10 Essential App Guides to Help You Run Your Business from Anywhere

10 Essential App Guides to Help You Run Your Business from Anywhere 10 Essential App Guides to Help You Run Your Business from Anywhere Image Source: iStockWith  an increasing amount of business done by entrepreneurs and managers on the road, and a swelling in numbers of those  working from home for all or some of the week,  its become vital to maintain contact with headquarters and to be able to  run your business from anywhere. There are  a range of apps and platform options to help you ensure your finger is always ‘on the pulse’, regardless of your physical location. To help beginners and newcomers to cloud computing, we’ve also rounded up 10 of the best guides to these apps and cloud computing techniques.1. BasecampImage Source: AmazonWhether  on the road or from  the  office, Basecamp enables you to  manage projects  and  communicate with staff one-to-one and collectively. You can also keep client feedback organised, on-the-record, and searchable.  No matter where  you are, Basecamp ensure you will always be in touch with your business. Patrice-Anne Rutledge’s  Sams Teach Yourself Basecamp in 10 Minutes is a great primer for the beginner. Jason Fried, founder of 37signals, the company behind Basecamp,  called it:  â€œThe most comprehensive guide to Basecamp weve ever seen.” Check Price  2. SlackIMAGE SOURCE: AMAZONLaunched  in August 2013, Slack usage has been particularly marked by  groups who once  used Facebook or LinkedIn to communicate.  But Slacks strengths as an organisational aid shouldn’t  be overlooked. Teams of users can drop messages, share documents, and view them across all platforms. It is completely searchable, and integrates with all social media apps. The Ultimate Guide to Slack: How to Be Less Busy, More Productive, and Work Smarter, by Jeremy Yancey, is a fantastic introduction to this great organisational aid. Check Price  3. DropBoxIMAGE SOURCE: AMAZON“Can  you DropBox  that to me?” DropBox is one of those select phenomena of the business worldâ€"a proper noun that has become a verb. DropBox enables you to set up remotely accessible secure folders, and share them  with your team.  Basic users get an initial free 2GB of online space, and paid subscriptions will boost your capacity.  Edward Huff’s Dropbox: The Ultimate Dropbox Guide  is a great introduction in how to use the application for business and everyday life.Check Price  4. PayPalIMAGE SOURCE: AMAZONPayPal,  another common tool, has become essential when working on the road, especially when overseas from your base.  PayPal enables you to make important transactions unburdened by concerns about exchange rates, unfamiliar banks, or mailing of payments. You can receive payments from international customers, without the need to share debit card information online.  It’s secure  (and  free for your customers to use), and with more than  85m account holders worldwide, is the easiest way to send and receive payments online.  PayPal Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips Tools by Shannon Sofield, Dave Nielsen  and Dave Burchell,  shows you how to easily send and receive payments online using  PayPal, a valid email address, and a credit card or bank account. Check Price 5. EvernoteIMAGE SOURCE: AMAZONAnother  long-established notebook and file-sharing programme and app, Evernote allows you to store short lists or lengthy documents; capture handwritten notes, images, and web article clippings.  The app also allows you to share and discuss items, and transform notes into attractive presentations for online meetings. SJ Scott’s Master Evernote: The Unofficial Guide to Organizing Your Life with Evernote is recommended as a way  of getting off your  Evernote starting blocks! Check Price  6. HootsuiteIMAGE SOURCE: AMAZONShape your businesss entire social profile while on the road, with popular social media management dashboard Hootsuite. The dashboard  supports Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Foursquare, WordPress and others. In  Work Smarter with Twitter and HootSuite,  Alexandra Samuel shows the benefits of full social media integration, of focusing on the people whose Tweets matter most to you, and outlines how you can easily establish the relationships and presence you want. This makes Hootsuite one of the cornerstone applications in allowing you to run your business from anywhere. Check Price  7. SkypeIMAGE SOURCE: AMAZONA Skype number is perfect if you are on the road, but want to be contactable by clients and your team.  It’s fantastic when travelling abroad, and you want an affordable way to keep in touch with local clients and your base back home. If you’re new to Skype, then look no further than  Skype: The Definitive Guide by Harry Max and Taylor Ray, who show you the importance of  Skype if  run your business from anywhere Check Price  8. Prezi IMAGE SOURCE: AMAZONWith  the increased emphasis upon content and storytelling in todays business world, Prezi, an easy to use online presentation tool provides all you need to create engaging presentations on the move.  Its cloud-based collaborative capacities means you can d raw upon the expertise of your team even when you are on the road, anywhere in the world. In Make An Impact: The Step By Step Guide To Mastering Prezi, Kyle MacRae shows you how to get the most out of this great presentational tool to benefit your business. Check Price  9. Virtual Private Network (VPN)IMAGE SOURCE: AMAZONAt a nuts and bolts practical level, a  VPN is fantastic when  visiting countries with significant levels of internet access restrictions.  Setting up a VPN before going  abroad ensures you  have access to  your usual sites. Knowledge of VPNs Firewalls has  become essential in an era where cyber security is at a premium. Guide to Firewalls and VPNs  by Michael E Whitman, Herbert J Mattord and Andrew Green, is another essential read if you want to understand how tech and help you run your business from anywhere. Check Price  10.  Look  to the CloudIMAGE SOURCE: AMAZONFinally, if you really want to run your business from anywhere, it’s essential that you pursue a c omprehensive and integrated approach to Cloud-based business tools.  Read the acclaimed textbook  Cloud Computing: Business Trends and Technologies by Igor Faynberg, Hui-Lan Lu  and Dor Skuler. This focuses on Cloud businesses and the technologies necessary for supporting them.  The book analyses virtualization, data communications, network and operations management, security and identity management, and provides open-source case studies. Check Price