270+ Tools for Running a Business Online
September 21, 2008 - 7:20 am PDT - by
Cameron Chapman Last August we featured a post with more than
230 online apps for running your business.
Since there are hundreds of new apps coming on the market every year,
we figured it was time for an update. This year we came up with more
than 270 additional apps. Some are completely new since last year,
others might have been overlooked, and still others made significant
improvements that gained them a spot on the list.
Accounting, Billing, Invoicing, Estimating & Contracts
LiteAccounting - Invoice and track payment from your customers without a bunch of extra, useless features.
Invoice Journal - Free invoicing program.
endeve - Issue invoices, manage clients and check revenues all in one place.
ContractPal - Take your contracts and forms paperless and have them completed, validated, signed and processed online.
Bootstrap - Online bookkeeping software that lets you track sales and expenses, organize your records for tax time, and more.
Citrus - An online billing website that allows your customers to view, download and pay their invoices by credit card or direct debit.
Zapproved - Create and send proposals, manage the approval process and reach agreements without any hassle.
Mumboe - Online contract and business agreement management app.
FinanciFY - Easy to use online financial management tools for small businesses and individuals.
Invoice Place - Online billing software that lets you track invoices, quotes, receipts and more.
Zoho Invoice - Manage invoices and payments, format invoices and quotes, set up recurring invoices, and more, with free and paid plans.
GoToBilling - An online app that manages invoices and payments, marketing, customer relationship management and more.
NetBooks - Marketing, sales, inventory and financial control in one place.
Pulse - Cash flow management app for small businesses.
Shoeboxed - Online tracking and organizing of your receipts.
FreeAgent Central - Accounting and money management app for freelancers.
CurdBee - An online billing application that integrates with payments through PayPal or Google Checkout.
Clarity Accounting - Online accounting for small businesses and professionals with multi-user support.
Calendars & Scheduling
Appointy - An online appointment management tool.
SuperSaaS - This is online scheduling software that allows you to accept appointments booked directly on your website.
BookingPad - An online bookings system that can be integrated into any website.
clickbook - A free online booking and scheduling program.
eXpireTrack - Track and plan for the date that products are to expire.
Scheduly - Add
your business to their directory and then let your clients pick their
own appointment time slots (from your available slots).
When is Good - Find out the best time for everyone to meet without the hassle.
Shiftboard - Online scheduling for businesses to coordinate worker schedules.
Robyn - Easy online scheduling for service providers.
ScheduleOnce - Scheduling engine to get everyone who needs to meet together at one time.
TimeBridge - See the availability of everyone you need to meet with.
Charts, Diagrams, and Whiteboards
Exploratree - Online mind mapping software that provides ready-made thinking guides.
Wisdomap - A simple mind mapping application.
Best4C - An online charting and diagramming tool.
Scriblink - A simple, free online whiteboard.
Gliffy - Online diagramming and charting software.
Mindomo - Free online mind mapping software.
Mapul - Online mind mapping that allows you to create organic looking mind maps.
WiseMapping - Free mind mapping software that allows you to publish and share your mind maps.
Collaboration & Workgroups
Homecourt - Homecourt is a Web-based collaboration tool.
blogtronix -
An enterprise social platform that includes blogs, wikis, documents and
social media so that users in large and small organizations can
collaborate and build communities inside and outside their company.
WorkflowPerfect - A Web-based business process tool that facilitates collaboration.
ClientSpot - A project collaboration and time tracking software specifically for virtual assistants and other freelancers.
skrbl - Online collaboration and white board space.
Planzone - Secure and private collaborative project workspace to share files, manage tasks, and communicate with others.
Nuospace - On
demand collaboration software that provides online document management,
allows you to edit pages in your browser, and offers tools to engage
your colleagues.
DeskAway - An online project collaboration app aimed at small businesses and teams that organizes, manages and tracks your online work.
Mentat - A free project-sharing service accessible from a browser of supported devices (including BlackBerry).
