Thought I’d share some of my favorite tools today:
Freemind for Mindmapping
Mind mapping is a great way to brainstorm and organize your thoughts. I use this program to plan out the steps needed to reach a goal, keep track of how to do specific things, or plan out content.
If you need help with this one Bob the Teacher has a great course.
WordPress for Building Websites
You didn’t expect anything else, right? Of course! This is the easiest way I’ve found to get a professional looking website up quick. There are thousands of free templates, a very nice selection of affordable premium ones, and too many plugins to count to give the system extra features.
Stupeflix and FlixTime for Videos
I’ve been having a blast with video lately and these are the two sites I’ve been using to create video slide shows with background music. For video of me, I use iMovie and the web cam built into my MacBook.
Jing and Screencast for How-To Videos
Another type of video I create a lot for clients is a “how to” where I record my screen as I walk through a specific task. For this I use Jing Pro to record and Screencast to share.
For many of us, a computer crash would send us into total crisis mode. I avoid that worry by using Mozy for constant backup on my PC. It runs in the background and every few hours it grabs any new files I’ve modified and saves them to the Mozy servers (which are super encrypted for privacy). There’s also a free version that gives you a couple GIG to store your most important files.
CoolText to Create Quick Buttons
Sometimes you don’t need to load Photoshop to make a quick button. CoolText works nicely and it’s free.
SurveyMonkey to Create Easy Surveys
Free and premium versions. Easy to use and lots of different question styles to choose from. They host the survey on their website so all you have to do is give out the link.
HootSuite for Tweeting
Can’t say enough about this site – it rocks. Makes it much easier to tweet and stay on top of my twitter accounts as well as pre-scheduling tweets.
I’ll share more cool tools tomorrow. What are your favorites?
Andreas says
Another resource for cool web 2.0 buttons and banners I use is http://jirox.net/AsButtonGen/
Michelle Shaeffer says
Thanks for sharing that, Andreas. So many cool button/banner generators. It’s great to have more resources. :)
Kathryn Griffiths says
I love sharing tools.
I use Firefox and enjoy some of their add-ons. I like one called Search Preview. When you do a Google search… it adds a Thumbnail photo next to the listing.
Here’s a fun one… an online timer at http://ticktocktimer.com/
Looking forward to your next list.
Michelle Shaeffer says
Neat! Firefox has some awesome plugins. Thanks, Kathryn.