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Making the switch from PC to Mac can be tough to start. There’s a bit of an initial learning curve with the Mac, but I’ve found that once you’ve mastered the basics you’ll love the added reliability and speed that a Mac can bring to your business.

Of course you need to equip yourself with the tools to do business on the Mac, and fortunately there are now some awesome applications out there that can help you get stuff done quickly and efficiently. Here’s a rundown of my most used applications…

Things – Project & Time Management

Keeping track of projects, meetings and launch dates (amoung other things) is an essential part of most online businesses. Things is a fantastic To-Do list or task manager that has a great way of organising your tasks so you can file them appropriately and track progress easily. You can allocate tasks a due date, add notes, tags and also organise tasks as part of a larger project – great for organising launches or affiliate campaign preparation.

Things is available for $49.95 but you can download a free trial from the CulturedCode website – Things

Market Samurai – Market Research & Promotion

Market Samurai has evolved into one of the essential Internet Marketing tools of the last year. The team at Noble Samurai are continually adding new features, and the software now features modules including:

- SEO Competition: See what is ranking in the top 10 for your keywords and analyse the competition including seeing backlink stats and pagerank information

- Keyword Research: Conduct in-depth research into keywords and find those hidden gems in your market to help you rank more easily and get more traffic

- Rank Tracker: Track the rankings of your sites and your comeptitors sites in the top search engines to measure the effectiveness of your SEO campaigns

- Monetization: This new module enables you to find products to promote and create dynamic ads based on keywords or web content

- Find Content: Quickly research new content for your blog or articles with this search feature

- Publish Content: Gives you a quick way to create and store new content for your websites and articles, with wizards to assist you

- Promotion: Find backlinks and other web 2.0 properties to place your links and content to help boost your SEO rankings

As you can see from the quick summary above, the software has a lot to offer and really should be considered as an essential item for your toolkit if you want to start building an online business as it can be a big timesaver and I use this tool daily in almost all areas of my business.

Market Samurai is available for a one-time fee of $149, and you can try the software out first to see how it can impact your business – Market Samurai

Apimac Timer – Time Management

Time management is a very important factor in my business, and I do often find it hard to stay on task. Using the Apimac Timer has helped me stay on task – I usually set this simple stopwatch/timer to 45mins – 1 hour and work on a project for the time set. During that time I will not deviate from that project, and I will always take a short break after before continuing or moving to a new project. This has proved a very effective method for me – of course you will probably develop your own time management strategies, but having a simple timer app should help you with this.

The Amimac Timer is freeware (with a Pro version available). You can grab it from the Apimac website (they also have a range of other apps) – Apimac Timer

ScreenFlow – Screencasting / Screen Recording

Screenflow is a great application for recording any activity from your Mac screen. This is great if you want to record some step by step video training on a for a new product, or perhaps you want to record a software demonstration, or even make a recording of a webinar you are holding. Screenflow also has some cool editing features so you can add animation to your video after recording.

An alternative to Screenflow is Camtasia which has just been released on the Mac. This was a stable favourite on the PC and the Mac version is looking like a viable alternative to Screenflow. Both apps have trial versions available so check out both of them and see which you prefer now.

Screenflow Trial | Camtasia Trial

1Password - Password Management

If you’re anything like me, you’ll often lose track of the many passwords you have for all the different websites you use on a regular basis as part of your business operations. I now use 1Password to keep track of all these passwords, and provide form filling funtionality so I can login to sites quicker and complete forms with the click of a button.

1Password is available for a one-time fee of $39.95 but you can download a trial version from Agile Web Solutions – 1Password

Omnigraffle Professional – Flow Charts & Diagrams

If you want to map out any processes or organisational structures for your business, or if you want to brainstorm new ideas, OmniGraffle is a great application. It is very flexible and allows you to create a range of different diagrams and charts to fit your needs.

OmniGraffle is available for download from the Omni Group website – licences start from $99.95 -
OmniGraffle

Freemind – Mind Mapping

Mind mapping has become one of my favourite ways to brainstorm ideas, map out processes and share ideas with team members and clients. Mind maps allow you to easily map out complete websites or projects quickly, and allow you to get a complete overview of a concept much more quickly.

Freemind is a fantastic free app that works on PC and Mac and allows you to create mind maps for any projects you wish. There are also some nice extra icons and marking schemes built in to help you code your mind maps for better understanding when you return to them.

The Freemind software is Open Source and can be downloaded here – Freemind.

There are also a range of other great Mind Mapping applications now emerging. Another favourite of mine is the iMindMap software which allows you to create really amazing looking visualizations of your ideas.

Grab – Screenshot Software

Back when I was using my PC, I always used the SnagIt software to grab any screenshots or images I wanted to use in my graphics. Unfortunately TechSmith (also the creators of Camtasia) haven’t yet released a version for the Mac. Fortunately though, the Mac comes supplied with it’s own screenshot app, imaginatively called “Grab”.

You can find this application pre-installed with new Mac systems – located in the Applications > Utilities folder. Although basic, Grab allows you to capture a specific window, selection, or the whole of your screen. The software outputs in .Tiff format, but you can also copy the output and import into your graphic editor of choice.

Parallels – Windows on the Mac

I know this article is all about Mac applications, but I thought it was only fair to include Parallels in this run down as this does allow me to run some essential non-Mac compatible applications on my MacBook without any problems.

Once installed on your Mac, Parallels allows you to run a virtual version of Windows within the OSX operating system – allowing you to run any of those essential applications that aren’t available for your beloved Mac.

The software also includes a nifty “Coherence mode” which allows you to run windows in the background and run apps in their own windows on the OSX background, so you don’t have to have the whole Windows window showing to be using the PC applications.

Parallels is available through the Apple store for $79.95 – Parallels. You might also want to take a look at VMWare Fusion ($79.99) which is the main alternative to Parallels for running Windows on your Mac.

Keynote – Great Looking Presentations

I use Keynote on a regular basis to create digital products (I use keynote presentations combined with voice-over audio). I also use Keynote documents to store ideas for projects and separate ideas onto different slides.

The Keynote software has many different great looking templates included, making your content look great. You can also add fancy animations to your finished presentations if you wish, and there are a range of other features which make it easy to organise your presentations if you’re planning to speak on a big stage.

Keynote is part of the iWork package which is available for $79 from the Apple Store – Keynote

Adobe Media Player – FLV Media Player

If you’re consuming any digital products online, you will no-doubt encounter some products which come packaged with FLV video files. This has become the standard compression format for many videos when being shared online as it’s able to maintain quality whilst minimizing file size.

I use Adobe Media Player to organize any digital content I have downloaded or been sent, and it plays back the content in an easy to use interface.

Adobe Media Player is available for free from the Adobe website and also comes packaged with some Adobe packages.

I hope you’ve found this list useful and hopefully discovered a few applications that will make your life a little easier when you’re marketing on your Mac. If you’ve got any recommendations I’d love to hear them so please post in the comments below.

Tags: essential mac apps, mac apps for marketers, market samurai, marketing applications mac, osx mac apps, screenflow, things mac