Easy Projects .NET - Project collaboration software that offers both a downloadable option and a hosted version.
Ecto Connect - An online collaboration, communication and content sharing app.
Clearspace - An online collaboration suite that includes documents, blogs, discussions, projects, and more.
Twiddla - An online conference tool that allows you to mark up websites, graphics, and photos, or brainstorm on a blank canvas.
Sosius - Online
workspace that includes a contact & group manager, custom
workspace, file management, calendar, blog, discussions, chat, and more.
CollectiveX - Create free group sites for collaboration and networking.
Yammer - A twitter-like app for getting updates from your co-workers.
BrightIdeasLab - An online home for all your brilliant ideas that also offers collaborative brainstorming space.
Ximdesk - Collaboration and social networking platform for enterprise.
Status - A Twitter-like app for keeping your work group connected.
GroupSwim - Social collaboration and community tools to bring your employees, customers, and partners together.
Kindling - Idea management and collaboration tool that lets you vote on ideas.
Conferences, Presentations & Meetings
Expectnation - A conference program organizing software.
KinetiCast - Create online presentations, deliver them, and then track who's watching.
Gretastudio
- Create on-demand presentations for your company's products, record
training and e-learning materials, or other types of presentations that
require audio or video content.
280Slides - A
free online presentation software that allows you to import existing
documents, download to PowerPoint, publish to the Web and more.
SlideRocket - Design professional quality presentations and then deliver them in person or over the Web.
vcasmo -
Presentation software for business presentations, academic teaching,
seminars, conferences, sales pitching, live events and more.
slideboom - Allows you to share PowerPoint presentations live online.
Empressr - A visual storytelling and presentation application.
Zoho Show - Create embeddable presentations online, present from a remote location, or share and collaborate on presentations.
slidelive - Present Microsoft PowerPoint presentations live online with this browser-based meeting solution.
Text The Mob
- Collect feedback during presentations and seminars by posting polls
or message boards on a large screen and having your audience send their
input via their cell phones.
ReadyTalk - Online Web meeting and audio conferencing solutions.
Persony - Inexpensive Web conferencing service.
Calliflower - Conference calling tools that include Skype integration, invitations and reminders, and more.
GoToMeeting - Online meeting and conferencing software.
buzz2biz - A free online meeting platform.
MyCommittee - Online tracking of meeting agendas and minutes.
GroupLoop - Web-based committee organizing software.
Crowdsourcing, Networking & Community
Wild Apricot
- Online tools for clubs, associations, and communities that include
email newsletters, blogs, discussion forums, a member database and more.
OctopusCity
- Build your online business network, keep in touch with people through
mini-feeds, messaging and free teleconferencing, and save time by
keeping one universal address book system.
LittleEngine - A community of small businesses and their patrons that are committed to buying locally and supporting local businesses.
Advisor Garage - A social network that connects entrepreneurs who need advice with advisors on just about any business-related topic.
Xing - A global networking and contact management site for business professionals.
Cambrian House - A free crowdsourcing app.
Socialcast -
Private online communities of all sizes to help organize enterprise
communication that allows employees to decide how to find and use
information while reducing email clutter and unproductive
communications.
CEOWorld.biz - Global networking for managers, entrepreneurs, and senior execs.
cmypitch.com -
Online networking for entrepreneurs, investors and service providers
that helps connect people who can help each other succeed.
Customer Relationship Management, Customer Service & Contact Management
Mojo Helpdesk
- Mojo Helpdesk allows you to track customer requests, keep your
customers and your staff informed about what's happening with their
accounts, and deliver better service.
TagTicket -
This hosted helpdesk software is great for managing customer problems
as well as in-house issues. There's nothing to install, and it allows
you to manage, track and share your emails and files with other staff.
RightNow -
RightNow is an on-demand customer relationship management program that
integrates sales, service, marketing, feedback and voice functions.
sfa finity -
This CRM software offers all the regular features, plus
account-centric, contact-centric and opportunity-centric perspectives,
allowing you to view information the way you prefer.
