
Price: Free
This is a must have for your PC. At the click of a button it will delete all the unnecessary cached files that clog up your hard drive and waste space. By downloading this baby and using it regularly you can keep your PC honed like a fine tuned athlete – performing at the top of its game. And look – it’s free.
> My CCleaner Review
Hi, I'm David Moloney, the writer at Small Business Planned. I want you to get the best out of your small business. To make your friends, relatives and accountant look at your business with envy