Daily Tools for the Internet Entrepreneurs

by Jay (Jason Van Orden)

I thought it would be interesting to give you a behind-the-scenes look at my desktop to show the exact software tools I use on a daily basis to run my business.

To left is a screenshot of my start menu showing the applications that I launch most. Below I offer an explanation and examples of how I use each to give you an idea of what they can also do for you.

Mozilla Firefox

My preferred browser. Perhaps in another post I’ll talk about some of the plug-ins and tweaks that I like using.

Notepad

I’m a big fan of plain text files for quick lists and notes. Lately I use it as a weekly task list of the most important things I want to get done that week.

At the beginning of the week I dump my brain into a text file, pull the most urgent tasks from our project management system and look in my e-mail inbox to create a list of the most important tasks for the week. Then I use the text file to order things by priority.

From there everything gets plugged into my Google Calendar in specific time blocks so that my entire week is planned out in advance. Granted, things will change through the week somewhat, but I like to start Monday with a plan to get the most important things done. It has made me a lot more productive.

SmartFTP

This is a great app for transferring files to your site. I use it most for transferring the raw WAV file recordings of our content to server where our editor grabs.

The moment we are done recording, I open the FTP program and upload the files. That’s the last I deal with them until they are published to the site.

Calculator

At least once a day I pop this app up fast by hitting the Window Key and typing “calc” + Enter. It’s my way of doing quick calculations to estimate profits, payments or any other such quick number crunching.

I also use it to add up how I used my time at the end of the week. I have a number of categories I track to make sure I use my time most effectively. For anything more involved I use Excel.

Mindjet Mindmanager

Any content from Internet Business Mastery starts out as an outline in a mind map. It’s long been our preferred way to outline, plan, brainstorm, etc.

Though it’s not cheap, Mindjet is a powerful mind mapping software. One of the things we like about it most is there collaborative mind mapping workspace, Mindjet Catalyst. Other uses we have for it include:

Agendas for meetings
Weekly strategy meeting
Brainstorming new products
Creating launch timelines
Checklists for projects
“Getting Things Done” system management
Capturing ideas for future content

Freemind is a free alternative for Mac or PC.

Skype

We use Skype to chat with each other every day as we’re working. The transcript of my chat history with Sterling goes back to before Internet Business Mastery was born and must be miles and miles long by now if printed.

We also use it to call each other for our strategy meetings and to hear each other while we record the show (though we each record our part of the conversation on our own computer for best audio quality).

In addition we use it along with Pamela to record interviews.

Google Talk

We have a few business colleagues that I chat with through Google Chat. I also use it regularly to chat with family members. When possible, I prefer to use Skype.

iTunes

I use this to see how our show is ranking, to download podcasts to listen to and sync my iPhone. I don’t really use it much as a media player, though.

It’s also the tool that our editor uses to add tags (e.g. name, track #, album, artist, etc.) to our show MP3 files before we publish them.

You can also use it for converting big audio files into smaller MP3s.

Zune

I listen to a lot of music during the day. Zune is my preferred media player for music. I have a subscription their monthly service that lets me listen to just about anything I want, plus I get to download and keep ten tracks a month.

If iTunes had a monthly subscription service, I would switch to that instead since I use an iPhone to listen on the go.

Camtasia Recorder

Most of the videos that you see on our site or in the Academy (such as this one) are recorded using Camtasia. It makes it super easy to capture a video from your computer screen or from a slide presentation. Our editors also use it to edit and render the videos for publishing.

You can use their free Jing service for shorter presentations. We also use Camtasia Recorder and Jing to create videos explaining tasks to our team. It makes working with remote/virtual employees a lot easier.

Safari

I use Safari now and again to make sure our web sites display correctly for Safari users.

Sound Forge

This is my audio recording software of choice. I teach people how to use Audacity because it is easy, free and work for both PC and Mac. But Sound Forge is something I have used for years, going back to my days as a recording musician.

It offers a number of effects and a streamlined interface that works well for recording any audio for our show or course content. After I record my audio I normalize and compress it using Sound Forge to give it a little nicer sound. Then I upload it for the editor.

Camtasia Studio

This is the side of Camtasia that does the video editing. It can also convert the video to a number of handy formats. Even though most of our editing is done by others, I still use it now again to produce videos for our team members or a quick video for a coaching client.

