Employee training tools are no longer simply nice to have but rather a must-have for companies that want to improve their productivity and efficiency. Using an online training tool like Minerva can help you to achieve this and stay ahead of the competition. Unlike traditional training solutions, employees can train on their own time using Minerva. It also takes 40 to 60% less time to train employees using training management solutions over classroom learning. Plus, your employees become more satisfied with increasing their skill levels, without having to spend 8 hours in a training course.
Studies have also shown that online training increases productivity. This in turn can help increase company revenue. That said, below is an overview of this cloud-based online training tool.
Minerva has an intuitive dashboard that is organized according to content blocks. The Course overview section appears in the center of the screen with navigation and news icons aligned on the left and right sides of the screen. However, you can also customize your dashboard to add, hide, delete, dock, or move content blocks.
As for the theme, Minerva has a standard and custom theme that allows administrators to tweak the background color, upload custom logos, footers, and more. Tech-savvy users can use these tools to create a dynamic-looking dashboard.
Administrators can choose from various roles that can sometimes overlap. Regardless, the highest role available is the manager and site administrator. These are followed by other roles created and assigned by the administrator. Other roles can include course creator, tutor, and non-editing tutor. Course creators are tasked with creating the training course, tutors create and add training content, while non-editing tutors only post grades.
Additionally, site administrators can organize learners into groups. By default, learners are categorized according to their courses but can also be grouped based on activities. Admins can also invite guests who can only view the courses. Minerva can also support between 1 and 500 users, making it a great solution for most businesses.
Apart from roles and groups, Minerva supports a plethora of course-related activities. Like any other online learning software, the platform has an integrated messaging and commenting tool, discussion boards, and more.
That said, below are some reasons why you should consider using Minerva for your training needs.
Working on regular shifts and pursuing training is certainly tiring. This is why most companies set aside several days for training purposes or use weekends to train their employees. However, advancing technology means that new systems keep getting released, which requires regular training for employees.
Using Minerva eliminates the need to set aside boardrooms and specific training days. It is an online tool that employees can access anytime and anywhere, as long as they have a reliable internet connection. Your employees can make time during coffee breaks at work or while traveling to listen or watch online training courses.
Completing traditional training courses requires you to print copies of notes and rent a training space, both of which are quite costly. However, Minerva is a cloud-based platform where users can save and share course videos and notes for later reference. Minerva also offers a free trial period and a free version. However, companies can update to premium versions, which charge per feature. This means you will only need to pay for the features that you want.
Minerva is easy to use and has great customer support.
With many training tools available, finding the right tool to improve your training efficiencies might be challenging. However, the online tool Minerva is not your ordinary learning management system. While it excels in many of its features and most of those who’ve trained using it are satisfied, it has some minimal drawbacks. For instance, it doesn’t support in-person or live online training. Nonetheless, it is a great tool that can enhance your employee's training experience.
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Whimsical is a great visual workspace that allows users to create diagrams, flow charts, and sticky notes. Software companies and digital agencies can benefit from this cloud-based tool in many ways. While the visual tool Whimsical may not replace mainstream wireframing tools, it has great potential to evolve and is easy to use to improve procedures and workflows.
As mentioned, Whimsical has several functions, ranging from wireframes, sticky notes, flowcharts to mind maps. Each of these functions has a set of tools that are specific to the intended function. Furthermore, the free version of Whimsical comes with 5 free boards for every mode. Use cases for the visual tool Whimsical include the following.
Flowcharts are a widely used function in Whimsical, especially by digital agencies. The tool allows users to create:
workYou can use Whimsical to create the following:
Whimsical allows users to create custom Kanban boards and to-do lists. The sticky note feature is especially helpful for labeling and marking specific tasks. Users can even change the sticky note colors for easy reference. This provides a great place to keep your stuff organized.
Whimsical is very intuitive and easy to use. It has several contextual toolbars that are well-displayed, giving you all you need to design efficiently and with speed. Moreover, here are the ways the contextual toolbar is beneficial.