LinkingUniverse CS
- This progress-oriented CRM tool helps you work toward your customer
goals. They also have a blog with tips for using the program.
Stazzle -
Stazzle is a basic CRM that allows you to track information from
birthdays and anniversaries to favorite ball teams and restaurants. It
also allows you to track who referred which client and why.
HelpSpot
- This help desk software allows support staff to easily manage
requests from multiple sources in addition to providing powerful
self-help functionality.
CRMdesk - This help desk software allows you to automate your online customer support.
insidesales.com
- InsideSales.com provides a lead management CRM suite that
incorporates an auto-dialer and allows coordination between multiple
departments dealing with a single customer.
Free CRM - This
is a Web-based customer relationship management software that allows
for sales force automation. Track leads and manage your sales pipeline.
bConnections
- This is a simple, easy to use CRM system that allows you to shorten
your sales cycle, provide better customer service, make informed
decisions, and increase your sales.
salesboom - This is a CRM and back office solution that's user friendly and provides seamless integration.
SalesJunction - SalesJunction is a highly customizable but easy to use contact management system that's very affordable.
Leadvine - LeadVine can help you increase sales by allowing you to post sales leads and have the community find you new customers.
Bizroof CRM - A free, Web-based contact management program.
Bizzvo - Bizzvo offers contact management, email marketing and invoicing solutions.
BatchBook -
BatchBook is a small business CRM that manages contacts,
communications, and to-do lists, and offers list and report
functionality (including creating things like mailing labels and email
lists).
Solomon - Solomon is a simplified Web-based CRM and contact manager.
ClairMail - ClairMail provides account management, mobile payments, customer service, and more, all on your mobile phone.
Appature CRM - A marketing-focused customer relationship management program.
Helperoo - A simple email support system geared toward small teams.
Mzinga - A full
set of comprehensive social media and enterprise learning solutions
that address talent development, enable support staff to communicate
and collaborate with customers and partners, and helps your marketing
team increase brand visibility, demand for products and services, and
more.
Oprius - A contact management software designed for independent sales people.
b2b CRM - A Web-based CRM that manages contacts, activities, and your sales pipeline, and integrates with Outlook and Word.
zendesk - A branded online customer support system.
helpdeskpilot - Help desk software that includes email integration, a knowledge base and more.
Tactile CRM - A cost-effective CRM that tracks sales, deals, emails and customer contacts.
Nuebbo - Online contact and virtual business card management.
Simple Sales Tracking - An online sales tracking app that offers free and paid plans.
Soocial - A simple contact management app and address book.
Database, File Storage & Information Management
Pixily - An online service that lets you aggregate, organize, find and share your documents.
ThinkFree Docs - Online document sharing.
.docstoc - An online repository of free documents you can download, or upload your own documents to share.
Thinkfree -
Online access to files, collaboration space for your team, and the
ability to edit documents and post to blogs with a Web-based editor.
SpringCM - Online contract and document management.
ProofHQ - Online management and review of designs, artwork and documents.
Xythos - Online document management and storage.
NomaDesk - Online virtual file server with offline continuity.
Middlepost Docs - An online document manager that also allows you to sign docs.
AirSet - Online document management and sharing.
Email
MailChimp - Email marketing app that includes subscriber management, advanced coding capability, tracking and reports, and more.
Ping82 - Control, manage and track your email using tools made to improve communication between people working together on a project.
eMail Manager - A Web-based email management solution for high volume email environments.
IFM Campaign Manager - A Web-based email list management and marketing tool.
Xpenser - Record your expenses with email, SMS, Twitter, IM, and more.
Synergymail - Online email marketing app that includes campaign tracking.
Mad Mimi - Email marketing utility that allows you to create branded email newsletters and promotions.
EmailBrain - Email newsletter management app.
Employee Management, Payroll & Human Resources
Taleo - Taleo is e-recruitment and talent management software.