Microsoft Excel

I’m a spreadsheet junky. It helps me plan an predict my life and business. I’ll use it for things like…

Financial forecasts
Profit projections
Expense estimations
Timeline planning
Monthly budgets
Trip planning

…and anything else I can think of. I just love how easy it is to change different variables and quickly see how it affects the larger picture.

Microsoft Powerpoint

Our videos usually progress from a mind map outline to a slide deck in Powerpoint that we then record as a screencast using Camtasia. I also use it to create presentations for when I speak live.

In addition, it’s an easy way to create a bit of quick ‘n dirty motion graphics for a video by using the animation features.

What About You?

There you have it. Those are my most commonly used applications. Most of them I use on a daily basis.

What appliciations do you use on a daily basis to run your business? Include your tips, insights and questions in the comments below.

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57 Comments For This Post

Mary-Lynn Says:

Great list, Jason! I use Notepad ALL the time. I also like Microsoft OneNote. I can copy the title of a post on a website, paste it in OneNote and it adds the link. It really helps me bookmark and organize everything from podcast & show ideas, to resources for our business.

Sterling (Jeremy Frandsen) Reply:

One note is a good idea! Is there any reason to use that over Microsoft Word? I use that if I have to do links and such…

Jay (Jason Van Orden) Reply:

For some reason I just like the simplicity of Notepad. It’s fast to launch and use. I don’t need any fancy formatting.

Just works for me I guess.

Mary-Lynn,

One Note sounds interesting. When I upgrade my office apps I’ll have to try it out.

Kito D. Mann Reply:

I highly recommend Evernote for note taking; syncs everywhere. I switched from OneNote. OneNote has a much better editor and some better features in the desktop client, but Evernote syncs everywhere, integrates with everything, and has web, Windows, Mac, and mobile clients.

Bobby Hagstrom Says:

A lot of useful tools here (which I bookmarked for future use as my site develops). I find myself using Facebook chat more often now…it’s usually open in my browser anyway. I also use AutoCad to do sketches and things like that, since I have an engineering background.

I think people who have a “9-5″ specialty can sometimes adapt the programs they use for their internet businesses.

Sterling (Jeremy Frandsen) Reply:

I use skype constantly, all day long. I use it so much that I got a third monitor JUST for skype conversations so that I don’t have to stop what I’m doing and minimize a screen to see what people are saying!

Tom W Says:

Since I’m not a fan of MS products at all, here’s my Apple list (almost all the software is compatible with MS): Xmind (mind-mapping, Omni-Focus (getting things done), Mail, iCal, Safari, Firefox, Tweetdeck, iTunes, Dictionary, Final Cut Express, Jing, Filezilla, Audacity, Screenflow, MacSpeech Dictate, Pages, and Numbers, Skype. Pandora plays almost all day on a Bose Companion all hooked up to a Macbook Pro and a 31″ Cinema Display (the large screen is a must for full time computer work, it makes multi-tasking so much easier). Many of the programs I use daily came from my studies in the IBM. Thanks J&S!!!

Sterling (Jeremy Frandsen) Reply:

Wow, thanks for the list!

Jay (Jason Van Orden) Reply:

Tom,

Thanks for fleshing out the list with Mac apps.

I’m sure a lot of people will find that helpful. I have a Mac, but I don’t use it as consistently. My main use for it is Final Cut for film stuff and to occasionally check how things work on a Mac in the podcasting realm.

David Says:

Plain text files are great, but notepad is a poor way of dealing with them. A more sophisticated text editor can make a huge difference in productivity. The canonical ones are vim and emacs, though there are some more windows-specific ones that might be easier to pick up. Learning vim or emacs can be worth it, though – vim in particular is available for any platform you encounter and pre-installed on many.

Sterling (Jeremy Frandsen) Reply:

Yeah, for anything more advanced I just use word, but I use notepad just for simple holding of info during the day, on one of my three monitors, then sort it at the end of the day. That is really the only thing I use notepad for…

Jay (Jason Van Orden) Reply:

David,

Thanks for the suggestions. I guess I’ve never felt anything lacking in Notepad yet. If someone showed me compelling reasons to switch, I would be open to it for sure.

Until then, the idea of downloading and trying another app just stops me in my tracks.

Eric T. Says:

Another great tool that I have found for doing online diagrams and the like is Cacoo (http://cacoo.com/). The best part about it is that you can collaborate and chat at the same time and can export the final product to png format.