It is a standard practice that modern app designs have toolbars full of icons. However, unlike other visual tools, Whimsical only has six icons, helping to eliminate screen clutter.
Every toolbar on Whimsical is tailored or customized to what you are working on, reducing cognitive overhead. You no longer have to struggle to find available icons or search for disabled icons every other time.
The contextual design means that you can access relevant icons or controls without moving across the screen to reach them. Close controls mean that you spend less time navigating across the screen, giving you ample time for content creation.
The contextual toolbar design makes onboarding for new whimsical users less intimidating. If you just started using this tool, you can start with a few primary controls and add more gradually. Since these options are tailored to every function, you don’t need as much mental processing to master them.
Exporting diagrams and other visuals from whimsical is fast and incredibly simple. Just highlight the diagram, flowchart, or sticky notes you want to export and choose your preferred background. The final product is a high-resolution .png export format. Therefore, this makes Whimsical suitable for exporting visuals into emails and documents.
Whimsical packs all the features you need from a visual tool. It is a great tool for brainstorming, creating product specs, user flows, wikis, and architecture diagrams, among other uses. However, it has its fair share of shortcomings that avid users have reported. For instance, most people wish it had custom lines and pre-loaded templates. However, the Whimsical team continues to improve and add features so who knows what the future will hold.
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Google has recently announced the rebranding of G-Suite to Google Workspace. It’s yet another Google branding change and a timed move given the current demand for a virtual global workforce. Workspace has the tools you are familiar with packaged in new ways and together it offers a comprehensive solution for communication and collaboration for all types of businesses. In this article, we cover why you may want to consider Google Workspace for your business.
Google Workspace has created more separation between their products to make it easier for businesses to find a solution that works for them. Smaller companies with less than 300 employees but in need of custom email addresses using their domain can choose the Google Workspace Basic plan at $6 per month, per email account.
Google Workspace Business comes in at $12 per month per user and is suitable for businesses that want some advanced collaboration and productivity tools. Google Workspace Enterprise is ideal for larger businesses that need advanced compliance capabilities, additional security, and mobile device management. Enterprise pricing is determined through the Google sales team.
Google Workspace is best suited for:
Google Workspace combines all your productivity tools in one place. You can easily switch between email, calendars, documents, and chat, saving you time and effort. Through Gmail, you can access Google Meet to chat or make video calls without opening a new tab. Meet integrates with Calendar, has presentation features, and can even live stream. Google Drive is perhaps the most convenient tool on Google Workspace. Users can access and share files online or offline. Additionally, a Data Loss Prevention feature is built-in, so administrators can prevent team members from sharing sensitive content with users outside the team.
All of Google Workspace products are easy to adapt to. It offers a functional yet familiar experience with products such as Google Docs and Sheets. These products are very similar to Microsoft Word and Excel, which your team is undoubtedly familiar with. It is also easy to navigate to other tools like the Admin Console, which is very intuitive and straightforward to use.
Google Workspace facilitates seamless collaboration between team members. Several users can collaborate on the same document simultaneously. This means any changes made are auto-saved and reflected in real-time. The commenting system works well, and since you can revert to previous versions, you don’t have to worry about conflicting changes. Calendar allows users to share meetings, reminders, events, and tasks. An additional update even lets you see resources like equipment and meeting rooms.
There is an impressive range of collaboration and productivity tools, all of which run in the cloud. This requires plenty of storage for them to be effective. All users on Enterprise and Business plans get unlimited storage. Furthermore, all files you create in Google Sheets, Docs, or Slide won’t go toward your storage limit.
Most impressive about Google Workspace for your business is its ability to integrate with almost every kind of tool you can imagine. From CRMS, creative, web development, finance and accounting, and academics. This makes it easy to slot into existing processes.
Google Workspace can be an excellent solution for your business needs. It can help you boost collaboration and productivity within your team. It offers competitive pricing compared to other productivity solution suites available and is adaptable to small or medium-sized businesses.
