My Favorite Online and Offline Tools for 2006

In his TechCrunch blog, Michael Arrington posts the Web 2.0 companies he can’t live without. It’s a pretty good list. Although I’m not into Web 2.0 start-ups as much as Michael is, I do have a number of tools and Websites I use on a regular basis. Why? Because they work!

Herewith — my favorite online and offline tools I can’t live without:

WordPress

I agree with Michael. I use WordPress for the MarCom-Writer-Blog. Once I got the hang of it, I realized the application is perfect for Web design — because it’s so easy to use. When I redo my current DH Communications site, I’ll probably do it in WordPress.

Trellian’s Keyword Discovery

Oh mama! Do I love this keyword tool. You simply type in a keyword phrase and Trellian spits back how many people searched on it in the last 12 months PLUS keyword variations. It has completely simplified and enhanced how I do SEO for clients.

Spud City’s TraxTime 

I keep track of all of my time — billable and otherwise — with TraxTime’s time clock. It sits in my system tray and each time I change projects, I clock in and out. This way I’m able to see how much time I waste and how much I’m actually billing out every day.

MyYahoo

I like MyYahoo because I’m able to list all my blog and news feeds in one location. I also use Yahoo’s email client.

Google

Google alerts, Google maps, Google analytics, the Google search engine. Can anyone go all day without consulting Google? I can’t.

Quickbooks

Ok, Intuit makes me mad when they phase out older versions of Quickbooks, forcing you to upgrade every couple of years. But they make a great product chockful of tools small businesses need. I use their payroll module and their merchant services. This means I can send out invoices over email and clients can then pay them using a credit card.

Planner Pads

The heart of my business and my life. The wonderful thing about a Planner Pad is that it’s not just a calendar — it’s really a system for your entire life. In addition to my business I juggle a traveling husband, my son and all his activities, two dogs, my own schedule, the house, and my volunteer activities. The Planner Pad keeps everything in order for me.

FlyLady 

Shhh . . . this is my real secret to keeping it all together. FlyLady helps “stressed home executives” manage their homes and their lives. With close to 400,000 subscribers around the world, FlyLady is a true model of business and personal success.