There's a myriad of free tools that you can take advantage of online. Tools that can enhance workplace communication, help you to understand your customer better and increase productivity.  Here is a list of the most useful tools you can integrate into your business in 2019:

Communication

Slack – team messaging

www.slack.com

Slack is a collaboration hub where the right people and the right information come together helping everyone get work done. Used by the like of Airbnb, Ticketmaster & Oracle, Slack is the team messenger app that helps to increase the productivity of teams through a messaging service akin to Whatsapp for business.  Why is it better than email? It can be divided into conversations and everyone on the team can see whether someone has replied - it’s perfect for those quick questions that need a fast response.

Google Docs – document sharing

https://www.google.co.uk/docs/about/

More than just letters and words, Google Docs brings your documents to life with smart editing and styling tools to help you format text and paragraphs.  Choose from hundreds of fonts, add links, images and drawings, all for free. You can get a head start with templates or share the documents for collaborative work to get the job done faster.

Marketing

Google Analytics – understand your customer better

https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics/

Google Analytics is a premium web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic.  It allows you to get a deeper understanding of your customers online behavior and give you free tools that you need to analyse online data for your business in one place.

Hootsuite – complete social media management

https://hootsuite.com/en-gb/

Manage all your social media in one place from finding prospects to serving customers, Hootsuite helps you do more with your social media.  With Hootsuite you can schedule, manage and report on social media content.

Mailchimp – online marketing tool

https://mailchimp.com/

Mailchimp is an email marketing tool that allows you to create email campaigns, landing pages and  Facebook and Instagram adverts, as well as newsletters whilst tracking the uptake by the recipients.  You can connect it to your Shopify store or create automated emails based on customer actions…the sky is the limit.

Buzzsumo – content research

https://buzzsumo.com/

Buzzsumo allows you to find out which content performs best in your industry and help you to get you noticed and find new customers. You can also now find influencers to promote your product. For content marketing and SEO content there really is nothing better.

Survey Monkey – free surveys

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/

There is no better marketing activity than asking your prospective customers or current clients what they want and what problems they have.  SurveyMonkey allows you to create professional and highly effective surveys online, that you can send to a mailing list or as part of an internal company campaign.

Answer the public

https://answerthepublic.com/

Need content ideas? This tool allows you to find the most frequently asked questions in your industry or business space.  It will give you questions starting with ‘why,’ ‘where,’ ‘how’ etc. and from there you can gain a valuable insight into what copy you need on your website or new products and services to offer.

Productivity

Trello

https://trello.com/en

Trello is a virtual to do list for businesses and teams. Trello’s boards, lists and cards enable you to organise and prioritise projects in a flexible and effective way, from building a website to managing internal projects, Trello allows you to see at a glance how a project is progressing.

Google Drive

https://www.google.com/drive/

File storage to keep images, stories, designs and documents that can be accessed on your mobile device from anywhere. There’s no need to carry your laptop around when all of your documents are available on your phone.  You can share files with anyone and they can download them anywhere in the world.

QuickBooks

https://quickbooks.intuit.com/uk/

All you need to manage your business at your fingertips. With QuickBooks you can do all sorts of things such as, creating invoices, managing cashflow, automatically categorise expenses, track mileage, complete your tax return and run a payroll.  You can also connect it straight to your accountants to make sure we have all the necessary information we need.

Have a look at our clients who already use the software and read their stories:

https://www.swindellsaccounting.co.uk/case-studies/john-caroline-uckfield-garage-choose-swindells/

https://www.swindellsaccounting.co.uk/case-studies/stuart-mack/

If you are interested in understanding more about cloud or online accounting do get in touch with our partner Robert Willison for a discussion regarding your needs

Business Services Partner: Robert Willison

Email: robertw@swindellsaccounting.co.uk

Tel: 01825 763366

Or visit our website to learn more:

https://www.swindellsaccounting.co.uk/services/cloud-accounting/