Smartlife

The number of internship opportunities seems to be constantly rising: just in the area of social media, it seems like every company has an opportunity for a student with a good working knowledge of Facebook and other social networking sites. However, hiring an intern requires a lot more than simply putting an ad up. If you want to make sure that you can hire the right intern for your business, there are some factors you need to consider.

There’s more to Google than just searching the web, even though that’s what the company is best known for. We previously wrote about seven of Google’s Gmail Labs features that can improve your messaging productivity. In addition to email, Google has a long (and growing) list of services, most of which are free, that you can use to become a lot more productive in areas such as health record management and investment portfolio management.

Tracking where your money goes is absolutely crucial to running a business, but that doesn’t mean that it has to be a time-sink. There are several online applications that simplify the process, from managing invoices to handling expenses, often beyond what a desktop application can provide. Beyond simply being able to access your financial records from anywhere, online tools have features like integration with online payment methods. The features each tool offers vary, but the different options here can meet the needs of a variety of businesses.

These days, you won’t always have immediate access to everyone who works on a given project. Maybe some aspects are being handled by freelancers. Maybe members of your team work remotely. Maybe you just aren’t in the office today. No matter how your team is distributed, you need to be able to assign tasks, share files, and manage your projects from anywhere. These applications offer the ability to do so from any Internet connection.

1. Basecamp: Considered one of the most popular project management applications online, Basecamp offers a very

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Good customer relationship management software simplifies and automates contacting your clients: most provide you with a clear record of what your past communications have included, as well as making sure that you and anyone you work with are on the same page for each client. Some CRM software even lets you send out automatic emails or newsletters. There are several desktop CRM software packages, but many of them simply aren’t comparable to web-based applications. Desktop CRM software often requires synchronizing and has limited usefulness if you aren’t at your desk.…

Running out of juice costs people more time than a renegade Doctor Who. Shouting “Switch to Emergency Power!” might sound like Star Trek’s Scotty, but how often have you found yourself nursing that single flashing battery bar while you wait for an important call? Squinting over a dimmed display so your laptop doesn’t die during the meeting? Hoping it’ll hold on so hard it’s like you’re trying to focus your body’s electricity into the electronics?

The simplest solution is to make sure that your devices never run dry…