Ah, the days before I started using project management software.

I don’t miss them.

70+ hour weeks of pure stress and disorganized skitting from task to task, unable to focus on the things that mattered when they needed to get done. It was a lesson hard-learned but one of the most valuable I’ve ever had the misfortune of going through.

So I’ll save you the trouble and show you the best free options on offer.

You don’t need a massive budget or a lot of experience to get the most out of these apps – hence why they’re the best free project management software. Most have paid plans but all are functional with the free version and all will help you and your team organize your projects and get things done on time and to a high standard.

I’ll be covering:

1. Process Street
2. Agantty
3. Airtable
4. Asana
5. Avaza
6. Backlog
7. Bitrix24
8. FreedCamp
9. HiTask
10. KanbanFlow
11. MeisterTask
12. Paymo
13. Pivotal Tracker
14. Podio
15. TeamGantt
16. TeamWeek
17. Teamwork Projects
18. Todoist
19. Trello
20. Wrike
21. Zenkit

Enough talk – let’s get stuck in.
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You click the ‘Contact Us’ page. Nothing happens. First, confusion, then familiar frustration. It was a mailto link. Your computer slows to a grinding halt as a huge, archaic desktop mail app rises from the depths of your hard drive. Checking that the date on your computer isn’t 15 years out, you wonder why mail integration isn’t standard… and what year is it exactly?

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There are many things that Process Street, our process management platform, can be used for including onboarding new clients or launching a website. But an interesting use case that has cropped up recently is using Process Street for managing podcast releases.

Many podcast publishers run a checklist to help them manage the recording, publishing and promoting of each podcast episode. Checklists are a great tool to make sure things get done right, and since Process Street is the ultimate recurring checklist software, it only makes sense that podcasters would gravitate towards our platform.

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The Rise of Instagram

Instagram is the fastest growing social network. It has more users than Twitter and is an amazing tool for driving traffic and sales. Take a look at this guy who sold $4,000 worth of neckties in one day on Instagram.

Photo and Image Credit

Here are some more stats on the rise of Instagram from Search Engine Journal.

• Multi-platform use is on the rise: 52% of online adults now use two or more social media sites, a significant increase from 2013, when it stood at 42% of internet users.
• For the first time, more than half of all online adults 65 and older (56%) use Facebook. This represents 31% of all seniors.
• For the first time, roughly half of internet-using young adults ages 18-29 (53%) use Instagram. And half 0f all Instagram users (49%) use the site daily.
• For the first time, the share of internet users with college educations using LinkedIn reached 50%.
• Women dominate Pinterest: 42% of online women now use the platform, compared with 13% of online men.

If you’re hungry for more data, you can view the comprehensive 4-page report right here.

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Assigning team members to their tasks is a duty which is as vital as it is tedious.

Everyone pretty much knows what they should be doing, so there’s no need to directly assign them to everything when you could be spending time on more important tasks, right?

Wrong.

Human error (of which memory plays a huge part) affects 1/100 routine tasks where care is needed. This means that the people responsible either makes a mistake or forgets what they need to do (hence why documented processes are so important).

That’s why we here at Process Street have a role assignment feature in our checklists.

Role assignments let you dictate who each task in your process checklists needs to be assigned to without fail every time. All you need to do is set up the role which will have the task assigned, then Process Street does the rest.

Ready to assign your tasks without fail, fuss or tedious fiddling? Then let’s dive right in.

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The following post is a guest contribution from Cristopher Burge. He is a full-time writer, passionate about technology and business-related articles. He focuses on everything that involves cloud computing, in one way or another. Follow him on Twitter.

The emergence of cloud computing has changed the way organizations and people buy and use IT services.

Cloud-based HR software is technologically focused, but the impact it has on the business and the people using it is profound. While some companies have not integrated with the cloud due to fear of the unknown and the urge to protect their investments, they are at risk of missing out on the innovations the cloud brings to tphe HR department.

Cloud computing is the simplest way a company can take the advantage of technologies without having to spend money on buying expensive computer parts, an IT specialist, and on-site software.

The problem most firms often run into is the integration of cloud computing into their already existing structure, but this process shouldn’t be a daunting one because it is a change in the way IT services are utilized, requiring a new but better way of doing things and just a little cultural change towards a better result.