Sterling (Jeremy Frandsen) Reply:

Oh very cool, just watched the demo. Looks like it has more function then what I was using, which was gliffy.com.

Jay (Jason Van Orden) Reply:

Eric,

Nice! Thanks for this suggestion. Gliffy is pretty clunky, so it’ll be nice to try an alternative.

John Reply:

Another one worth trying is LucidChart. It’s as sleek as Cacoo (real-time collaboration) but seems more professional overall.

Brandon Uttley Says:

Nice list and follow-up comments.

I highly recommend Evernote for taking notes and capturing whole web pages. The free version for Mac and PC should be sufficient for most people.

I recently got SnapzPro (screencap app for Mac) that allows me to easily store shots for later use in presentations, etc.

Sterling (Jeremy Frandsen) Reply:

Thanks for the extra tips!

Jay (Jason Van Orden) Reply:

Brandon,

Now that you mention SnapzPro, it reminds me I really should have include SnagIt on my list. Since it just runs in the background, I don’t really think about it.

But I do use it daily to grab screenshots.

Brandon Uttley Reply:

Jay and Sterling,

Glad to contribute–this is a good running list.

I do love the fact that SnapzPro and SnagIt run in the background so they are always available.

Kito D. Mann Reply:

SnagIt is amazing. I used to use it on the PC, and now I use the Mac version, which is just a joy to use.

Sterling (Jeremy Frandsen) Reply:

Yeah I use it nearly daily, mostly for grabbing praises and testimonials on twitter or facebook!

Kito D. Mann Reply:

I was surprised that EverNote wasn’t on this list. I use it to capture everything from meeting notes to outlines, pictures, etc. I also share notebooks with some of my consultants. It syncs to the iPhone, and also has native Windows and Mac clients.

Anything I would use something like Notepad (or Textedit ont he Mac) for goes into EverNote, and I can easily search for it later and tag it. EverNote also integrates with Nozbe, which I use to manage tasks (GTD). Nozbe is probably my #1 tool right now; I also use it to delegate tasks to other team members.

Sterling (Jeremy Frandsen) Reply:

You guys talked me into trying it, thanks!

Norma Vela Reply:

You will love Evernote! I’m a huge fan, too. Better than TextEdit by far, searchable and easy to organize with tagging.

Debbie Lattuga Says:

CamStudio a free screen capture software. Great if you’re on a budget. Easy Comment firefox plugin auto fills name, email and web address for making comments. And you can set up different profiles for different sites.

Jay (Jason Van Orden) Reply:

I’ll have to check out the Easy Comment plug-in. Sounds like something I could use. Thanks!

Alan Noake Says:

If you are heavily in to mind mapping (like me) then take a moment to check out http://www.prezi.com – my sister recommended it to me as a fascinating alternative to PowerPoint. It is currently free to use and the presentations you create are far more dynamic and non-linear – easy to learn and use. I’m hooked.

Thanks for the list above – good to know what others are using day to day. I am also a notepad and spreadsheet junkie!

Jay (Jason Van Orden) Reply:

Alan,

Prezi is definitely really cool. I used it to great some animation for a screen capture video recently. Looks more interesting than the standard Powerpoint stuff.

Norma Vela Reply:

Just spent the better part of today creating a prezi file – wow. I can see a ton of uses for me – thanks for this suggestions.

Jay (Jason Van Orden) Reply:

Prezi is pretty slick. It’s like having a little secret. Your presentation looks so cool and as long as no one knows about Prezi, you look like a wizard!

Alan Noake Reply:

Pleased you are finding it useful Norma.

I think that Prezi is one of those things that just had to be created by somebody because it is a far more obvious way of presenting information than the traditional PowerPoint linear way. Great piece of software!

Brad Smith Says:

Your list is almost identical to mine – except I use another geeky piece of sound editing software called Reaper that handles ASIO recording directly via firewire from my mixer and lets me set up all of my editing effects in advance for very fast audio records/edits.

Also I started using Debut for live video capture from a capture card. Its not quite as good video recorded straight off the camera, but for embedding short clips into my Camtasia products it works well and its much quicker than moving SD cards around.

Keep it up!
Brad

Jay (Jason Van Orden) Reply:

Hi Brad,

I’ve thought about setting up my audio recording chain to do my EQ and compression going into the computer to save me a bit of time. It’s sounds like that is what you’re doing.