Zapoint -
Zapoint is a Web 2.0 enterprise talent management platform with
integrated performance management, skills mapping, organization
mapping, recruiting and succession planning.
Halogen Software - Halogen offers talent management and employee performance solutions.
SuccessFactors
- An on-demand talent and performance management platform that gets
everyone in your company working together by aligning goals.
Cornerstone OnDemand - This is an on-demand talent management suite.
paylocity - Online payroll, human resources, time tracking and tax services.
Litmos - Create, deliver and manage online training.
Akken - Staffing and recruiting management software that includes email, CRM, accounting, human resources, and more.
TalentMaze - A marketplace for employers to find top recruiters to find the best employees for their businesses.
Rejose - Applicant tracking system that's simple, efficient and cost effective.
Catch the Best - Online resume and applicant tracking solution.
Feedback
Kumquat -
Quickly and easily solicit feedback from clients, superiors, peers,
fans, family, or anyone else on projects, plans, on-going activities,
blogs, or whatever else you want.
Feefo - Feefo is
an independent customer feedback system that is transparent and
comprehensive (and doesn't allow business owners to edit customer
feedback).
RivalMap - An
online app that helps you monitor and share market news, maintain
knowledge of your industry and competitors, and discuss information.
Feedback 2.0 - Collect opinions, expectations, and suggestions from a selected audience and discover the consensus.
ConceptShare - Share media with colleagues and have them leave feedback, reply to comments, approve artwork, and markup on visuals.
Backboard - An online feedback tool that allows users to markup documents (including images, text and websites).
Marketing & Publicity
StartPR - StartPR allows you to monitor your brand on social media sites including blogs, social networks, and more.
Prospect Insight
- This is a Web marketing automation suite that provides information to
your sales team on where to spend its time in order to maximize your
return on investment.
HubSpot - HubSpot is an Internet marketing suite that integrates with your website to track your online marketing efforts.
iKarma - A
reputation management service that allows you to compare customer
comments, display testimonials, get customer referrals and manage your
word-of-mouth.
Survelio.com - An online survey service.
Sonar - An online polling software.
formatpixel - Create your own online magazines, catalogs, brochures and more.
Traceworks - Online marketing software that helps you set goals, plan, execute and optimize your marketing activities.
ReputationHQ - Online reputation management app that searches for your desired information across millions of websites.
WordJot - Business blog hosting platform.
IncSpring - An online marketplace for businesses to purchase brands and logos directly from designers.
Anthillz - Professional relationship and reputation management.
BrandDoozie
- A DIY online marketing material creation suite that helps you create
professional-looking business cards, brochures, logos, and more.
Shoutlet - Distribute and track viral marketing campaigns across social media outlets.
Money Making & eCommerce Solutions
GoodBarry - An
integrated system that runs your website, email marketing and online
store that also automatically grows your customer database.
Scrobbld - PayPal and eBay order management app that keeps all your transactions in one place.
Office Applications
Celum Imagine - Software that lets you manage and distribute your photos, PowerPoint presentations, PDFs and multimedia content.
gOffice - They offer Web Word Wizard, a true online word processor.
PDFHammer.com
- An online, free PDF editor that allows you to merge/combine files,
rearrange, reorder and delete pages, lock your PDFs and more.
Organization & Management
OrderMotion - An order management system for online businesses.
MagSuite - An open source marketing automation, sales force automation, accounting, service automation and inventory control system.
Process Maker - Organize your company's work flow and eliminate paperwork.
Alfresco - Open source enterprise content management that offers collaboration, record management, knowledge management and more.
minutesinaminute - An online app for keeping track of your company meeting minutes.
SyncWizard - Synchronize your contacts, calendars, bookmarks, and more with your portable devices.
analysis-one - Online tool to help you monitor your financial and non-financial business performance.
Phone & Voicemail
Phonesheet.com
- This is a Web-based phone call and contact management program that
allows you to track incoming and outgoing calls on a daily basis.
Vontoo - Vontoo provides automated voice messaging on demand.
