Must-Have Small Business Apps

For fledgling or small businesses, mobile apps such as location-finding and business directory apps can give a great head start in customer engagement. These apps are useful to budding businesses looking to target customers with an innovative technological edge.

Until a business is ready to swallow the idea of a owning a personalized business app, it can still get a lot of marketing mileage from free apps, such as:

Google Places

Google Places works great at feeding Google map users (millions everyday) with listed business locations. Adding your listing to Google Places is free, and the returns are easy to guess given that more than 90% of leads that local businesses get are found online.

Platforms: iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch

Foursquare

One of the most popular location-based apps, it marks out and shares your business location amongst localized prospects. Once registered, you can take your business to a location-specific audience (through GPS). You can also put up incentives and special offers, and seek out consumer reviews.

Platforms: Android, Blackberry, iPhone, Palm, Windows Phone, Nokia Ovi

Yelp

Yelp is a great platform to reach out to similar interest groups. If you are a local dealer or business owner, use Yelp to define and reach out to your most likely business prospects. It is one of the best platforms to post discounts, specials and offers, track visitor stats, and accumulate real-time user generated reviews.

Platforms: Android, Blackberry, iPhone, iPad, Windows Phone

Google Drive

Google Drive brings extreme convenience to online file sharing by allowing users to seamlessly port and edit files between PCs, tablets and smartphones. In just a short span, Google Drive has emerged as the first-choice mobile office suite for small businesses. The app also doubles for a cloud drive which allows file storage via a virtual drive app or a web interface. And it comes with a nice little free storage up to 5GB.

Platforms: Android, iPhone, iPad, Mac, PC

Skype

Skype is by far the choicest mobile voice and video calling app around which connects you to another Skype subscriber on the iPhone, Android, Mac, or PC from your phone’s Wi-Fi. This massive cross-platform integration is Skype’s greatest USP, especially considering its massive subscriber base.

Skype can also be a convenient platform for sharing pictures, videos and files more effectively than Bluetooth or email.

Platforms: Android, iPhone, Blackberry, Windows Phone, iPad, Mac, PC

LinkedIn

The Linkedln motto provides the best description for the app: ? Find and connect with over 175 million professionals, get the latest updates, and share your status ? all from your mobile device.?

For any growing business, reaching out to the right audience is paramount. The Linkedln mobile app is your doorway to connect to the world’s largest network of professionals, many of whom can be potential resources and prospects for your business.

The latest LinkedIn app has had a whole slew of new features added, which allow you to:
• View and do a follow-up on useful profiles.
• Be in on the latest industry trends.
• Stay connected with your Linkedln groups.
• Share content within your network.

Platforms: Android, iPhone, Blackberry, Windows Phone, iPad, Mac, PC

These are just a chosen few out of the countless business apps out there. Depending on the scale and nature of your business, certain apps may deliver better value than others.

At some point in your business lifecycle you will be ready to graduate to a more personalized presence with a custom business app to better target your customers.