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The early stages of business are the most challenging. Small business owners often have to juggle many different tasks daily. Fortunately, productivity tools can make this a lot easier. The productivity software business is expected to be worth $46.4 billion by 2021.
As more and more software is launched, choosing the right tools becomes harder. Below, we will be covering a number of the most helpful productivity tools for your small business.
Evernote is one of the best note-taking apps, with over 225 million users. Although competition has intensified in the last decade, this app is still a favorite among small business owners. Some of its key features include:
Daylite is a CRM and business productivity app that helps small businesses build stronger client relationships, close deals, and deliver on their commitments efficiently — which increases revenue. Daylite is a macOS and iOS app that works seamlessly with many of the built-in Apple apps, and all the Apple devices that you know and love! Daylite is consistently ranked among the top CRMs for small businesses by leading review sites for business software and is highly rated by customers worldwide.
Integrate with Apple Mail
Spend less time in your inbox while staying on top of all next steps. Save your emails to clients, appointments, and tasks so you have a full history of conversations in one place. Plus, create tasks in Daylite right from your inbox.
Remember every detail
Remembering the little things makes clients feel special and builds trust. This opens the door to repeat business and more referrals. Daylite makes it easy to remember everything by keeping track of emails, notes, calls, and next steps in one place. You can even set up follow-up reminders so that you never forget a special occasion or miss an opportunity to reach out.
Always stay in touch
Say goodbye to things slipping through the cracks because important information was forgotten or lost in someone’s cluttered inbox. Daylite keeps your team in sync by organizing and sharing everything in one place. Worried about protecting confidential information? Daylite's user permissions have you covered.
More projects, less stress
Do away with the unending stress and chaos of trying to figure out what's been done in a project and what needs to be done next. Daylite gives you visibility on the stage of each project and any next steps, so you never drop the ball.
Xtensio is a project management tool that helps businesses connect with teams with ease. Available as a web app, you can use this tool for sharing live documents, presentations and for connecting with teams. Some of its features include:
Indy is a comprehensive project management software that includes everything you need to stay on top of your projects, from marketing to management to billing.
You can keep track of different tasks for multiple projects by assigning filters or moving tasks from one project to another. The tasks tool also allows you to assign tags, making it easy to see at a glance which project has the most tasks remaining. The deadline and reminders feature ensure you also deliver your work on time. At the end of the week or month, you can link your hours to an invoice by adding your hourly rate before sending the document to a client.
Features of Indy include:
Time tracking
Managing invoices, tasks, and contract creation
Customize proposals with your own branding
Profiles, which help you get clients
Chats, Projects, & Client functions for convenient communication
Asana is a project management application. Helping businesses stay on top of their goals and achieve deadlines. Available as a web app, and Android, plus IOS versions. The standard features include;
Pocket is an offline reader that allows you to save articles and read them later without needing an internet connection. The original name of the app was "Read It Later" but later changed to Pocket in 2012. Mozilla then acquired Pocket in 2017. Here some of the helpful features of Pocket for business.
Formerly known as Wunderlist, Microsoft To Do is a task list application that lets you create lists and tick them off once they are completed. Originally launched in 2011, Wunderlist joined Microsoft in 2015. Here are some of the features that have made it a success.
Productivity tools for business are important. Often the simpler the productivity tool, the more effective it will be. Integration is another aspect that to consider in a productivity tool. Remember, cost doesn’t necessarily translate to value. If a cheaper or even free alternative is available that solves your problems, why waste money. Productivity tools are designed so you can focus more on what matters, growing your business.
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Technology is always advancing, and it's expected that 2020 will be the best year yet in terms of technologies that improve productivity. This is the same year that Japan plans to use robots and AI smart tracking of athletes in the 2020 Olympic Games.
Technology has helped improve efficiency in so many areas of business operations today. This is why all sectors in forward-thinking companies have been quick to embrace digital trends. For example, robotic automation has helped streamline manufacturing processes while surgeons have begun adopting the use of robots when performing minimally invasive surgeries. With these helping those specialty areas, what will help the online marketer?
