2015 was a pretty big year for WORK[etc]. We saw the release of our new native mobile apps for Android and iOS, for example, as well as a whole host of app improvements and enhancements.
We didn’t just spend the past year improving and enhancing WORK[etc] and its robust feature set, however — we also shone the spotlight on cutting-edge business tips, best practices, and maximizing success. Here are our top posts from 2015.
1. Managing Your Business like a Democracy? Here’s Why You’ll Fail
When it comes to business, not all opinions have equal weight and not everyone should be asked for their opinion. It’s a business, not a democracy, so you better own it.
2. 24 Strategies for Bringing Your Business Back to Life
Every entrepreneur needs an action plan, whether it’s for making the most out of high revenues or pulling a dying business back from the brink. Check out these 24 tried and tested survival strategies for small businesses.
3. 4 Ways Your Business Bleeds Money and How to Stop Them
Businesses can bleed money in so many ways. Fortunately, you can still keep the bleeding from turning into a full-on cash hemorrhage. QuickBooks queen Stacy Kildal tells us how.
4. Remote Working 101: The Ultimate Guide to Managing Remote Teams
Software isn’t just eating the world, it has also helped break down the four walls of the traditional office. We’ve collected valuable remote-working insights, experiences, and advice for small businesses that want to travel down the micro-multinational road.
5. 101 Tools and Tips to Make Your Small Business Look Big
Your business may be small now, but with these tools and tips you can act as if you’re already one of the big boys.
Top WORK[etc] Integrations of 2015
CRM, project management, billing, timesheets, marketing, customer support – there’s not a lot WORK[etc] can’t do when it comes to helping you manage your business. For some businesses, however, a CRM ecosystem is the best option. That’s why we’ve built a robust web of third-party integrations and add-ons into WORK[etc]. Here’s a refresher course for each of them.
G Suite
Google’s productivity suite is one of the most popular tools that small and medium businesses use. It includes Google’s popular web apps, from Gmail and Google Calendar to Google Drive and Google Docs.
A major component of WORK[etc]’s G Suite integration is our Gmail gadget, a small add-on that lets you create, update, and assign everything from new leads and contacts to project updates and support tickets without leaving your Gmail inbox.
WORK[etc]’s integration with G Suite also lets you access all of your Google Drive files from inside WORK[etc], transfer and sync contacts through our two-way Google Contacts sync and conflict resolution tool, and stay on top of all your important appointments and events with our Google Calendar sync.
Microsoft Outlook
Thanks to our Outlook add-on, Outlook users don’t have to switch to Gmail to manage their business from within their email inbox.
The WORK[etc] Outlook add-on shares a lot of the same functions as the Gmail widget. For example, you can convert an email into a new lead and have it automatically create a new contact entry without ever leaving Outlook.
You can also pick and choose which emails and contacts to sync, leaving behind all the unimportant noise and syncing only those that actually matter.
Xero
Integrating WORK[etc] with Xero lets you expand the latter’s robust accounting features and turn it into a complete business management solution. With a few clicks, you can consolidate invoices and payments in WORK[etc] and push them through to Xero.
Any invoice created in WORK[etc] and pushed across to Xero will also automatically include any associated data required for that invoice to make sense – i.e., WORK[etc] creates contact and inventory items if they do not exist in Xero.
QuickBooks Online
Integrating QuickBooks Online with WORK[etc] lets you enhance your cloud-based accounting software with an all-in-one system that lets you manage your business from end to end. You can seamlessly share and sync billable details between both systems; export WORK[etc] invoices, transactions, and expenses directly; and automatically sync payments made against WORK[etc] invoices over to QBO.
Evernote
Evernote integration can be a huge boon for users who are heavily into the project management and sales aspects of WORK[etc]. It lets you turn your notes into project updates, new sales leads, and even support cases. Perhaps best of all, you can use hashtags to automatically turn your notes into actionable items and activities. For example, using the hashtag “#Task” and “#Bill Jones” would turn a note into a new task and automatically assign it to Bill Jones.
