Hi, my name is Kimberley, and I am DemGen’s Expert of the Month for May.

One of the major benefits that DemGen offers its entrepreneur clients is efficiency.  Not only do we offer     support in categories such as marketing, administration, lead generation and social media for example, along with everything we manage for you, our experts always prioritize creating systems and processes that make the most of your money and time.

Today, I wanted to share with you some of the best programs I have come across that I use both personally & professionally.

Here are some of the newest, and most impressive software programs I’ve been using recently.

Most of them are either free, or at least offer a free trial period to test out before you buy.  And these days, most of these companies no longer operate on the “annual contract” model, they tend to be pay-as-you-go, which is great for testing and measuring without fear of any contracts.

Skype 

In their words:  ” * Free Skype-to-Skype video and voice calls * Free instant messaging * Connect with your Facebook friends”

In my words:   This a fantastic program that I use in both my business and personal life.  The general platform is free, I use it mainly for instant text messaging, but and it allows you to make computer-to-computer free phone calls between Skype users.  It also allows you to leave voicemail messages for a person if they are unavailable.  There are various add-on’s you can purchase, including the ability to make calls to non-Skype users for a very low cost, depending on where you might be calling.  I purchased an annual package for North American for under $15.00.  You can’t beat that!!

Dropbox  

In their words:  What is Dropbox? “Your life’s work, wherever you are.” Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring all your photos, docs, and videos anywhere. This means that any file you save to your Dropbox will automatically save to all your computers, phones and even the Dropbox website. Dropbox also makes it super easy to share with others, whether you’re a student or professional, parent or grandparent. Even if you accidentally spill a latte on your laptop, have no fear! You can relax knowing that Dropbox always has you covered, and none of your stuff will ever be lost.

In my words:  A fantastic program that allows you to store precious files & pictures in “the cloud”.  This frees up space on your computer and gives you piece of mind should anything happen with your computer’s hard-drive.  The free category gives you a generous size of storage, with the option to purchase more space.  I use it for everything, as my family is attempting to move towards being as paperless as possible.

Grasshopper  

In their words:  Sound like a Fortune 500 Company.  Grasshopper lets you run your business using cell phones!

Toll free or local number – local or national presence

Unlimited extensions – for departments & employees

Call forwarding to mobile phones – work from anywhere

Voicemails via email – play online or on cell phone

Manage online or by phone – no hardware to purchase

New Feature! – 855 Toll Free Numbers

Starting at $9.95 a month

In my words:  A great program, with so many features available.  The main way that I use this program at the moment is for converting paper into PDF files, by faxing them to my grasshopper number.  Grasshopper can be programmed to accept faxes, convert them to PDF’s and email them back to any email address you specify.  Voicemails can also be converted to text messages and emailed to you.  Any virtual business can use Grasshopper to create a fully-functional telephone and voice-mail system, giving the impression of an actual office with staff.

Xobni  

In their words:  Put a face to every email. Xobni automatically creates your address book from your email, phone call and SMS history. Each Xobni Contact in your new address book includes the person’s photo, contact info, title, company and updates from LinkedIn, Facebook etc. as well as all the emails and attachments exchanged.

In my words: I own a Windows computer (I use both Outlook and GMail), an iPhone and an Android Galaxy tablet.  This program can be downloaded on all 3 devices, bringing all of your contacts together in one place, along with any previous emails / conversations relevant to the person.  Free trial version available.

Evernote

In their words:  Remember Everything.  1) Capture Anything.  Save your ideas, things you like, things you hear, and things you see. 2) Access anywhere.  Evernote works with nearly every computer, phone, or mobile device out there.  3) Find things fast, search by keyword, tag and even printed or handwritten text inside images.

In my words: This is an amazing program that I absolutely adore.  It comes with a web-clipper you install on your dashboard, simply press it and it takes a copy of the webpage and stores it inside Evernote for later review.  There is a similar plug-in for your email programs, and once installed it will show as an option when forwarding messages… you can simply send it to Evernote to safely keep for you.  Write yourself message and simply send it to Evernote.  It’s FREE, and there is an Evernote for Dummies book to walk you through every feature and all possible uses.  And, it’s all in the “cloud”.

Mint  

In their words:  Your financial life, all in one place. Mint pulls all your financial accounts into one place. Set a budget, track your goals and do more with your money, for free! Makes your life easier. At Mint, we believe money is for living. So we make everything simple and streamlined. Sign up takes less than five minutes. Then Mint automatically pulls all your financial information into one place, so you can finally get the entire picture.

In my words:  A fantastic program that I have on all of my devices.  In an instant I can see my entire financial picture, including up the minute credit card balances, bank accounts and more.  It’s has smart programming that can advise you of areas you can cut unnecessary spending, graphs showing where you are spending your money, and alerts such as “ATM fee charged”.  Check it out, it’s FREE.

(Another similar program, (but not quite as robust as Mint), is PageOnce, (www.pageonce.com), which I would also recommend as very good).

Join me 

In their words:  Instant screen sharing. Instant Aha! Get everybody on the same page, when they’re not in the same room, instantly. Review documents and designs. Train staff. Demo products or just show off. join.me is a ridiculously simple screen sharing tool for meetings on the fly.

In my words:  There is a free trial of this program.  With join.me, you generate a code and share it with others so they can instantly share your screen.  It is so much easier to do a live demo of something you want to explain – what a time-saver!

I hope you found something in here that might make your life even more efficient and productive!!

Have a great week everyone!

Kimberley

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