AI technologies have been around for several years. However, it's expected that adoption will continue to increase even in 2020. AI-powered tools are transforming the workplace by handling repetitive tasks, thus freeing up workers for complex tasks. Businesses are also adopting the use of AI-powered chatbots to help with customer support. These chatbots are learning from salespeople, customer service reps, and real marketers. Allowing them to answer questions as if you were talking to a real person.
AI is also transforming how businesses handle data and analytics. Companies typically hire data scientists to analyze data- a task that AI can handle, even without supervision.
Almost all companies are trying to automate some of their processes to free up some workers, reduce overheads, and improve efficiency. Hyper-automation is the next step in automation. It incorporates technologies such as machine learning, automation tools, packaged software, and AI to improve AI-driven decision making.
According to Gartner, hyper-automation will become an essential part of businesses. Companies are using hyper-automation to create 'digital twins'. These are virtual models of key processes or assets. They then collect data and monitor the digital twins. Over time, these twins get smarter giving better insight into the organization and problems facing their systems. They also help organizations assess opportunities and understand customer needs.
The idea behind hyper-automation is to improve the use of collaborative intelligence. Hyper automation isn't meant to sideline human workers; instead, it seeks to work with humans side-by-side. This creates a workplace that uses data to run efficiently and perform roles optimally.
Immersive technologies have all kinds of applications in the workplace. For example, organizations are using augmented and virtual realities to speed up the training process and make it more enjoyable. These technologies are helping improve the reaction time and decision-making among employees. This translates to fewer mistakes and increased productivity, as well as lower training costs.
Training workers, especially in healthcare, oil production, and transport industries using immersive technologies, has no risk but a high return on investment. Companies can use these technologies to recreate physical scenarios to teach their employees how best to handle such situations.
Immersive technologies can allow users access to inaccessible environments. For example, when pitching a project, product, or idea, you can use these technologies to bring your idea to life. You can then use the virtual experience to convince investors to buy into your idea. Real Estate companies are using virtual reality to help potential customers view and walk through properties. Manufacturers are also adopting immersive technologies during the conceptual stage of products. Designers can use virtual reality to create products in 3D spaces and simulated environments to test the products. The designers can also simulate harsh conditions to test the durability of the product and identify design flaws. This ensures that the final products are perfect, reducing the likelihood of failure due to design flaws.
2020 will be an exciting year as the start of the decade. Companies will be looking to cement their place as leaders in the technology landscape. A lot of trends will emerge and grow, including email to sms but ultimately, the role of humans in the workplace to implement and make decisions based on the technology will become even more important.
Bonus Tip: SMS Bulk text message marketing is emerging as a powerful way to nurture prospects once you have permission. With higher view rates than email, SMS systems like Jooksms offer innovative ways to stay in touch and grow your business.
Looking for help? Tired and believing there has got to be a better way?
Let’s talk about your business. With over a decade of experience leading companies and transforming lives, and a Master’s degree in Org. Development and Leadership, Mike can help you find the best way forward!
Contact Mike today to start the breakthrough!
Back in 2015, when Forbes broke the news about the launch of the startup, Qwilr, no one thought it would one day become such a key tool used by many large businesses. However, the software is now making inroads into many top offices, with the likes of Deloitte, Qantas, and Zillow already on board.
Below is a quick review of the this online software tool to help you decide whether it would add value to your business systems.
The creators of the online software define it as a tool to “quickly create beautiful and intuitive proposals, sales, and marketing documents” adding that it gives “web superpowers to customer facing documents.”
Put simply, Qwilr is all about embracing the digital revolution; accepting the fact that the future is much more paperless, at least in the business office. In the absence of paper, companies and organizations need to find ways to make their digital documents both beautiful and useful online. That’s where Qwilr comes in.
The biggest advantage of Qwilr is that it helps businesses re-imagine their old sales decks and PDF documents, and dream up creative, inspiring and easy to make web pages. But, that’s not all. Users also benefit from;
Every businesses. From individuals and freelancers looking to present their work in a better way to agencies, consultancy firms, sales & marketing teams, and large organizations aiming to put their best foot forward to win more business opportunities, Qwilr will help you meet your goals.