Box
Box lets you keep all of your important files and documents in one place, which is accessible whether you’re on your PC, laptop, or mobile device. By integrating Box with WORK[etc], you can access your files and documents directly from inside WORK[etc]. You can quickly attach any and all files and documents to contacts, sales leads, projects, support cases, and more.
All of these integrations and add-ons can be enabled and configured by going to Settings > Integrations in WORK[etc]. If you haven’t already, definitely give these optional integrations a spin.
COMMENTS
As a Reseller Partner with Google Cloud, Xero, box.com, and dropbox for Business, work[etc] is the natural next step for almost any of our clients that doesn’t have project management, a customer portal or CRM……the amazing thing is..need one GET ALL three….that alone has moved work[etc] to the top or our list for client recommendations….its a natural with the core platform we are recommending to SME clients.
Being a small business that is focused on customer support and training it is important to be able to be able to quickly address our customers needs. Once challenge we faced last year was getting information out of Outlook where all team members can see it. WorkETC’s integration with outlook has been a vital part of making last year a success for our company. Keep up the great work!
I and my team continually find new and useful ways to use WORKetc in conjunction with other tools; especially Google Cloud. That said, I know we are only scratching the surface of what is possible. Integrating with QB Online lurks on the horizon for us. I Making better use of the Gmail Gadget is another team objective. Thanks for the great posts, ideas and improvements. We’ll do our best to keep up.
Outlook has been the best integration for us, because, hey, who doesn’t use Outlook. Second for us has been evernote, because again, everyone needs note. The blogs have been pretty good this year, too. I’ve made sure to forward them on to the relevant people in the company when a really good one comes up!
My favourite is still Evernote integration. I have a few WORK[etc] Projects sync’d to Evernote, and as I find things relevant to those Projects I simply create a new Note in the relevant ‘Notebook’, and usually Tag it with #Task (and sometimes a colleagues name also). Almost immediately, a Task is created – be it a feature suggestion from the forum, a concern from a Support Ticket, or a testimonial from a satisfied customer that we can use in marketing. #awesome
The best integration for me is Outlook. Indeed, we are always attaching emails to contacts or a projects in WORKetc. It helps keeping track of who said what to who. Moreover, other people of the company can see the discussion without having to receive all the emails ! It’s a great help and gain of time.
I agree, I love the Outlook integration. It’s very easy to attach items, people and notes to different opportunities. I’m looking forward to the new Gantt Charting capability. I also like the connection with the i0S.
Gotta love the G Suite, Xero and Evernote Trifecta! Evernote is one of those one I have an on and off relationship with. Just can’t seem to stay consistent with using it.
G Suite integration is great. I can’t attest to any of the other integrations, as we don’t use the remaining systems. I’m not certain if possible, but it would be nice to see some kind of Microsoft OneNote integration. Never less I am a big proponent of integrating applications, and creating more transparency between disparate systems.
I use the Outlook add in all of the time. This has literally saved me hours of work and I really don’t know how I would function without it. I would love it if the calendar would sync with Outlook. We would also love to use the Quickbooks integration, but as of right now, we can’t map over different WorkETC activities to different services in Quickbook. Hopefully that will be something that is added later.
We’re always finding new ways to integrate WORKetc with the other tools we utilise like Google Cloud. The seamless integration with Xero also looks great! Thanks for the great ideas and implementations!
The Google integration is so much a part of our workflow we can’t function normally without it. Recently a team member’s browser had issues that kept the GMail gadget from loading. There were several messages sent out that work can’t be done right because they can’t quickly manage things from their GMail.
It is such a great tool for us we always tell others about it. It usually includes something like “Oh, sorry, you can’t do that like we do in our WORKetc gadget”.
I don’t want to leave out the Drive integration though. It is the cherry on top because we can keep everything in docs and connect cleanly to our projects.