Reaper looks like a pretty serious audio app.

Brad Smith Reply:

Jay,

I do have an inline EQ and gate/compressor on the Mackie mixer (firewire), but I only compress a bit for the live feeds to make them sound reasonable. I also record each channel uncompressed in case I need to remix later.

You might want to take a look at Reaper (I’m not affiliated with them). The advantage of it is that you can essentially set up a virtual processing chain (effects) for the master and each channel independently as needed, and then listen/mix in real time to tweak them.

Once you have the effects set once – burning a new podcast is a matter or recording it and then just telling it to render. Its like a live audio chain, but you can add anything you want to it, and you only need to set it up once. It really cuts down the editing time – no more manually applying effects.

Brad

Deferred Success Reply:

@Jay -

Do you use Sony Vegas or VidBlaster?

Sterling (Jeremy Frandsen) Reply:

We have been looking at Vid, but we use camtasia for the video stuff.

Internet Marketing Business Says:

Brilliant mix up and nice daily entrepreneurs tools list. I appreciate your work. It is up to the mark. hope to see such more nice informative posts from you. have a nice day.

Jay (Jason Van Orden) Reply:

We have finally laid out a new blogging schedule and definitely plan on posting more often.

The audio show has been the backbone of our content for now, but there are so many more people we can reach by being more consistent with blogging as well.

Steve Says:

If you’re like me and visit hundreds of different sites every day LastPass makes automatically logging easy and saves me so much time in my work. It stores your passwords securely too and syncs between different computers and devices so is a great work anywhere tool.

Jay (Jason Van Orden) Reply:

Steve,

Thanks for the recommendation.

I use RoboForm for that same purpose.

Does Last Pass work on PC and Mac?

Kito D. Mann Reply:

Yep — and it kicks RoboForm’s butt. LastPass has plugins for Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and IE, and also an iPhone app (which admittedly needs some work). I share logins with my assistant, and that was difficult with RoboForm (RoboForm Online helped, but it’s very primitive compared to LastPass). It’s much easier with LastPass — if she sets up a new login, it’s there immediately.

Steve Reply:

Hi Jay, Yes, PC, Mac and Linux too. I agree the iPhone app does need work but I think it’s more a problem with not being able to integrate with Safari. You do have to pay for the premium version for iPhone support though but it’s only $12 a year.

Jay (Jason Van Orden) Reply:

I’ve run into sharing problems as well with Roboform. I may have to give LastPass a look. Thanks.

Ossi Jääskeläinen Says:

Jing is my favourite!

Sterling (Jeremy Frandsen) Reply:

Me too, I use it nearly everyday to interact with my VAs.

Steve Dale Says:

I use ACT with Swiftpage to database market, learning to use onenote to stay organized and I use JING to make myself look like I know what I’m doing! Roboform is used daily.

Sterling (Jeremy Frandsen) Reply:

Jing and roboform and my daily tools for sure.

Steve Dale Says:

A few days ago i created a QR code to use as my profile photo on FaceBook. It goes back to my main site. The comments are very fun.

Sterling (Jeremy Frandsen) Reply:

Where are you going to get your QR code? That is one my list of things to do, start playing with those!

Jay (Jason Van Orden) Reply:

Very interesting idea. Never thought of doing that. Have you been able to track the traffic from that?

Sean Hiteman Says:

Thanks for ones marvelous posting! I seriously enjoyed reading it, you may be a great author.I will be sure to bookmark your blog and definitely will come back in the foreseeable future. I want to encourage one to continue your great job, have a nice holiday weekend!

Dan Says:

I would recommend checking out http://www.Gtdagenda.com for an online GTD manager.

You can use it to manage your goals, projects and tasks, set next actions and contexts, use checklists, schedules and a calendar.
Syncs with Evernote, and also comes with mobile-web version, and Android and iPhone apps.

Sterling (Jeremy Frandsen) Reply:

Thanks so much for this Dan, I’m totally going to integrate this into my system!

Joe Says:

I prefer Evernote to Notepad. It is just as simple plus all of my notes are available wherever I go.

Do you guys record your podcast from the same room? If not, how do you record remotely and still have it sound so good?

Sterling (Jeremy Frandsen) Reply:

We have never been in the same room to record. We both separately record our side of the audio and an editor merges the audio together for us.

robert fox Says:

many thanks I enjoyed your write-up :)

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