An alternative to Qwilir to consider for contract templates is Signaturely. They offer a cost-effective wide range of ready-made contract templates and more.
Qwilr has four pricing plans; Starter, Pro, Business, and Enterprise. The starter plan is free for solo users and lets you create brochures, job ads, newsletters, and events. The other plans are priced as follows;
Every additional user account costs an extra $15 under the Pro Plan, $20 under the Business Plan, and $300 for Enterprise subscribers. Payments are billed monthly for Pro and Business users and annually for Enterprise users.
Support on the Qwilr platform is available in the form of help documents, email, priority email, and account management. Priority email support is available for all three paid plans while account management is only available for Enterprise users.
Although there are several other modern paperless solutions and a document template maker out there, Qwilr stands apart thanks to its long list of functional features. The security and account management features, in particular, are not available in most other tools.
Customer relationship management (CRM) is one of the most important parts of your business. Keeping track of your customers’ wants, needs, and communications are essential to keeping them happy and making sure they stay a customer. A good CRM system also helps you track any communications, potential earning opportunities and chances for growth with your existing customers.
Gmelius brings CRM to the Gmail platform. Gmail is one of the most popular email providers in the market and many people use it professionally as well. If you’re using Gmail to communicate with your customers, Gmelius adds several valuable features you’ll want to consider.
Daily communication can take up a lot of time. You’d be amazed how many hours per week are used doing common repetitive tasks. As well as researching information you should already have. Gmelius has several features to help reduce this busy work. Email tracking tells you when a sent email is opened or any link within clicked. Additionally, the sequence sorting feature organizes messages. Email sending can be scheduled, common emails sent on a schedule, labels created, personalized campaigns configured and follow up emails sent automatically. In addition to cleaning up clutter Gmelius also adds markdown syntax (to format text and lists easily) and gif files to your messages. Gmelius also integrates into your CRM system via logging or can send copies of all your emails to colleagues as needed.
Sharing communication and data makes any team more efficient. Gmelius has several tools to keep people in the loop and reduces the chance they won’t know what’s going on. A shared email box, easy email sharing, shareable notes, group templates for common messages, and a Kanban board helps productivity and reduces confusion.
Gmelius adds security to your emails to help keep you and your clients safe. Their email stamping feature prevents forgery and allows you to track that your emails been successfully sent. Your data is valuable and a commodity by itself. Gmelius deletes trackers and blocks any other parties from tracking your company’s communication protecting your privacy.
Gmelius offers four different pricing tiers to match your needs and avoid overpaying for features you don't need.
Gmelius offers several useful features and makes any Gmail based business accounts far easier to manage. Another reason you’ll want to try Gmelius is the company behind it. They offer full customer support, billing that’s easy to understand, and as a Swiss-based company is GDPR-compliant which is useful if you do any international business or just value your privacy. They offer a free trial and several different pricing levels to assist businesses of many different needs and sizes.
Project management software is now considered a vital tool in the day-to-day running of a business. Aside from making work predictable, thus easy, these products help business managers accurately organize and plan for tasks and people for long-term profitability.
A common challenge, however, is selecting the right project management software for your business. With the market welcoming new products every few weeks, it’s important to assess each solution carefully before making a decision.
Here’s a summarized comparison of the three popular project management software products; Asana, Basecamp, and ProofHub to help you arrive at an informed decision. The comparison is based on key features, pricing plans, and additional features.
Asana’s key features include; notifications, the ability to schedule tasks from email, recurring tasks, a timer integration, task scheduling, Google drive integration, and file sharing.
Basecamp’s key features include; calendar management, chat, email integration, and task scheduling.
ProofHub’s main features include document comparison, customer management, notifications, scheduling, file sharing, data export, Google Apps integration, and data visualization.
Asana is eternally free for teams comprising 15 members or less. The free plan gives you access to unlimited tasks, projects, and basic dashboards. Premium plans start at $9.99 per user per month, billed annually. Deductions exist for long-term users.
