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What's the difference between Google Suites and Google Drive, and do I need it?

1/3/2018

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Google Suites will provide you with a dashboard to help you manage lots of things in one place.

Connecting emails with task management software, Customer Relationship Management software, and documents/spreadsheets/slideshows and forms.

For example when you receive an email in Gmail you can share that email into a task management software like Asana and automatically create a task for it.

It's also helpful if you have a team of people and want to provide them with their own email addresses at your business domain.

​Google's free version of Drive, Gmail etc doesn't provide a dashboard but in Chrome you can use the square pattern in the top right corner of a new tab, or when using one of the programs.

You won't have the same ease of integration between programs or a cohesive team site for emails etc.


Other Cons

The real issue comes when you don't like using Gmail or if you're a business that manages email addresses for other businesses like a VA. It's really only designed to manage just your business.

If you don't like using Google's Doc and Spreadsheet programs, then neither of these are for you and you may want to consider 
Microsoft Office or 365. Google's products are more 'done-for-you' options and Microsoft are more customisable with advanced use.

Bonus tip


Google also has a program that is often recommended for organising your business processes called Google Sites. Google Sites is actually free on it's own, you don't need Google Suite to use it. It's basically a website that you can make private to certain people, so you have the ease of links, images, documents in the one organised area which others can edit.


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How software and online systems can reduce overwhelm and save you time.

7/7/2017

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Some of the biggest issues small business owners face is overwhelm and being unable to grow, this is often because they hold too much of their business information in their own head.

You, and only you can run your business. You would need to clone yourself to get more clients in, and more work done.

If you’re using paper or physical items like whiteboards in your office then you’re keeping information somewhere that can only be accessed when that physical object is with you. This means that you have to run your business from that office, and only your team members who are in the office or have access to those papers can use that information.

By using cloud software:

  • You can access any information about your business while travelling.
  • You can easily delegate out your work to other team members no matter where they are.
  • You can save time by avoiding manual data entry.

Perhaps you think you need a piece of software that does this one specific thing, when in reality you could set up your software into a system that encompasses much more:

  • Allowing clients to schedule their own appointments and fill out forms.
  • Having a task list on your phone that syncs to a web version.
  • Having leads enter their own information so that you can follow them up.
  • Sending out proposal documents.
  • Invoicing your time.
  • Receiving payments online.

There are many FREE programs you can use right now to manage your business like:

File sharing, storing and viewing on all devices:
Google Drive
OneDrive
DropBox


Notes:
OneNote
Google Keep
Todoodledo


Tasks:
ToDoist 
Todoodledo
Asana


Scheduling:
Weekplan

Organising appointment times:
WeekCal

However, this is where using a single program won't streamline your business. More often you will need a system that’s been tailored to you and your business, which means you will need to pay for certain parts of your system. Fortunately there are also some really affordable options.

If you need more than one program, they can be integrated to create an automated system of programs using a tool called
'Zapier' or ‘If This Then That (IFTT)'. These do take a bit of maintenance to ensure they continue working properly. Depending on the program, you could have Zapier text you when an invoice has been paid, or send contact information between programs instead of doubling-up on your data entry.

Also just a warning about certain free programs:

If they seem to give away too much for free or don’t have an upgradeable option they:

  • May not be taking care of your information and/or selling your email address.
  • Are not worth the hassles they bring with technical issues and a lack of streamlining.
  • You will want to change to a better program quite quickly and it can be a major hassle to shift it over.

There are a lot of different solutions, some may require using separate programs integrated together, and an 'all-in-one' system may require spending a bit more for convenience. You will also need to be aware that using  'off-the-shelf' programs are more difficult to customise to your specific requirements so there isn't an 'all-in-one' that's going to work perfectly. You will always need two or three programs working together.

​As long as you have enough work coming in, it definitely justifies the cost and setup of the system.



work from anywhere
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Sign up for my Systems and Processes Course

I’m considering running a course on implementing systems and processes into small businesses. I would love to hear about what you want to learn!! If you are interested, please submit your email address and the areas which you would love help with, I will be in touch when the course is ready.
​

About me

My name is Keryn Marshall and I have a passion for helping small business owners to find more time for a lifestyle of family, travelling, enjoying life and running their successful business.

