
As we've progressed with Shoes of Prey we've come to realise that we're not using a lot of software on our computers and that instead most of what we do is done in 'the cloud'. Not only is this cheap, but it means we can easily share what we're doing with each other and jump on any device connected to the internet to work, whether that be our computer, someone else's computer or our iPhones. Here's what we do that's done in the cloud:
- We host our website with Google AppEngine.
- We use Google Apps for our email, calendar, documents and spreadsheets.
- From starting our business until just 2 weeks ago Mike, Jodie and I had never all been in the same city at the same time, and Mike and Jodie still haven't met Vanessa in person, so we use Google Talk within Gmail for chat and video conferencing.
- We use Blogger to host this blog and Tumblr to host the Shoes of Prey blog
- We recently discovered and now use Pixlr for a lot of our image editing.
- Twitter and Facebook are two of our key marketing tools. We also use Google AdWords and Facebook Advertising.
- As we've talked about previously, we use Saasu to do our accounting.
- We use Picasa to share our shoe related photos between Jodie, Mike and I.
- As we've mentioned previously, we use Campaign Monitor to manage our Shoes of Prey email subscription list.
- Mike stores our website code with Github so it's not lost if anything happens to his computer.
- We use Google Analytics to analyse usage of our website and will soon start using Website Optimizer to improve our website.
The only software we use that's not in the cloud is the operating system and web browsers on our computers, Skype for cheap international calls, particularly when we're overseas, and the web design software Mike uses - Adobe Flash, Dreamweaver and for some graphics editing, Fireworks.
Is there any other cloud based software that you use which would be useful for us?
Awesome tips man. I am looking into the accounting and mail out software now. But how the heck do you host your site with AppEngine? I haven't had a good look yet but I can't get my head around how to set that up. I would love to host my site for free on there if possible.
ReplyDeleteHi Cameron. It's actually not super easy unless you have some programming experience, or at least a willingness to learn programming. Normally when you create a website you will make some HTML pages and collect together some images which you then upload all at once using FTP. That's pretty simple enough. With AppEngine though you have to write your own mini web server handlers in Java or the Python programming languages. Once you've got your application working on your own computer, you then deploy the code. It's definitely not something I'd recommend without having some experience in coding... although it might make a good hobby. There's lots of documentation on their website: code.google.com/appengine. Good luck! :)
ReplyDeleteHobby indeed!!! I tried that a few weeks ago with PHP and I gave up my new hobby after a day. I think I will stick to good ol fashioned HTML until I have enough money to pay someone else to do it all for me! Thanks for the help guys and keep up the brilliant work. Your blogs are a pleasure to read.
ReplyDeleteI actually use a lot of the tools you mentioned. I also use tools which you might find handy: 1. Huddle.net, a project management collaboration tool. 2. sales force - for CRM.
ReplyDeleteand of course there's google wave, but I haven't found any projects to expose its collaboration possibilities!
Basecamp (http://tinyurl.com/mues5r) for managing projects and Highrise (http://tinyurl.com/ycuvqn7) for managing contacts and leads.
ReplyDeleteHi Troy, good suggestions. I've only had a quick play with the 37Signals products. I didn't feel I needed to use them at the time, we seem to be quite organised with the tools we use, but their products certainly get a good wrap. I'm a big fan of their Signal vs Noise blog too: http://37signals/svn
ReplyDeleteInspiredworlds - I'll check out huddle.net and sales force. I've looking forward to seeing what people come up with using GoogleWave. Lots of potential in that tool...
ReplyDelete