Basecamp has a free plan, except that it’s open to all teams regardless of size and lasts 60 days (two months). Once the free plan expires, users can choose from four premium plans. Learn more about Basecamp pricing here.
ProofHub comes with a 30-day free trial period. Beyond that point, users choose from two annual payment plans; Essential and Ultimate Control. The Essential plan, priced at $54/year gives you resources for 40 projects, 15GB for storage, core features, and unlimited users. The Ultimate Control, meanwhile, gives you access to 100GB storage space, core features, and many additional features. Additionally, it can be used for unlimited projects and by an unlimited number of users.
Asana is designed specifically for startups, SMEs, freelancers, and enterprises. It’s web-based and the mobile version runs on both Android and iOS.
Basecamp too is designed for startups, SMEs, and enterprises, but, in addition to the web app, the desktop version also runs on Windows and Macintosh. The mobile version runs on both Android and iOS.
Besides startups, SMEs, and Enterprises, ProofHub is ideal for freelancers, agencies, and for personal use. The solution is only available as a web app on the desktop but runs on both Android and iOS on mobile.
All the three solutions are SSL-secured cloud platforms. These solutions are designed to make collaboration effective by keeping conversations and tasks in one place. Additionally, all three;
There are minor differences in pricing, features, and other elements. Therefore, it’s these variations you need to carefully evaluate along with other competitors to pick out the best project management software that best suits your project.
A podcast is much like a radio show. It can be audio, and can also include video and presentation materials. You get to listen and learn about any subject including news, business, science, marketing, etc. In fact, if you're in business, a podcast is a huge opportunity to learn strategy and tactics.
But Podcasts aren't just for business development. Relax and listen to Oprah's Super Soul Conversations, Ted Talks Daily or even a serialized audiobook. There are history podcasts, humor podcasts, true crime podcasts … and even Stuff You Should Know by How Stuff Works, which is on the list of top podcasts in the Apple app, and, you guessed it, is all about how stuff works.
Podcasts allow business people to tap into many perspectives from experts making it easy and convenient to offer consumers what they are looking for. Listen to the podcasts while in traffic, taking a walk, during exercise or at the office. These programs are free, and all you need is internet access. Listen immediately when you come across a topic you love, or download them, and create a "playlist" on the topics of your interest.
Don't think you have enough time to listen, or you're just impatient? Listen to the podcast at 1.5 or 2x speed. This will speed up the narration. At 1.5 speed you will hardly detect any difference in speech patterns than at normal speed. And you'll be able to get through more content faster.
Get your podcasts on the native Podcast app if you're an Apple user. On Android, download Pocket Cast to listen to Podcasts. You could also download a free app such as Stitcher, TuneIn or SoundCloud for podcasts on those various networks.
Subscribing ensures new published episodes are automatically delivered to your device. This way you don't have to visit the podcast website to see what’s new. Be sure to stretch your genres to get as much helpful information as possible. If you encounter a gem, don’t give up keep searching.
Some podcasters have weekly posts and other daily, with messages related to business directed to business owners looking for ideas. Normally, the podcasts focus on real business problems and how to solve them. Following the forums gives you access to ideas of how to balance your work life, reach potential investors, among other topics. Some professional podcasters invite thought leaders and well-known business people for interviews as guests. Some of them also allow their audiences to send their questions for podcast guests and choose the most popular ones to be asked during the interview.
The next generation of global business leaders will be learning from Podcasts as a result of how accessible and easy to digest they are. And Podcast producers are increasingly the recognized experts in their fields. Consider taking advantage of the free platform in your business development process. There are also many ways to monetize podcasts, and SoundCloud promotion website services can also help you boost podcast views.
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Unfortunately, there are going to be some days that you just don't feel totally productive.
Days where you sit down at your desk, look at your to-do list, and immediately think, "My brain just cannot handle this today." However, when you're running a business, there aren't many (if any) days that you can afford to be unproductive. That's why it's incredibly important to come up with processes to stay organized and fuel your productivity, day in and day out.
