Alex Moss presented tools and tips for improving productivity and efficiency. He discussed tools for reading research like RSS readers, CRMs like Google Chrome/Gmail and Streak, project management tools like Google Drive, Trello and Wrike, communication tools like Skype and Slack, and developer tools like Sublime Text and Bitbucket. He also provided recommendations for SEO and auditing tools like Screaming Frog and LinkRisk. The presentation provided many suggestions for integrating technology into workflows.
Most Impressive Construction Leaders in Tech, Making Waves in the Industry, 2...
Internal Productivity & Efficiency Tools Tips Director
1. @alexmoss #SAScon
Tools & Tips to
Improve Internal
Productivity & Efficiency
Alex Moss
Director, FireCask
2. @alexmoss #SAScon
Director at FireCask
Award-Winning
Online Marketing Agency
Search/Social/Outreach
WordPress Development
We’re also Hiring J
Co-Founder of Peadig
WordPress Theme Framework
Bootstrap Integration
Mobile/SEO/Social Friendly
Also lots of plugins
Who am I?
8. @alexmoss #SAScon
Read faster…
RSS Reader Apps
I use RSS Bot for Mac
Cnet covers other apps (Windows &
Mac) now Google Reader is dead.
Squirt.io
Parses any URL and shows you
content one word at a time.
Reading faster works
10. @alexmoss #SAScon
Goodbye Google Reader, Hello Feedly
Feedly merges all your RSS feeds into one dashboard. Add your own RSS by URL, and
also discover new feeds by subject.
Alternatively, use Google Drive with ImportFeed functions to pull into a doc.
12. @alexmoss #SAScon
Recruit’em helps you find Leads
An easier way to search through Linkedin, Google+, Twitter and other
social networks to find the connection you want.
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My Personal CRM…
Google Chrome & Gmail
Once Gmail is loaded, there are some handy Chrome extensions…
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Use Gmail Labs to add functionality to your inbox. The 4 plugins below
help user experience and protect you from mistakes…
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I split inboxes into Important, Linkedin and Everything else.
Chrome extensions enhance experience and organisation.
My Inbox is Busy, but Organised
Send text
messages directly
from your inbox.
To-do lists with
Gmail integration.
Apps for iOS and
Android available.
16. @alexmoss #SAScon
Find out who you’re Emailing
View more information on a person
from their email. Links, social profiles
and other information.
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So, Streak is AWESOME!
Schedule emails to send
later & Snooze emails to
pop back into your inbox
See if, when and
where someone has
read your email
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So, Streak is AWESOME!
Turn your inbox into a collaborative sales funnel
Also use as an email-based project management system
Use Mail Merge to create mass-templated emails
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Web Based CRM Platforms
Pipedrive
Web portal platform
Cheaper and better UX than
Salesforce and Basecamp
Wrike
Better than Pipedrive,…
More on this later
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Instant Messaging
Skype
External Communication
Video Conferencing
Non-Cloud File Transfer
Slack
Internal or Team Platform
Channels per Project/Client
Better Search/Archiving
more stuff…
23. @alexmoss #SAScon
Integrations mean updates are
communicated automatically.
Within FireCask, all our GIT repo
commits are sent to our design-
dev channel
Statistics can be viewed within the web
interface and also sent by email digest.
Here you can see activity with heat maps
of DM’s to public messages.
More reading: http://goo.gl/OLpjcX
24. @alexmoss #SAScon
Other Collaborative Tools
Firefox Hello
Free videoconferencing
No signups at all, just share URL
Sipgate
UK landline VoIP for free
Connect to your smartphone either
with call settings or an app
Powwownow
Free conference calling
Use 0844 number with PIN
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Cloud Document Management
Office 365
More privacy over data
Better desktop support
Excel handle big data better
Google Drive
Better collaborative tools
Wider community
Cheaper
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A Free Projection Management Tool
Google Drive
2 years ago I created a nifty Google Drive template
to help myself organise all client projects. I even
shared it within a long post I wrote for Moz.
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Google Drive Task Management
Manage Task, Time & Budgets
Conditional Formatting for Easy Reading
Use scripts to trigger email alerts when allocated time is close
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Organise projects into boards. Each board has lists which can be shared
amongst groups. You can even use as an editorial calendar.
31. @alexmoss #SAScon
I use it mostly for personal organisation.
Having the iOS/Android app also helps.
Holiday Checklist Board:
https://trello.com/b/Dm1kNYbP
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All internal projects are managed within Wrike. Split into hierarchy, we can
use this for all clients, miscellaneous projects and even as a CRM.
http://firecask.com/go/wrike/
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Projects are split into tree view, with each project containing each task.
You can monitor and manage all tasks within your own dashboard.
http://firecask.com/go/wrike/
34. @alexmoss #SAScon
All internal projects are managed within Wrike. Split into hierarchy, we can
use this for all clients, miscellaneous projects and even as a CRM.
http://firecask.com/go/wrike/
35. @alexmoss #SAScon
Each folder has multiple tasks. Each task can be time tracked independently,
as well as room for uploads, WYSIWYG text editing and commenting.
http://firecask.com/go/wrike/
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Wrike even has a nifty Chrome Extension with desktop notifications
as well as an Android & iOS app, and a LOT of other integrations
http://firecask.com/go/wrike/
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File Transfer
Desktop App
Faster and more secure
Unlimited transfer limits
Less reliance on the cloud
Web Interface
No account needed
Send files up to 2GB
Email confirmations
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Other Collaborative Tools
LastPass
Manage all passwords
Share access with your team
Chrome/Android/iOS apps
Evernote
Write formatted notes with rich
content to share amongst your team
Chrome/Android/iOS apps
Skitch
Great to take screenshots and
annotate them. Syncs with Evernote.
40. @alexmoss #SAScon
Some Quick Auditing Tools
Redirect Checker
Checks any URL path and
redirects that may occur
Sharemetric
View the number of shares from a
bunch of social networks
Screaming Frog
No explanation needed J
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LinkRisk audits Domain Authority
Uses multiple sources to show
you a domain’s link profile
Great for competitor analysis
but better to manage multiple
client domains to clean up…
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Outreach CRM Platforms
Find potential sites and contact
methods by domain or category
Turn outreach into a CRM to
monitor contact, make notes and
find related sites
Does everything BuzzStream
does, plus the slide before, plus:
• Automatically finds new/lost
links every day
• Easily manage disavow lists
and submissions
43. @alexmoss #SAScon
Manage your Code Better
Sublime Text
Better than Notepad
Colour coded for filetypes
Integrations and functions
Bitbucket
GIT is a must for any developer
Bitbucket provides repo’s for free
Paid alternative: Github
SourceTree
Windows/Mac GIT management app
to connect your PC to the repo
44. @alexmoss #SAScon
Geeky Lifehacks
IFTTT
Choose a trigger, then an action
Connect to LOTS of apps
Great for automated tasks
Builtwith
Find out information about how a
site is built
AccuRanker
There are many rank trackers, but
this has been great for FireCask
http://firecask.com/go/accuranker/