AppEveryDay

LucidChart – Easy Flowchart & Diagram Creation

Jeff Abele — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 17:00:49 +0000

The ability to drag and drop in HTML5 is bringing out a whole other class of apps for the web. LucidChart is one of those that takes advantage of this property. LucidChart is a collaborative HTML5 diagramming and flowchart application that can be used from any device with a browser (even the iPad or mobile phones). You can use it to create flowcharts, website wireframes, iPhone app mockups, mind maps, organization charts, UML diagrams, network diagrams, and many other diagram types. Perhaps most interesting is the real-time collaboration capabilities which allow many users to work together on a document simultaneously. Think Microsoft Visio meets Google Docs.

LucidChart also just launched a feature-rich wireframing capability for rapid prototyping and design of web sites. They have a quick demo where you can test out the application at http://www.lucidchart.com (select the Wireframe example) and a brief video that walks users through the experience at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdPvfo-RBfE.

Abakoos – Invoice Management Made Simple

Jeff Abele — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 19:58:07 +0000

Most apps in the financial industry tend to do more than what you need. Abakoos is trying to simplify this by taking just one piece of the puzzle – invoicing. Abakoos allows you to create custom invoices easily and efficiently and then send them online to your customers to hopefully get quicker payment. Although that is all the app does, they let you do this in a multitude of ways and give you excellent control over the look of your invoice.

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Lanyrd – The Social Side of Conferences

Jeff Abele — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:27:14 +0000

Although people are attending fewer conferences than they used to, it is still a big part of the lives of many professionals. Lanyrd is a new startup entering the conference market by closely integrating with Twitter to help you find conferences near you and then stay connected to some of the attendees of the conference.

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Tabzon – The Modern In-Out Board

Jeff Abele — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:51:51 +0000

Even the most technologically-advanced companies are still using the manual check-in/check-out board that sits on the receptionist’s desk at the front door. Tabzon is looking to replace that with a secure web app that allows businesses an easy way to manage availability across multiple offices or just to replace the manual board. Related posts:Track Workloads [...] Related posts:

MagnaCRM – Manage Leads & Sales Opportunities

Jeff Abele — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 12:57:39 +0000

MagnaCRM is another web-based CRM tool that allows businesses to manage sales opportunities, leads, contacts, and even assign tasks to each contact. The software is complemented with a free iPhone app making this a highly-functioning CRM tool out of the box. Related posts:Tactile CRM Brings Sales Tools to Small Businesses Apollo – Task, Project & [...] Related posts:

Teamly – Focus on 5 Priorities

Jeff Abele — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:42:47 +0000

AppEveryDay is a big supporter of waking up every morning and having a focused list of things to do. The problem with many web apps is that they provide exactly the opposite. They allow you to put every small, medium and large project into one list that looks overwhelming when you view it. Teamly takes a unique approach by only allowing five focused tasks to show up at one time. Teamly goes to great lengths to make sure you don’t call it a to-do list.

The web app is aimed at teams and for managers to be able to provide goals and push them through the organization. Like most project-management tools, it provides ways to share and assign tasks, track statistics, and generate printed reports. Pricing starts at $8 per user or free for single users, although it is still in beta.

Teamly is for:

Manage a small group of people and want to keep them laser focused on just a few tasks.

Teamly isn’t for:

Someone looking for a fully-functioning to-do application.

For more information on Teamly please visit www.teamly.com.

Quote Robot – Create, Send & Track Bids

Jeff Abele — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 17:33:53 +0000

Regardless of what industry you are in you have likely had experience with the black hole process that is proposals. You email off the quote and then just sit back and wait days, weeks, maybe even months for a reply. QuoteRobot is trying to streamline that process with a new web app that helps you prepare the quote, send it, and then track your clients viewing of it. If it feels a little big-brotherish that’s because it is, which could end up hurting the product in the end.

Any client could potentially click through on the QuoteRobot logo and read the promotional materials about the product. They might discover that you are tracking their page views and immediately dismiss you as an option. The majority of clients won’t care how you send the quote though. And with those clients you can learn a lot about their thought process. Did they focus on the pricing page or the capabilities page? If it is pricing, maybe you should proactively lower your price or send them a new project you just finished to prove your up for their project.

Another great feature of QuoteRobot is the formatting of the actual bid. By filling out just a few forms you can easily format a professional-looking proposal. Most impressive is the layout of the timeline.

Prices start at $6 per month and go up to an unlimited plan for $24.

