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Here are some of the tools I use regularly to run my online businesses.

Thought I’d make this post a little more practical, and give you some recommendations that you can implement right now. I’ve been making a living online now for the past 5 years, and although there’s still a long way to go for me, there have been some great tools that have helped me along the way.
These are the absolute critical items in my arsenal.

Great news is many of them are free or cost less than $100.

If I’ve missed any that you deem to be essential, please leave a comment and tell me!

So here they are:

#10 Skype and Pamela (ecamm Call recorder for Mac)

Skype is a MUST if you do any sort of online collaboration. I use skype for personal and to pretty much run my online communications. Its totally free and allows you to call any other skype user for free, anywhere in the world and speak for as long as you want.

The pro features allow you to call any landlines and mobiles from your computer, plus call forwarding, messagebank and office # features.

I use skype to conduct all my interviews locally and internationally and it has never let me down. I’ve also used it to mastermind (via skypecasts) where you can run group teleconferences for free (and record them!).

The video option adds an extra feature that allows you to chat to someone as if you were speaking to them in person. All for free.

Most computers have a built in microphone and webcam, so as soon as you install it, you’re good to go!

Get it here at skype.com

#9 Google Docs/Calendar

Google has revolutionised how almost everything is done online, and this is no exception. I use google docs religously now for any document I create. Gone are the days when I create a word document and store it on my hard drive. In fact, I upload all my hard drive documents to google docs because not only does it store word/pdf/excel docs, it stores ANY format!!

and if you ever do want to backup everything onto your hard drive (which is a good idea say monthly) I use this tool.

Another fantastic feature is that it’s so easy to share and collaborate with others - team members, staff members, friends, family. All at the click of a button.

As for google calendar, its just so much easier to be able to access my schedule from the web anytime I want to, without having to worry about synching with my computer and pda. Love its many rich features including ability to create different calendars for different things, ability to share calendars or just events with others and the tasks features (todo list) is a nice touch that allows you to systematically tick off items as you do them!

The other feature I love is the sms feature - it allows you to send yourself reminder sms messages for any place or event. Super handy.

#8 Rode Podcaster Mic

The Rode podcaster mic is top of the range and retails for around $250-$300, but it gives superb studio quality sound and if your line of work involved audio recordings of any kind, well worth the investment.

#7 Audacity

This is a great free open source audio editing and mixing program. I use it to edit my interviews, audio programs and anything else I record of an audio nature.

Its quite easy to use, and if you’re a newbie, there’s tons of free video tutorials on youtube that will assist you in an instant!

Get Audacity Here

#6 GOM Player

Gom Player is a multimedia player that I use to play almost everything! It handles video’s in most formats that other players just can’t play. And here are some other cool features that I love about it:

- It allows me to watch video’s and hear audios sped up without too much pitch distortion. By pressing ‘x’ and ‘c’ it just speeds it up magically and I can consume double the information in half the time!

- I can easily bookmark where I left off by pressing ‘B’. Next time I want to carry on, I can do so at a click of a button.

- Easily takes screenshots of whatever you’re watching so if there’s important things you want to keep a record of, use this feature!

Gom player is FREE and you can get it at http://www.gomlab.com/eng/GMP_download.html

Stay tuned for Part #2 of this series soon!

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You’ve probably heard it time and time again - “How do I demarcate between my personal life and business life on Facebook?”

It’s a very good question. And from the experts I’ve interviewed, a difficult one to answer.

In a perfect world, everyone would have a detailed business plan on their Facebook strategy before they signed up. But things don’t work that way, and that’s why you’ll find many entrepreneurs, actors, leaders and generally ‘famous’ people have varying degrees of usage.

You’ll often find yourself shocked at what one of your ‘professional’ colleagues post, or even super impressed with another’s skill or talent or travel adventures. Boundaries are crossed left right and centre. And there are people judging you - for better or worse - all the time.

There are some who use Facebook purely for business purposes. Every post, every photo, every link is painfully scrutinised. If it doesn’t in some way establish that person’s message or branding or business, it just doesn’t make the cut.

This is all good and fine, but unfortunately any close friends and family who find them, are just going to be treated like another ‘customer’.

Then there are those who use Facebook purely for personal reasons, and meticulously accept or deny friend requests based on whether they know you personally or not. Everything and anything shared is something they’d tell or show their own mother at the dinner table.

For these people who also own businesses, they are missing out on a massive publicity and lead generation machine, not to mention all the incredible relationships out there waiting to be monetised.

The Third category is one 95% (probably more) fall into. And that’s a mix of personal and business. Recently I decided to do some statistics on a few of my ‘guru’ friends on Facebook and found 9 out of 10 had a completely mixed presence. They usually had photos and videos of their partners, kids, house, holidays as well as large promotional messages and events from their businesses and websites.

Is there a right or wrong?

Let me be the first to say that I am not preaching to you, because I face these very same issues. Almost everywhere I go, people tell me how much they’ve enjoyed my holiday adventures and some of the more private things I’ve shared. But they also enjoy my quotes, my insights and if you’re reading this, my blog posts.

Facebook does have a heavy emphasis on privacy, and some of its features allow for you to control who sees what, create groups of people and limit other groups. I’ve yet to see anyone who has truly mastered this (and preferably automated it!) though.

According to Alexa, Facebook is the second most visited site on the internet, which has some seriously important implications for you.

I think it would be highly advantageous to do a ONE PAGE business plan for your Facebook strategy, briefly outlining your vision, mission, strategies, outcomes and action plan steps. It will give you some clarity moving ahead. Share it with your partner and see what feedback they have. Then ask your best professional mentors and colleagues. You’ll be surprised at what they say when you ask.

And never forget, at the end of the day, Facebook is just one channel for your message, personal or professional. It really can’t beat good quality face to face or even phone contact.

If you enjoyed this article or would like to hear more of my insights on Facebook, please leave a comment!

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