In one of my emails recently I wrote about how important it is to pace yourself, especially at busy times of year like this, and how using tools and tactics to save you time and stress is one way to do that.
Picking up on that theme, today’s freebies are all designed to do just that…never say I don’t look after you 🙂
First up is a great podcast with Guy Kawasaki on how to build a following using other people’s content. Guy’s a brilliant, creative marketer and this is well worth a listen:
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/content-sharing-with-guy-kawasaki/
And to complement Guy’s podcast, here are 18 effective social media tools that will save you time, most of which are free or have a free option. Where they are not, the author tells you and gives an indication of the price:
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/239538
Social media is a fantastic tool for all of us but it can become a distraction. If you find yourself spending hours on Facebook rather than getting on with work, here’s an excellent antidote – the News Feed Eradicator browser extension:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/news-feed-eradicator-for/fjcldmjmjhkklehbacihaiopjklihlgg
Another extension I like is Momentum which opens up into a beautiful, clean dashboard where you can set your most important tasks for the day among other things:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/momentum/laookkfknpbbblfpciffpaejjkokdgca
If you’re collaborating with others on projects or have an outsourced team, then Bitrix24 is an excellent all-in-one solution that doesn’t cost a penny if less than 12 of you use it.
It includes 5GB of online storage and 35+ web tools including video-conferencing, CRM, email and much more:
To save you hunting around for good holiday graphics, I’ve found some for you. There’s a nice selection here for those of you with online stores, products or physical goods to sell:
http://onlinebusiness.volusion.com/articles/free-holiday-images-graphics-for-your-online-store/
There’s also some gorgeous free art on offer at Vecteezy – these are all vectors so easy to scale:
http://www.vecteezy.com/free-vector/holiday
Your TED talk this week teaches how to learn anything fast – a vital skill for all of us:
Finally, here’s a pic of Father Christmas in the Grotto I helped build and where I spent yesterday introducing kids big and small to him. Not only did we raise lots for charity but the looks on their little faces were priceless!
