In the information age, both time and data are money. Small business owners and entrepreneurs make the most of their time for this reason, no matter where they’re located. Life for business people on the go has been made easier in recent years with the introduction of smart phones like the iPhone, but it is difficult to wade through the thousands of applications in the app store. Here are the top five applications to help market a business while traveling:
1) Time management
Managing time is more than just putting things in a calendar to forget about them later, it is about prioritizing items and making sure that the time spent working is both profitable and practical. Schedule Planner in the iPhone app store does both, and is rated one of the top iPhone apps in the Utilities category, and for good reason: an intuitive interface and color coded priorities makes it easy to take control of time and make the most of one’s day.
2) Money Management
Cash flow is the lifeblood of business, so it bears constant watching. Visual Budget for iPhone makes it easy to track your expenses, set up a budget for utilities, insurance, entertainment, advertising, and more with this visually pleasing application. Visual Budget will even allow you to see your expenses over time, so you know if it’s time to cut out those two hour long lunches or get cheaper car insurance. Visual Budget works great for individual budgeting too!
3) Expense reporting
Everyone is afraid of being audited by the IRS, or worries about expense reimbursement. With Expensify, those worries are a thing of the past. Take a picture of a receipt, and Expensify will take out the date, the amount spent, and the merchant information. Manage miles traveled through the GPS enabled mileage tracker, and nearly all credit cards can be imported into the application. When the report is ready, an email .pdf file can be sent to the email address programmed into the phone. It does not get much easier than this!
4) Faxing
Despite all of the email addresses and data that is sent over the internet, faxing still has a place in the mobile office, and iFax handles it beautifully on an iPhone. Receive and send faxes on the road on an in-app pay per use basis, set up a cover page and scan documents to send using the iPhone camera. iFax comes with dropbox storage to move images and documents between computers, tablets, and the iPhone. It even allows users to sign documents, fill in blanks, and fax without printing, and is fully HIPPA compliant. A must have app if faxing is part of a business.
5) Contact Management
CardMunch is another app aimed at society as it moves to paperless alternatives, and comes to the iPhone by way of Linked In, possibly the largest professional social media site. CardMunch pretty much does what the title says, it allows business professionals to “munch” business cards using the iPhone camera and an internet connection if the user wants integration with their LinkedIn account.
Things have gotten a lot easier for traveling business professionals over the last few years, and with these top five marketing apps, it might make doing business on the go a breeze!
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“Apps” image courtesy of Shutterstock.
What a great list thanks! the only other thing i would add is altamail for emailing and custom push notifications on the go