Here are 12 things many people have probably not heard of that I use all the time to help me get things done better and faster.
Everything Search Engine
Most of us have about a gazillion documents we regularly have to navigate to find exactly what we need. Instead of wasting time on fruitless quests, this little app will zoom you right to the file you need in the blink of an eye. This is a huge time saver if you are searching shared Dropbox folders where your colleagues don’t share your organizational logic. (Can anyone tell me the difference between the Development and Production folders?)
The Everything filename search engine is lightweight, super fast and allows you to use wildcards when you don’t know all the exact details of what you’re looking for.
PathCopy Copy
Amazingly, Microsoft has never given us a good way to get the full UNC path information we need. Enter PathCopyCopy – an add-on for Windows Explorer that will. With PathCopyCopy, right-clicking will give you a number of new choices including two that are relevant for us here today.
https://pathcopycopy.codeplex.com/
Trello
Trello is one of my favorite ways to keep track of all the things flying around in my world. Using Trello to manage projects and other tasks is a great thing by itself. But did you know you can also leverage Trello boards for a lot of great things beyond project management?
Check out some of these other creative ways to use your Trello boards:
You can find even more from Trello’s inspiration page.
Sortd
As much as many of us would like to stay away from email, it is often inescapable. For times like those, you can make things better and keep track of things with an app like SortD. Sortd is a Gmail add-in that transforms your email into organized lists.
I’ve got a few invites left, so let you know if you’d like one so you can try it out for yourself.
MailChimp
Speaking of email, MailChimp is a must have for anyone who manages any kind of email lists for newsletters, marketing, etc. You can even use Mail Chimp for crazy cool email-based courses. Mailchimp is one of the tools you should be stealing from the marketing department.
SMS/MMS Texting
Recently, I’ve started seeing more and more SMS/MMS texting uses in a training context. Like MailChimp and other marketing tools, you should at least be looking into some of the ways marketers are using text messaging platforms to see how it can benefit your training programs.
Like email platforms, text campaigns can reach people and places your LMS or content management system can’t as well as giving you some insightful analytics.
Curious to see how it works? Grab your phone and text “MINDSET” to 555888
Online Forms
I’m a big proponent of the idea that if you’re putting things out, you should put your name on it and provide some way for your audience to communicate with you. One easy way to do that is by using online forms. For example, I always like to include a link to a feedback form in all the courses I build.
I like Survey Gizmo because it lets me collect feedback from multiple courses and identify which course the feedback comes from with a single form. If you’re curious, this is what it looks like.
Animated GIFS
When most people hear ‘animated GIF’ they probably think of something like this:
Sometimes a good animated GIF can be fun, but I’m talking about how you can use them as a video option that plays on virtually any device with no plugins of any kind required and even plays automatically INSIDE emails and Microsoft Office documents?
For example, take a look at this animated gif that was part of my weekly tech tip series email newsletter. Yes, I run it with MailChimp! 😎
There are a lot of ways to make animated gifs. My favorite is TechSmith’s Camtasia. What is yours?
PowerPoint
I know, EVERYONE has heard of PowerPoint. But most people don’t use it the way I use it. Beyond just creating slides I use PowerPoint for creating:
- Graphic design & editing
- Videos
https://vimeo.com/140787594 - Documents
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1eIp6jz8DM5A7zj1XM6-zhcOqUAVB-hxJxCOcLVqerIk/
Think Headlines
Marketers know this and L&D pros should too. HThe titles and headlines you choose change the way people think! Today, it is harder than ever to get people’s attention. Without a good headline or title, you may never get most people to even read or see your stuff.
Want to learn more? Check out Copybloggers free “How to Write Magnetic Headlines” ebook.
Try out this online tool to help you generate loads of title/headline ideas.
Google Music
At this very moment, I’m listening to Google Music. Similar to Pandora or Spotify, Google Music lets you search for an artist and get a station of similar music. The thing I like best is the option to choose music by your mood ( Calm, Angry, Mellow, Happy, etc ) or the activity you’re doing (Barbequeing, Cleaning House, Family Time, Getting Pumped Up, etc.)
In a previous post, I mentioned how I like to play music before and during workshops and presentations. Google Music is what I use for that.
Social Media
You are using social media professionally, aren’t you? There are a lot of great reasons and lots of great people to learn with but I’m continually surprised at how many people aren’t tapping into social media.
What do you say to people who tell you things like “I don’t have time for that stuff!”
This is the 10th post in a 12 part series.
Mike Taylor 
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