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Not sure what software or web based tools would be of benefit to you?  Check out the links below to find products and services that we use and love. No one appears on this page unless we have tested and vetted them first, so you know you can trust the links below.

Accounting Software

Here at teamHLSBS we love Xero online accounting software. One of the team actually said that it teaches you bookkeeping by stealth!  Its accounts software for the non accountant and puts you in control of your finances.  Excel spreadsheets are all well and good but you can’t beat a proper accounting system, start out on the right foot and as your business grows this software will ensure that you have all the information you need to hand.

Backup and File Sharing and Syncing

This is one of the best resources out there if you need to work from more than one machine.  SugarSync is an easy, secure and accessible online file sync and backup.  You can sync files between your netbook, laptop and desktop pc, and store them in the folders that you want to store them in.  You can access them via an iPhone app, mobile phone, website or from one of the machines that is synced.  Because of this sync technology your files are backed up, so when you replace a machine you simply download the SugarSync application and re-load the files.  You can even share files with clients if you wish, or log into your mobile application and email a file to someone if you are out and about.  They offer a free 30 day trial and with 30gb of data costing less than $5 a month this is a very affordable solution.

CRM Systems

You may have realised that at teamHLSBS we love CapsuleCRM, this simple yet very effective system really packs a punch.  It integrates with Xero, MailChimp, your website and your email.  We run Introduction to CapsuleCRM webinars for VAs, contact us to find out when our next one is so you can see just how powerful this system can be for your business.  Also contact us to see what special offers CapsuleCRM have available for VAs.

E-Mail Marketing/Newsletter

We love MailChimp for email marketing. It’s a simple template based system that offers tracking, and is a white listed sender where available.  It’s free for up to 1000 subscribers  and offers the double opt-in, ensuring that only the readers who want to receive your marketing receive it, thus keeping you compliant.

Evernote

The best description I can come up with for this fantastic bit of software is that it is an online filing cabinet for notes.  In Evernote you can create different folders and have unlimited notes in each folder, perfect for remembering all those odd little details.  Again this can be accessed remotely via your mobile or iPhone and you can even make voice notes on there as well.  We only use it to a fraction of its potential. Oh and the best bit – it’s completely free!

Hosting

The teamHLSBS website and our other websites are all hosted through EvoHosting, for less than thirty pounds in your first year you can have hosting with one click WordPress installation and a free .com domain name. Quite often the code ‘TWENTY’ will get you a 20% discount on your first years hosting.

Printer

This has to be one of the hardest services to source, having tried many over the past few years we were delighted to be introduced to Michael Goody at ColourSells.  He offers a timely turnaround, excellent customer service and will help you to ensure that you get your layout right.

Stationers

One of the hardest suppliers to find is a good stationer, and this one is worth his weight in gold!  I prefer value for money as opposed to buy x get x free, and TLC Business Supplies have saved both my clients and I money.  The service is excellent, delivery is speedy, and the price says it all. Oh yeah and they tend to send you biscuits with your order as well!  TLC Business Supplies were recommended to me by so many different people that I had to give them a try and I haven’t regretted it for a moment.

Ticketing Services

The guys at Ticket tailor have really gone out of their way to help us have the service we wanted.  They customised my ticketing page to make it match the website, they worked behind the scenes to get us the autoresponder system we needed, and have loads of interesting features in the pipeline.  They don’t charge per ticket but a flat fee per month dependent on the number of events that you run, so works out cheaper than some of the competition, and is a very simple system to use, we particularly like the duplicate event option and the facebook app for your business pages. Check them out here and receive an extended 21 day free trial.

Time Tracking

Here at teamHLSBS we love MinuteDock for time tracking.  It not only integrates with Xero, so you can invoice directly from your time sheet, but it allows you to share the time information logged with your clients as well.  Logging time is as simple as clicking a button and it has a twitter style bar for adding in the client and task information.

They also offer a fantastic discount for members of the VA Support Group, get in touch with us for more information.

Transcription Software

NCH Express Scribe is a free professional audio player software for PC, Mac or Linux designed to assist the transcription of audio recordings.

A typist can install it on their computer and control audio playback using a transcription foot pedal or keyboard (with ‘hot’ keys). This computer transcriber application also offers valuable features for typists including variable speed playback, multi-channel control, playing video, file management, and more.

Express Scribe is completely free and can be used without any restrictions.

Twitter Client – Hootsuite
In order to get the best out of Twitter I find it much easier to use a Twitter client.  Hootsuite is the one that I have found that offers everything I need.  You can schedule messages, carry out searches, monitor several accounts at the same time, update Facebook and LinkedIn from within Hootsuite but best of all you can delegate access to other people.

Hootsuite will even show you who has replied to messages so you don’t duplicate responses.

VoIP Telephones

One of the best investments made at teamHLSBS has been the addition of a VoIP handset.  This enables us to make and receive not only our VoIP calls but also our fixed landline calls, and has the ability to handle up to six different phone lines.

We use a Siemens Gigaset VoIP phones which is easy to set up and use and also won’t break the bank.  The wireless range on our cordless phone is excellent, we have been known to work from the garden instead of the office on a rare sunny day, and the portability of the handset means you are not tied to your pc as you would be with a softphone and headset.

We would not recommend using a softphone for VoIP calls as in our experience they are just not stable enough and will not allow you to offer a professional service.

Web Analytics

Get Clicky is a really useful website analytic tool, what we like about it is that it  shows you the live traffic on your website, no waiting till the following day to see how many visitors you have had, and shows you how many visitors are on your site right now.  It comes as an iPhone app or iPad app so you can keep track of your traffic on the move, and has a simple wordpress plug in to make it easy to add to your wordpress website.

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