I'm often asked which web and iPhone apps I find most useful as a digital gypsy. While I am always trying out new things these are the apps I use every day and are part of my digital toolbox:
HootSuite
You can manage all your social networking (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) from this app. The three things that are coolest about it are that you can schedule tweets, manage multiple Twitter/Facebook accounts and the iPhone version works really, really well. Soon you'll also be able to manage your Google+ accounts and pages using HootSuite.
Raven Tools
Analytics is key if you want to be able to know what works and delivers results online. We use Raven to research and track how to make our SEO, SEM, and Social Media campaigns more effective. It's not cheap ($99-$249 a month) but if you are serious about online marketing you need to check our Raven Tools.
Google Apps
I've been using Google Apps for around five years now and its Gmail, Calendar, Docs, and Contacts might not be the most sophisticated on the market by they are cloud-based, solid, and simple to use. Google and Apple don't play well together so expect to have to do a little bit of configuration if you are an iPhone and iPad user.
OmniFocus
I've tried every task management software out there; Remember the Milk, Google Tasks, Toodledo, paper lists, you name it. OmniFocus works best for me because I can use the Getting Things Done methodology for managing multiple projects and tasks. It's also nice to have a trusted system so I don't have to keep in my head all the stuff I need to do. If you are looking for professional-grade task management then Omnifocus could be for you.
MailChimp
Email marketing is central to every businesses' marketing efforts. MailChimp helps you design email newsletters, keep track of all your lists, and does it in a way that is legal. There are a lot of email marketing services out there but for me, it came down to MailChimp v Constant Contact and MailChimp won hands down.
Spotify
The problem with iTunes is that it's not great for discovery and you have to pay for each download whereas I would prefer paying a monthly subscription and getting as much music as I want. Spotify is an amazing web and mobile app that gives you access to pretty much every piece of music you would ever want to hear from $9.99 a month. I also enjoy it as a way to discover new music by using the Radio option and there is a free option if you are willing to put up with the adverts.
Skype
I think I must have been one of the early adopters of Skype and it's key to me being able to stay in touch with my friends, family, and customers around the world. I pay for two online numbers from Skype (one in London and one in San Francisco) which allows me to have people in those places call me at local rates.
Dropbox
Dropbox is one of my favorite apps as it allows me to have all my files in the cloud so I can access them anywhere, anytime, and on any device. It also allows co-workers to get access to the files I want them to see. Small businesses I know are evangelical about Dropbox and the power it gives them to scale their businesses.
Veed
With VEED you can automatically create transcriptions from your audio files, online. No account required, no software to download. You can make edits and download your transcription as a .txt file in seconds. You can even transcribe video files to add subtitles, create separate subtitle files (.srt), or video transcriptions (as .txt)
