I’m not an early adopter of new tools. I hear the buzz, but don’t feel compelled to be the first person to try a new tool just for the sake of trying it. I need to be convinced that the tool will actually be useful to me rather than a huge waste of time.
I’m envious of people who can try every new tool they hear about—how do they find the time? It’s a secret I’m not privy to, so when I do test a tool, I’ve already agonized over whether or not the few hours it will take me to dabble with it will be worth it or not.
Suffice it to say, it takes a lot for me to get a crush on a tool. I always find that tools leave me wanting more and no single tool ever does everything I want. That’s why I’m always so happy when a tool lives up to my expectations and is truly helpful to me. I have some criteria that matter in my tool evaluation process:
- The tool has to be extremely affordable.
- The tool has to be easy to use and streamlined because I don’t have a lot of time to learn how to use all of the bells and whistles.
- The tool has to offer written help (with screenshots) and tutorials because I hate watching videos or listening to audio. If videos are the only option, they need to be short (no more than a couple of minutes) and the title or description should tell me exactly what the video will show me how to do (so it’s easy to find the instructions I need).
- The tool has to actually save me time.
That’s not an exhaustive list, but you get the idea. When I find a tool that I like, I like to talk about it because I’m so rarely impressed. I use a lot of tools, but here are three that are knocking my socks off lately. They’re not new tools but they’re certainly cool tools!
1. Trello
I hate project management and productivity tools. I don’t think linearly like most project management tools require. Seeing timelines and milestones makes me tense, but using the card system offered in Trello turns projects and timelines into something that my more creative brain is willing to interact with.
I can attach notes, people, documents, and more to cards within my Trello account and create different boards for different projects. I’ve never been so organized, and it’s free!
2. ManageFlitter
The process of finding people to follow and determining who your best (or worst – sorry) followers are can be time consuming and really boring, but with ManageFlitter, it’s so much faster and easier!
You have to pay for a Pro account (currently only $12 per month) to get access to the power features that will really make a difference in your following and unfollowing tasks. If you manage client social media accounts like I do, ManageFlitter is a must-have tool!
3. BuzzSumo
Not sure what you should write about on your blog (or your clients’ blogs)? BuzzSumo can help you decide by showing you what content performs well for what topics, not just on your site, but on any other site you choose—including your competitors!
You have to pay for a BuzzSumo account to access enough data to develop a strong content marketing plan and blogging schedule, but it’s worth it if you’re putting a lot of your marketing focus and budget into content. The Pro account is $99 per month, and gives you 15 alerts, 20,000 mentions, unlimited searches, and extremely useful content analyses. For more features, you have to pay more, but the baseline account is adequate for most small businesses and teams (up to 5 people can use the same Pro account).
I don’t have an affiliate relationship with any of these companies and receive no compensation of any kind if you use these social media or productivity tools. They’re just my current tool crushes. What are yours? Share them in the comments below!
Susan Gunelius
Susan Gunelius is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc. and Founder & Editor in Chief of an award-winning blog, WomenOnBusiness.com. She is a 25-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored 10 books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing.
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Thanks, Susan, for sharing about these tools and for your comments about “timelines and milestones” making you tense. My creative and intuitive (rather than logical and objective) thought processes are liking Trello more and more. Thanks for introducing me to it!
You’re welcome, Kelley!
Thanks Susan, BuzzSumo seems to be more useful to me, thanks for introducing it to me.
Saikrishna,
Yes, BuzzSumo is great. I’m glad you like it! I wish there was a lower price point option (around $49/month), but otherwise, it’s great!