No 1: Google Reader
Learning how to use this tool was described as “life changing” by RubyStar Director, Isla Wilson, which is pretty good going. In fact, it was RubyStar Associates, and dedicated Google Reader fans Chris and Al of dallasmatthews.co.uk who first introduced her to it.
Google Reader is a fantastically powerful listening tool, available completely free. If you are client-facing, involved in business development, or engaged in social media activity of any sort, remaining up-to-date with the latest innovations and development in your market, and the markets you are interested in, is vital.
This reader allows you to develop a highly personalised daily “newspaper” of all that is new and valuable in your chosen field.
To get yourself started set your self up with a free account, chose key words which are relevant for you, search for those words on news.google.com, scroll to the bottom of the page and hit the RSS button. Ignore the stuff which then appears on the screen, but copy the web address at the top and add that to google reader- you’ll then get a daily feed of all that is new for that key word every day.
If you found this useful you can always add an RSS feed of our blog using the buttons on the right —-> !
This blog entry is part of a series, so check back for others, or if you want to know more about how you can improve your efficiency, increase your momentum and give your organisation more ooomph, email us at tellmemore@rubystarassociates.co.uk/dev
No 2. WhichDateWorks.com
This tool, in the words of Ronseal, does exactly what it says on the tin, and is beautifully simple. Think of it as your online, long suffering PA. We all know how hard it can be to get a group of busy people together in one place. This tool allows you to set a time period you want to meet in (for example, you may know you all need to meet in the next month), then add the email address of everyone who needs to be there. Each individual gets a link and can mark whether they can, can’t or might be able to attend on each of the available dates, and the system shows the organiser the optimal dates for a meeting.
We love it so much we use it schedule our RubyStar Associates get togethers.
This blog entry is part of a series, so check back for others, or if you want to know more about how you can improve your efficiency, increase your momentum and give your organisation more ooomph, email us at tellmemore@rubystarassociates.co.uk/dev