Over the past few years, countless apps and programs have been developed to make our lives easier. We've done some research, and looked at some of the top apps and programs that every business owner should be using. Check out the free presentation here: https://www.bigmarker.com/illinois_business_community/fiveprogramsIBC From keeping track of your finances to sites dedicated to hiring, we look at: - Square - Shiftgig - Intuit Quickbooks - Drip - Tweetdeck - Bonus: Yelp

1. 5 Apps and Programs Every
Business Owner Should Have
Illinois Business Community

2. Programs
• Square – accept credit/debit payment
• Shiftgig – hiring site for service & retail industries
• Quickbooks – keep track of finances
• Drip – monitor marketing email campaigns
• Tweetdeck – manage your Twitter presence

3. Square
• What is it?
– Square Register + Square
Wallet
– Allows businesses to accept
credit/debit payment
– Includes free swiping
attachment
– Designed for small businesses
– Has also attracted large
corporate attention

4. Square
• How do I use it?
– Download the app
– Register your business
– Register your accounts
– Send for free card reader
– Begin charging cards

6. Square
• How will this benefit my
business?
– Adds legitimacy to your
business
– Makes it easier to accept
payment

7. Shiftgig
• What is it?
– Professional networking website for service,
hospitality, retail industries
– Where job
seekers and
businesses
can connect

8. Shiftgig
• How do I use it?
– Sign up, create a
profile
– Post a job
– Seek out applicants,
for wait for
applications

9. Shiftgig
• How will this benefit my
business?
– Streamlines the hiring
process
– Allows for better sense of
who’s looking for work
– Creates easier mode for
communication

10. Quickbooks
• What is it?
– App / website that
organizes
finances
– Sync information
between
computer and
mobile
– Create invoices,
track sales and
payments, store
receipts

11. Quickbooks
• How do I use it?
– Sign up for free trial
– Register business
– Load existing financial
information
– Sync with other devices

12. Quickbooks
• How will this benefit my
business?
– Keep track of financial
information
– Have a backup of
financial information
– Convenience of access
on other devices

13. Drip
• What is it?
– Email marketing
service that
allows you to
monitor progress
– Offers plenty of
tools to get the
most out of your
experience

14. Drip
• How do I use it?
– Sign up for free
3-week trial
– Create
campaigns
– Monitor
progress
– Adjust if
necessary

15. Drip
• How will this benefit my business?
– Allows you to understand email marketing
effectiveness
• Learn who is listening to you
• How to get
more people
to listen

16. Tweetdeck
• What is it?
– Browser or desktop app managing Twitter
– Organizes columns for easy feed creation

17. Tweetdeck
• How do I use it?
– Download for desktop, or use within browser
– Sign in with existing Twitter
– Create desired columns

18. Tweetdeck
• How will this benefit my
business?
– Tending to Twitter:
• Promotions
• Reaching out to potential customers
• Customer service
– Many features for easy organization
• Schedule Tweets for later
• Feeds based on:
– hashtags, users, keywords, interactions,
messages

19. Bonus: Yelp
• What is it?
– business review
website and app
– offers
information on
businesses
– particularly big
with restaurants,
but not exclusive

20. Yelp
• How do I use it?
– people can review you even if you don’t use it
• make sure you’re paying attention
• interact with customers
• implement
potential
changes

21. Yelp
• How will this benefit my business?
– gain important insight into operations
• people trust online recommendations
– opportunity to interact with customers
• good
customer
service
humanizes
you