You can accomplish more with a proper plan. Don't let your work day be a free-for-all. Create structure throughout your day by spending the first 10 to 15 minutes creating your plan of action (or the last 10 to 15 minutes of the previous day--whichever method works best for you).
When you get to the office, pull out your notepad, planner, or an online app like Trello or Google Keep. Write down your top three priorities or biggest projects for the day and get started on them first, during your most productive hours of the day. Create a list of other tasks that need to be done to complete during the second half of the day.
At the beginning of each week, you also want to spend 15 to 20 minutes planning out which tasks need to be completed and by when. Giving yourself hard deadlines is the best way to make sure everything gets done.
Humans are creatures of habit and routines work well for us. Make work easy and follow a process that's natural. After creating your plan of action for the day, perhaps you want to check emails and social media notifications. Then, spend some time prepping for any meetings or appointments you may have that day before really diving into your projects and task list.
Essentially, you want to create a basic schedule that you follow daily, so your brain becomes used to the system and follows it easily and quickly.
As I mentioned earlier, the best way to ensure you complete a task is by giving yourself a hard deadline. To make this happen, you'll need to create a schedule that works for you. Determine how long certain projects will take, then use time blocking and mark off time on your calendar. That way you'll be working on your projects and won't be tempted to schedule meetings.
Make communication faster and easier by texting, or using a messaging service. Instantaneous conversation helps to avoid miscommunications and allows you to convey your needs and expectations much better than an excessive email chain would.
Messaging services like Slack and G-Chat (comes with Gmail) are great for instant communication between team members. Save emails for weekly updates and other announcements and employ a messaging service for all other communication.
You simply cannot be productive if you have email and social media alerts disrupting you every few minutes. Turn off all of your phone and desktop notifications and set aside designated times to check and respond to everything. This allows you to have uninterrupted blocks of time to work on your task list.
Building and running a business requires a lot of hard work, and unproductive days can hinder your progress. Use these tips to stay productive and continue moving forward in your business.
Have you ever thought you needed more display real estate than just your laptop?
Traveling with just a laptop can make your work harder if you are used to having a larger or multiple displays. If you have tried to extend your display to a mobile device over WiFi you know that there's a frustrating lag.
If you have an iPad you can change all that without toting around an extra monitor! You can connect your iPhone or iPad to your laptop or even a desktop with DuetDisplay. It doesn't use WiFi, it's a simple, downloaded app and driver to each unit, then plug in with your lightning charger. It runs directly from your main unit to the mobile device.
It's a very simple installation process. Download the DuetDisplay app to your mobile device, then a driver file to your laptop or desktop, reboot after the driver installs and once you run the app it's all done. No more single screen display or WiFi lag.
So while on the go, you only need your laptop and an iPad and your iPad becomes a 2nd monitor! You can swipe windows and apps from one to the other, touch screens will work if the app is compatible. You can even stream video without any lag, and move it around on the device screen, and it will still play. That wouldn't usually happen with a WiFi connection. Say hello to easy multitasking when you're not at the office!
Adding a second display can be a lifesaver for those of us who are spoiled with dual displays. It's easier to work with 2 screens, and when you don't have them, you can feel a bit lost. DuetDisplay can simply be plug and play, or you can play with the settings if you are an in-depth user wanting higher resolution. The best news is that there is no extra cables or items to carry. If you travel with DuetDisplay can simply be plug and play, or you can play with the settings if you are an in-depth user wanting higher resolution. The best news is that there is no extra cables or items to carry. If you travel with an iPad and laptop, you are carrying everything you need if you have your iPad Lightning cable charger!
The app does cost but it’s a relatively small dollar figure when you remember you are getting a second screen. My opinion is that for the $15 one time purchase you can hardly go wrong if you can have a second display that's not chained to WiFi. Once you have purchased, there's no subscription fee or monthly membership; it's an app purchase. If you can increase your productivity and work easier, $15 seems a pretty small price to pay. I’m a fan and regular user of DuetDisplay and I can highly recommend it to you!