Task Lists, Planning & Project Management
Torch Project Management
- Torch allows you to collaborate using messages, e-mails, files,
tasks, Google Docs, and other methods. You can bid, track your time and
invoice clients directly. Offers seamless work flow (connecting
bidding, project management, time tracking and invoicing).
PlanPlus Online - An online calendar, time management, project management, and contact management suite from FranklinCovey.
Wrike - Practical project management software that allows you to create tasks from emails.
Comindwork - Project management, knowledge management, and collaboration software.
No Kahuna - Project management with no unnecessary features.
Teamness - Organize project data and share it online with customers or colleagues.
Teamwork Project Manager - Online project management that includes custom views and quick access tabs.
PriorityTrack - Gather ideas, prioritize, collaborate, and keep projects on track.
ProjectPipe.com - Project management for small-to-midsized teams.
Planix - Consistently and accurately estimate resources, scheduling and costs of software development projects.
Pelotronics - Project organization and collaboration app.
Task2Gather - Free online task and project management.
ididwork -
Keep track of the work you actually do, see what other members of your
team are doing in real-time, and get feedback from your manager.
Gtdagenda.com - An online planner for Getting Things Done.
Undone - An online to-do list manager and project management app.
Qcron - Project management and time tracking app.
OnStage - Online project management, workspace and collaboration tool.
Joint Contact - Project collaboration and management tool.
Viewpath - Manage projects and events online.
5pm - An online
project management tool with a customizable interface, an interactive
timeline, time reports, email integration and more.
Flempo - An
online to-do list with the ability to assign tasks and keep track of
progress, collect tasks from other systems (using the Flempo API), and
more.
TaskAnyone - Assign tasks to anyone via email, and TaskAnyone will follow up until they follow through.
TaskBin - Manage group tasks in a single shared to-do list.
ProjectOffice.net - Online project management that includes issue tracking, expense tracking, and knowledge management.
Lighthouse - Simple issue tracking and project management.
@task - Online time tracking, work flow and project management app.
Jumpchart - Online website planning app.
LiquidPlanner - Team management, task management and project scheduling all in one online app.
eloops - Online project management software that includes a calendar, data backup and social networking software.
XPLive - Project management app that focuses on individuals and interactions over processes and tools.
Project Spaces - Project management and online workspace that includes a document library, task list, calendar, announcements and email lists.
Goplan - Simple online project management.
TargetProcess - Project management software that features real-time progress tracking, communications features, and more.
Staction - Group project management and communication app.
Collabtive - Easy to use collaborative project management software that tracks milestones, task lists, time tracking and more.
LessProjects - Project management from the people who created LessAccounting.
Jumptree - Project management that updates you by email, manages accountability and more.
Project2Manage - Free hosted project management that includes milestones, to-do lists, and more.
Mingle - Project management and team collaboration app.
Time Management & Tracking
TrackMyPeople - Track your time and your employees' time online.
Office Timesheets - Web-based time and expense tracking that's easy to use and available anywhere.
Tick - A time tracking app for the service industry.
TSheets - Simple online time and labor tracking for small business.
Tempo - Simple time tracking with reporting features.
myHours.com - Online time management, tracking and timesheet solution that is accessible online or via mobile phone.
LiveTimer - Online time tracking service with reporting features, iPhone/iPod Touch interface, and more.
Paymo - Time tracking that includes online invoices and expense tracking.
Time59 - Online time and expense tracking and invoicing.
Paybackable - Online expense tracking that includes mileage expense calculations and expense reporting.
motismo - Online time tracking for creative professionals.
Virtual Office Platforms
WORKetc. - A suite
of online tools including employee timesheets, document management,
customer support, sales management, project management, billing and
invoicing, and more.
ConcourseSuite
- This open source online suite of programs offers customer
relationship management as well as online presence management, team
collaboration, and customer service.
OpenGoo - An open source Web office with text documents, spreadsheets, presentations, task lists, email, calendars, contacts and more.
Website Tools
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