This article points out how cloud services provide high value with low risk, as a solution for the HR department of an organization, enabling departments to transform the way things are done — from screening to recruitment and termination. It highlights the importance of moving the HR system to the cloud and the method through which any HR challenges can be overcome via cloud computing.

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Whether you’re in a meeting or doing customer support, screen sharing is one of the best ways to illustrate your point without frustrating anyone in the call.

That is if you can get an app which lets you share your screen without an issue.

We’ve all been there before – you’ve shown up early to a meeting only to have your technology die on you. Maybe the call quality was so bad you couldn’t hear each other speak or perhaps the other person was forced to download a new app before being able to see your screen.

No matter your troubles, this list will clear up which screen sharing apps are the best for you to use, why, and why other options aren’t up-to-scratch.

I’ll be covering:

• Zoom
• Join.me
• Skype
• GoToMeeting
• Slack
• Appear.in
• Screenleap
• Google Hangouts
• Mikogo
• Chrome Remote Desktop
• USE Together

Ready? Let’s go.
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This is a guest post from Nikola Banicek, an internet marketing specialist at Point Visible, a marketing agency providing custom outreach and link building services. He’s a laid-back guy with experience in PPC, copywriting, and project planning. When he’s not working, he’s either gaming, watching football or anime.

Link building is essential if you want to rank higher and position yourself as an authority in your niche.

The problem is, of course, that link building isn’t easy. It takes time, effort, patience, and skill. The rewards are big – but only if you get the process right.

This is where tools come in.

Tools are designed to solve problems and make your life more efficient. And in the link-building game, there are lots of problems to solve! From finding better link building opportunities to managing your whole projects, tools have got you covered.

But which ones should you be using and for what purpose?

In this Process Street article, we take a look at all the tools you need to set-up an effective link building campaign.

Link building campaign tools: The quicklinks!

• Ahrefs
• Guest Post Tracker
• BuzzStream
• Moz Link Explorer
• Ninja Outreach
• BuzzSumo
• PitchBox
• Majestic
• Broken Link Builder
• Breeze
• Slack
• Google Sheets
• Process Street

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Whether you want to reduce your environmental impact, be more efficient, or reduce your expenses to Dunder Mifflin, going paperless is a really positive step forward for your business.

Operating in a paperless office means all activity and work is recorded and can be easily found. It means you can send work over to other colleagues in seconds. It means you don’t need huge filing cabinets taking up valuable space.

It’s just better in many many ways.

Even if you want to keep paper as a small part of your life, taking the necessary steps toward a paperless office will yield results.

So how do we create a paperless office?

The answer is in the tools you choose to use for your business. Any business may have specialist tools specific to their industry, but we’ve tried to pick out 7 tools which can collectively cover almost all aspects of a company’s operations.

You’ve got your email, word processing, spreadsheets, databases, kanban boards, BPM software, accounting, software development, automation, communication, and funny gif sending software. And that’s just the start of what these tools can achieve.

In this Process Street article, we’re going to go through each one by one and give you an introduction. Some tools you might already be familiar with, but I’m sure at least one will be new!

Here are our paperless office quicklinks:

• GSuite
• Process Street
• Airtable
• Quickbooks
• Phabricator
• Zapier
• Slack

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This is a guest post from Kyle Anderson; a freelance tech journalist whose typical day is spent scouring the web for the latest developments in the world of business tools and software. He loves any type of software that automates his life! For his pastimes, he is an avid lover of travelling, poetry, and photography.

When it comes to prospecting and the wider sales process, there’s never a shortage of tools you can use to make your work easier and more efficient. One of the most versatile of them is Outlook, a Microsoft tool that is popularly known for email and business calendar management.

However, Outlook is not limited to just these two functions.

You can easily unlock its hidden power by integrating it with compatible add-ins and other extensions. In the end, you’ll be able to complete a broad range of business functions including market/customer research, communication with your clients, document sharing, accounting, and more.

In this Process Street post, we take a look at how you can run a successful outreach campaign for your sales cycle using Outlook and its supported add-ins.

We’ll cover:

• Lead qualification Outlook Add-ins
• Email template Outlook Add-ins
• Meeting scheduling Outlook Add-ins
• Contract signing Outlook Add-ins
• Accounting and invoicing Outlook Add-ins

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