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One program to help grow your business

12/10/2015

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Do you keep your client information in a spreadsheet or on pieces of paper? When you're out and about, do you wish that you had quick access to your client information?

The next step in growing your business may be to use a Customer Relationship Management system or CRM for short. 

Having a CRM helps you to maintain records of your customers/clients and keep track of their details so that you can better serve them effectively. It also helps you to follow up on leads, and secure those new work opportunities.

CRM programs can range from large complicated systems - suitable for larger companies, to smaller simple systems for small businesses.


I generally don't recommend any one particular CRM program as different businesses require different features, and it will depend on your budget. However you will find that Insightly is often recommended as they have a free version, and you can get a feel for what comes from using a CRM.

Contact me if you would like to find the right CRM program for your business.

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My top 3 favourite to-do apps

14/2/2014

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To-do lists are a very important part of managing my projects efficiently, so I've spent quite a bit of time finding the right apps. 

As I use various platforms e.g. an Android phone, Mac computer and a PC at the office, you'll find that all of these apps are available on multiple platforms.

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ToDoist:

ToDoist is for those who need more than just basic lists, this app is for those of us who have multiple projects on the go at once. 

This app provides multi-level lists and sub-tasks; these are quite simple to setup once you've had a quick drive around of it. The basic version is free and you will find it suitable enough for most situations. You can even share your projects with others and you will be able to see when they complete tasks. If you find more features necessary you can upgrade to a subscription for $29.00 USD per year - this price is actually reasonable for a small business like mine. I upgraded to this version as I like having features such as mobile task reminders and syncing with my Google calendar. 


todoist.com


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Wunderlist:

Wunderlist is good for those who simply require basic lists but also includes a handy task assigning feature.

I use this for my grocery lists so that I can go straight to it and not worry about the many projects I have in ToDoist. It provides a clean, easy to use interface that allows multiple lists and sharing your lists with others. It’s completely free but you'll need to upgrade to a paid subscription to assign tasks to everyone working on a project with you. "Wunderfully" though they only need the free version to see their assigned tasks.


wunderlist.com


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Evernote:

Most people know about and already use Evernote which is why this has been mentioned last, you can skip this part if you're familiar with it already but if you're not, it's popular for a reason!

Evernote is great for writing long notes, saving web pages and including attachments all in a 'notebook' for each project. I use Evernote to write these blogs and save web pages about interesting business information. All of your notes are editable with great formatting options on many platforms. Some even use it for their to-do lists; I don't do this as I think an app designed specifically for to-do lists is more efficient. Again it's free and you can pay for a subscription for additional features, which I haven't found necessary yet. 

evernote.com


I've found the combination of these apps is what works for me, keeping me productive and efficient. Let me know what apps you have found that work best for you and why? 

Please note I do not get paid for these recommendations these are purely based on my own experiences and research.
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Cloud sharing - my three favourites

12/5/2013

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I always felt email was quite restrictive in the way we could send files online so the development of cloud sharing services has been great.

Here are some quick summaries of three of my favourites and it really depends on the features you require as to which you should choose:

Dropbox
Dropbox is quite a simple cloud service to use and as a lot of people have this it can make sharing between others very easy. It's free for the first 2GB of space and you can gain more space for free by simply sharing a download link with those who haven't signed up yet. 
www.dropbox.com

Box
Box is a great option if you require more features such as leaving comments on shared files. Their free version provides an even bigger 5GB of initial space. Because there's more features it's not quite as simple to use as Dropbox, however if Box's extra features are beneficial to you it doesn't take long to grasp it. 
www.box.com

Google Drive
Google Drive was once Google Docs and has now been updated to compete with other cloud sharing services. You start off with 5GB space with this too. The great thing about Drive is that it has all the same features as the other services like commenting but if you use Google applications a lot then it integrates with those well too.
Google Drive
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