The Cloud Nine

Posted by Mike Walsh

2/14/11 3:20 PM

describe the imageMy clients often ask me which web services I use and why. At first, I advocated the Cloud as a way of saving money and avoiding cruel and unnatural suffering at the hands of in-house IT. But after a while, I realised that the most disruptive impact created by the Cloud was not the death of traditional software, but rather a potential transformation in the way we work, collaborate and engage with clients. The Cloud was a behavioural rather than a technological revolution. Many of the insights that emerged from my discussions with companies, both big and small - seemed at first counter intuitive. For example - why would sharing private data yield new patterns for profitability, outsourcing business processes back to your clients provide them with a sense of control, or avoiding work actually result in you being more productive? Anyway enough with the preamble - here is my list of the top nine Cloud services that have both changed the way I work, and more importantly, the way I think about it.

Google Apps - Never Delete Anything

A few years ago I made the decision to move my entire email inbox, document storage and calendar scheduling activities to the Cloud. My inbox overload had reached apocalyptic levels and both my installed Microsoft software and communications provider were straining under the weight of a massive mail archive. At the time, the latest productivity meme was to declare email bankruptcy - which despite its anarchic appeal, also seemed to be the technology equivalent of starting with a clean sheet of problems. However, once I started using Google Enterprise Apps - I realised the absolute futility of deleting as a behaviour. A clean inbox is not a sign of personal efficiency, but wasted effort and poor filters. Storage is Google’s problem. Once I stopped worrying about keeping my inbox to a reasonable size, I started devoting energy to the more useful task of tagging conversations, setting up email filters, and using search tools to mine my own correspondence for commercial opportunities.

Wordpress - Plug-in, Not Lock In

I was a big fan of Typepad for years, but eventually I ceded to the inevitable. The power of Wordpress is its universe of third party plug-ins - modular pieces of code that extend the functionality and aesthetics of your blog to that of a professional publishing platform. And for non technical users like myself, that was a Godsend. Suddenly I could experiment with new features and design templates without spending money on development. Hiring someone to build you a website is a form of lock-in. You may have a wonderful platform for a few months, but you will both lack the ability understand the mechanics of what is going on under the hood, and the capability to make changes in response to what you learn.

Mailchimp - Don’t Wait, Automate 

Mailchimp provides incredible tracking tools, the ability to correlate social media information with your database, and advanced subscriber segmentation. But none of these features sold me on Mailchimp’s email distribution platform. My primary motivation was simple - laziness. When I write a blog post (this one included) - Mailchimp’s RSS to Email service identifies the new content, formats it into a nice template and sends it out automatically. As any writer will tell you - one less barrier to getting things done, is one more step to getting things out.

Hubspot - Nurture Your Flock

If there is one book you should read on the new rules of marketing, it is “Inbound Marketing: Get Found using Google, Social Media and Blogs”. The book has a very simple premise - in an age of decentralised discovery, the best marketing strategy is to create relevant content that allows your customers to find you when they are looking for insights and information. Reading the book led me to Hubspot - the platform created by the authors. It was not a cheap decision, but it has been worth it. I host my corporate website on Hubspot, and it handles all of my primary interactions with visitors, subscribers and potential clients. Through embedded cookies, I get a sense of both what content my audience responds to as well as real time feedback into the social platforms that generate the highest conversion rates. Landing page creation, keyword analytics, and a vast library of marketing resources - Hubspot is like a specialist digital marketing agency in a box.

Shoeboxed - Scan And Discard

Ironically for someone who published a book in physical form, I really hate paper. Receipts, business cards, letters, contracts - dead trees take up space, require organisation and inevitably in my case, get lost. Shoeboxed was a revelation. Using their mobile app I simply take pictures of my receipts and business cards. They process and verify them, and upload the results to the Web. I regularly sync the records with my CRM tools and eliminate the time consuming exercise of scanning business cards and correcting errors myself. Bliss.

Highrise - Always Be Closing

It always annoys me that just like Wall Street and bankers, too many real estate agents still don’t realise that Glengarry Glen Ross is a dark satire not a sales motivation movie. But you can’t argue with its most famous tagline - always be closing! Sage advice, although I'm sorry to say I only recently started using CRM tools in my business. For years, I flirted with the idea of Salesforce.com - I liked its philosophy but hated its complexity and clunky interface. Highrise, created by 37 Signals, is a great alternative. Simple, efficient, and focused on tracking the people and conversations necessary to close deals. It doesn't do everything, but what it does, it does well. And best of all, it integrates with a variety of other Cloud based programs.

Freshbooks - Show Me The Money

Freshbooks is a very simple Web based invoicing program - but don’t be deceived. Its simplicity belies the fact that asking for and collecting money represents 99% of what it takes to be successful in business. After using the service for a while I realised three things. Firstly, once you set up client profiles and billing templates, sending out an invoice is an activity that should take not more than 15 seconds. Secondly, clients will stop pretending not to have seen your invoice once you explain to them that Freshbooks informs you the minute they open it on their computer. And finally, when it is easy to see at a glance your received payments, uncollected invoices, and clients who repeatedly pay late - it completely changes your perspective on how you should run your business.

Evernote - Pay Attention To Everything

Evernote is an application that I use all the time but paradoxically, am still not entirely sure what it is for. Using my iPhone, I take pictures of newspaper articles, book spines, ticket stubs, retail displays - anything that catches my eye. I tag these with the topics I speak about, and every now and then dip into the Cloud based storage archive looking for something interesting to spice up a presentation, an article or a client meeting. For now Evernote is my ultimate visual diary - but I have a feeling it could also be a lot more in years to come. At least I can feel reassured in the meantime that I'm not forgetting anything.

Geckoboard - If You Don’t Watch A Kettle, It Will Never Boil

To paraphrase Lord Kelvin, what gets measured, gets done. My new favourite Cloud service and the final one on this list - links all the other platforms together. I have Geckoboard running on a separate screen in my office - it gives me a live dashboard of all the key operations of my business. I can see at a glance my monthly revenue from Freshbooks, my web traffic and visitor activity from Google Analytics, a feed of the deals I have waiting to close from Highrise, the performance of my last email newsletter from Mailchimp, my current total Facebook and Twitter followers and a host of other essential metrics. Real delight awaits when you can watch the magical cogs of your business spinning in real time. There is no better way to turn your day job into a video game.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

So that’s my current list of Cloud applications I use in my own business. They are not for everyone, but they are a useful set of tools for you to start redefining not just the way you work, but how your business creates value for its customers. In the end it is not even a question of saving money or being more efficient - the real driver of the Cloud Revolution is its ability to let individual users tap into the power of networked data. And that is a silver lining indeed!

Now its your turn. Are you using any of these services and if so, what has been your experience? Have I missed any that are essential to your business? Please contribute to the discussion.


Topics: Culture

New call-to-action

Latest Ideas