Business Productivity Tip: Free Can Be Fruitful

I cannot tell a lie. The free lunch does exist, and if you know what you’re doing, you can get mighty full on “free.” I’ve got a boatload of software on my computer that I didn’t pay a dime for (no, I didn’t steal it—it was free to begin with, smart Alec). And I use a lot of it every day. So grab a java—heck, make it a latte seeing as you’re about to save some serious bucks here—and get ready to do some downloading!

Pixie – This little program that takes up virtually no space on your computer, yet once you have it you suddenly wonder how you lived even 10 minutes without it. Whether you get paid for design work, like to fiddle with your own business graphics, or need to tell your web designer the EXACT color you want that funky new logo, Pixie shows you the hex, RGB, HTML, CMYK and HSV values of whatever element on the screen your cursor is on. There’s nothing more than that to explain. Get it now. The simplicity of it is a beautiful thing.

Thunderbird – I’ve always said that when I meet Bill Gates in Hell I’ll be sure to let him know the state of mental distress his resource hungry and totally inefficient software caused me over the course of my personal and professional lifetime. Thankfully, I’ve got Thunderbird to make me feel a little better about my software predicament until then. Thunderbird can be a little glitchy—even cranky—at times, but it has never bogged down or CRASHED my system the way Outlook did such a long time ago. T-bird has lots of nifty features, and you can add to its functionality with the various downloads available at its website. It’s even compatible with the now prolific Plaxo.

Two things that help me overlook aforementioned glitchiness:

1) MozBackup allows you to backup your emails and address book without knowing a darned thing about, well, how to back up emails and addresses.
2) Switching from Outlook is virtually stress free because you can import your old data into the new app with just a few clicks.

CCleaner – Let’s face it: despite how many hours in a day most of us sit in front of these brain fryers, we could all use a little boost in the hygiene department. You know there is more to computer housekeeping than defragging the old hard drive once a month (you DO defrag, don’t you?!?), yet when was the last time you cleaned up your registry? Or got rid of all the temp files piling up like dirty laundry on your hard drive? I’m no techie (dorky, yes), but I “get” the importance of doing this stuff and so should you. I run CCleaner every night before going to bed. Like brushing my teeth, but without the minty aftertaste.

WordWeb – Not a writer? Doesn’t matter. You need to sound intelligent, and that means not using the word “nice,” “effective” and “the best” 27 times each in a memo. WordWeb is a thesaurus-slash-dictionary like the one you’ve come to know and love in Microsoft Word. Except WordWeb’s wisdom is available to you no matter what program you’re using when the brain synapses start breaking down like a Pinto on the freeway. Use it often and look smarter than you really are. Neat.

As usual, I could go on and on here. But this is only meant to be a teaser. If you really want to get into this all-you-can-eat software thing, there are only 2 places you need to know about: Download.com (also known as c|net) and PC World online which posts periodic reviews of the best freebies around.

One caveat: some free software is intended for home or “non-commercial” use. In other words, if you’re using it for your business computer (and I know you are), then gee-whiz, pay for it as such, okay? Just wanted to clear that up.

Start clicking and start saving. In the meantime, I’m heading out for another (overpriced) latte.

Ciao.