Google Archives - Business N2K

The space on the homescreen of your mobile phone is some of the most valuable real estate in the world – worth a cool £1bn to app developers!

Here are the select few apps that have currently made it onto the homescreen of my Google Nexus 4 phone – they are, I suppose, my ‘£1bn apps’:

Capsule CRM – the best CRM solution ever! (also, a client (not biased, honest!))

Google Music – Liked Spotify but liking Google Play too. Helped by the fact its a couple of £’s per month cheaper for what appears to be pretty much the same range of music. Interface not quite as user-friendly as Spotify though and downloads seem to take longer…

Evernote – still hard to beat to capture those lists and thoughts. Google Keep has a long way to go IMHO.

Plume – Twitter interface. Not thrilled with it I must confess but it does the job. Free version (cheap-skate I know!) so I get those annoying adds. Wish there was better search capability.

DoggCatcher – my podcast hub. I listen to tonnes of podcasts so this app gets well used. A good app overall but I still miss Tunecast, an app I used to use on iOS (not available on Android as far as I am aware). Again, search facility is lacking in functionality.

Google+ – increasingly flicking to Google+ in preference to Plume (Twitter). I like the scrolling of the Google+ app and the visual qualities are great. My photos are automatically uploaded from my phone so its becoming an increasingly powerful and appealing hub. Watch this space.

Linkedin – Linkedin is an important source of contacts for my work so I use it a fair amount. The app is okay but is still no competition for the web.

Xero – our accounting package of choice. Loved by our clients. Loved by us.

Feedly – I mourned the day that Google Reader was disbanded but Feedly has picked up the reins well for my RSS feeds. Don’t dip in as often as I used to (not sure why really?) as the app has got better and better. Slick interface and good visuals.

Audible – I chew through audiobooks when on journeys in the car so this app is an absolute must for me. Fortunately it works well and allows for audiobooks to be purchased and downloaded directly through the app which is perfect (didn’t used to be possible).

Amazon Kindle – again, like Audible and DoggCatcher this is one well worn app on my homescreen. I’m surprised the glass isn’t wearing away where the app sits as I keep on clicking on it! App works well. Can click into Amazon Kindle store to add new ebooks (this functionality was removed by Apple on my iOS but not sure if this is still the case?). Love the way you can sample books plus the recommendations along the bottom of the screen. All very neat.

YouTube – enough said

Google Play Store – from where the fun and functionality is sourced!

Google Chrome – the browser of choice. Surely!

Lost track of what this is called? Google Hangouts / Talk / Chat – I’m lost! Anyhow, it seems to work well for texting and chat.

Gmail – works well. Easy to switch between accounts. Been toying with Boomerang. Any other suggestions?

What apps get onto your £1bn space on your phone? Which apps should I be testing?

: Image by Getty Images via Daylife

You may think that you are in charge of your business, however, in the digital age of social media where anyone has the power to comment on your business and influence both local and global opinion (either via blogs, Twitter, forums, Facebook etc), is this still the case?

There have been many recent high-profile incidents where global brands have been forced to change direction commercially or, at the very least, acknowledge the comments and feedback of disgruntled customers whether they wanted to or not e.g. Dell, Apple are a amongst a distinguished line-up of apologetic global brands.

A few harsh and frank words typed into a blog, Facebook, Twitter or a video review posted to YouTube has the power:

at worst to bring about a viral movement resulting in an army of disappointed individuals congregating online who collectively could cause serious harm to your business, or
at the very least rank some negative feedback within Google ready to leap out the next time your dream prospect does a search on your business in Google (and they will).

There is nothing you can do to stop this – and why should you?

Feedback is a gift after all whether positive or negative. It is how you deal with negative feedback that is key when the eyes of the world are watching…

A recent study showed that potential customers warmed more to businesses who had negative feedback but took proactive steps to remedy the complaints compared to those that bathed solely in positive feedback. However, for this strategy to be effective it is vital that you are listening for comments made online about your business – and act on it (quickly).

A good example is my local hostelry, The Swan Hotel in Tarporley. A thoroughly nice country pub and hotel with largely 4-5 stars on Trip Advisor. However, scroll down through the recent reviews (as most people do) and you can’t help but be drawn to a review that gives 1 star and says “Child unfriendly”. Read on and the reviewer goes on to berate the hotel and service for a whole host of cock-ups. Left unattended this review leaves a huge black mark against the rest of the positive reviews and, on personal a note as a father, I’m sure I would be scouring through for alternative child friendly options.

The good news is that the owners of the Swan Hotel were listening and promptly posted the following apology under the review:

Problem (not only) solved but turned into a positive.

Be under no illusion, you are no longer in charge of how your business is perceived. Your business will be held accountable for every action it takes and it will receive continual feedback. Your job as business owner, manager or employee is to listen, respond, engage and use the feedback to continually improve and adapt your products and services.

In this way, your millions of managers can help keep your business on track far better than you could alone.

Google

Which apps have claimed your £1bn of mobile space?

Who’s in charge of your business?