3 Reasons You Might Need QuoteRobot:

You have bid routinely sit on the desks of potential clients for lengthy periods.
You want a tool to better manage your outstanding quotes and look at them collectively.
You are looking for help formatting bids and putting them in a format that looks modern.

3 Reasons You Wouldn’t Need QuoteRobot:

You are worried about backlash from potential clients knowing you are tracking their views of the quote.
You already have a standard format for sending bids.
You only send a couple of quotes a month and don’t want to pay even a minimal fee for something you can just send electronically.

For more information on QuoteRobot please visit www.quoterobot.com.

SnapABug – Screen Captures for Client Problems

Jeff Abele — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 11:45:07 +0000

One of the most frustrating aspects of customer feedback is the vagueness of the support requests your customers typically provide. SnapABug takes that problem head on with a live chat widget that helps the user snap a photo of their webpage so that you can see the issue with your own eyes. Starting at $19 per month, SnapABug provides a wealth of information about each issue, including the browser type, plugins used, and language. These make it easier for you or your support team to troubleshoot the problem.

SnapABug sits on the side of the page like most feedback widgets today. The user simply clicks on the button, has the widget expand, and then fills in the basics about the support problem. Behind the scenes a screen capture is taken along with the browser information.

Site owners receive notices via email and can continue to troubleshoot the problem with the user via live chat. SnapABug also integrates with SalesForce, ZenDesk, and Pivotal to further leverage the platform.

3 Reasons You Might Need SnapABug:

You frequently run into situations where customers are getting errors you can’t replicate.
You run an e-commerce store or web application that needs to provide an additional level of support.
You run third-parties such as SalesForce or ZenDesk that you could pull the support tickets into.

3 Reasons You Wouldn’t Need SnapABug:

You already have a feedback widget running that provides similar questions.
You have a site or blog that doesn’t need constant tech support.
You can’t afford the $49 per month plan that is necessary to white-label the issue.

For more information on SnapABug visit www.snapabug.com.

Contextured – Real-Time AdWords Monitoring

Jeff Abele — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 11:36:28 +0000

For many businesses Google’s three-hour delay on AdWords is longer than they can wait. These companies want to make real-time adjustments to handle demand, popularity, and market fluctuation.

Contextured solves that dilemma with a real-time monitoring app. If you spend more than $720 per month on Google AdWords then you will only get dinged for a monthly fee of $36. If you spend less than that you only pay an additional 5 percent charge. For a small business spending $100 this only amounts to $5 which is pretty minimal for better analytics.

3 Reasons You Might Need Contextured:

You buy hundreds of dollars of AdWord purchases per day and want a more robust tool than Google provides.
You would like to do conversion testing with Google but the process is too cumbersome on Google’s site.
You create your AdWords and keywords in spreadsheets and would like the ability to bulk upload them.

2 Reasons You Don’t Need Contextured:

You only buy small amounts of AdWords and the Google delay is not a problem to you.
You have already setup your goal conversions in Google and don’t need another tool to provide that functionality.

For more information on Contextured please visit www.contextured.com.

Apollo – Task, Project & Contact Management in One

Jeff Abele — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 11:37:29 +0000

Just when I think the world has had enough project management applications, a new app comes onto the scene and does things a little different. Apollo, which launched in May in beta, is a free project management tool that is available by invite only at the moment. What they have done right is that they have integrated three products into one – project management, calendar, and CRM tool.

The CRM tool is the most interesting of all the features as it treats CRM management as a natural offshoot of task management. You enter the contacts you are actively engaging with, add notes about conversations, bids, etc., and also add tasks you have regarding this contact. It could be sending them another proposal, calling them back, etc.

The glaring weakness of this product at the moment is the lack of mobile support. Task and contact management have become expected with the mobile experience and until this gets added this will unfortunately have to sit on the shelf. But if Apollo were to add an iPhone, Android, and Blackberry app they would stand a chance in this competitive market.

3 Reasons You Should Consider Apollo:

You currently use more than one application to manage task and contact management and want to consolidate.
You want a free version of a quality task management app and don’t mind the beta status.
You want a task management application that separates your personal and professional life but can handle both.

3 Reasons You Wouldn’t Need Apollo:

You are already entrenched in other task management apps and don’t want to leave an established player for a newbie.
You require mobile access for your task and contact management.
You need a more robust contact and lead management tool such as SalesForce.com.

For more information and to get on Apollo’s invite list visit www.apollohq.com.