I know we discussed this in the past, but I'm bringing it back up because there so many new tools out there. Particularly web-based tools.

What are some of the tools you use in your work to improve your productivity? Here are some of mine...

Google's Writely
http://www.writely.com/

Google is coming out with some pretty impressive tools. This one is an online web-based word processor. Great for writing copy and sharing/collaborating, especially with other copywriters, clients, associates, etc.

Google Notebook
http://www.google.com/notebook

Research is an incredible part of your job. Surfing the web or reading your email, you will come accross a ton of passages and clippings you want to copy, reference to, gather for data research purposes, quote in your copy, get ideas from, etc. Google Notebook is an personal online repository of all things important. Even Firefox has a plugin for it, which you can activate and "click and store" as you browse.

Google's Spreadsheets
http://spreadsheet.google.com/

I use to have a spreadsheet to keep track of all my copywriting projects, which my junior copywriters, my accountant and my assistant had access to and can work on. But emailing back and forth was a nightmare. Google Spreadsheet makes it possible to have it all in one central location, online.

SendThisFile.com
Easily Send Large Files! Free Accounts!

When I need to send files -- like copy work, video, images, etc -- that are too large, either for my email or my client's email, I used to upload it to my server and email the link. Now, I use SendThisFile to email any size file to my clients/associates in a snap.

BaseCamp
Project collaboration, management, and task software: Basecamp

BaseCamp is a central repository I use to share information between clients and co-workers and junior copywriters. It's a project management system, complete with message boards, group emails, whiteboards, file sharing, to-do lists, milestone planning, discussion room, etc.

Answers.com
Answers.com - Online Dictionary, Encyclopedia and much more

While you can use Answers.com as a web research tool, Answers also offers a free downloadable program that sits in your system tray, where you can ALT-click any word or phrase in any document/software, and out pops up a window giving you: dictionary, encyclopedia, almanac, references, web searches, wiki entries, translations, thesaurus, you name it... all in one.

Textalyzer
Text analysis, wordcount, keyword density analyzer, prominence analysis

Need to know the word count, sentence count or character count of your copy? Or how easily readable it is? MS Word offers a readability analysis built-in. This is great when you want to know if you're using words that are too complex. (The best copy is almost always easily readable at a 6-7th grade level.) But what if you use FrontPage? Or if it's online? That's where Textalyzer comes in. (It's also a great tool for SEO purposes.)

RhymeZone
RhymeZone rhyming dictionary and thesaurus

Sometimes, you need a word that rhymes. Or you're looking for a quote. Or you're looking for a word but can't seem to find it in a dictionary. Or you want to quote a famous passage, adage or document (like the US Constitution). Enter RhymeZone. It's a writer's all-in-one reference tool.

iDictate
iDictate - Secretarial Transcription Services

Often, I need to transcribe copy I've recorded, a telephone conversation (such as one with a client), a teleseminar, or an audio file that's relevant to my copy. iDictate is an online service that will transcribe audio files of any type and email you a document by email within a few hours. It's all done by human beings. (This is important since software, like Dragon Naturally Speaking, have to be trained and can only transcribe the speaker who trained it.) They even offer a 1-800 recording service, which is great for doing it on the phone.

I have more, but hopefully this will get things started.

What are yours?

Thanks Michel.

Lots of good stuff.

Nice, thanks Michel!

Wow... michel. Thanks.

Thanks for the post Michel!

I can't get enough of Diigo.com.

Diigo is a social bookmarking site (similar to Del.icio.us) but you can highlight articles and add virtual sticky notes... kind of like an online version of a highliter marker and a book.

I basically use Diigo as my online swipe file for headlines and copy tips, et cetera.

Nick Wright

watchsportslearnmarketing.com

Thanks Michel for the links.

I just ran a readibility test on one of my online sales letters using textalyser.

Out of the 2192 words used in the sales letter, I was sort of surprised what my most frequently used word is.

It's "you".

The next top ranked word which is used nearly half as frequently is "your".

Good focus for talking one-to-one.

I guess if I were going for seo, though, my frequently used words are all wrong. Oh well. Since this is a sales letter I'll leave the frequency as is.

But good to have an automatic counter to figure my 'you' frequency.

This is a tool I suspected to use often.

Thanks again.

Andre

Now to check out the other links...

Good stuff...can we Sticky this thread?

Excellent list of resources Michel.

I know web analytics isn't a productivity tool per-se, but now that Google Analytics is open to everyone (there used to be a waiting period) I see no reason why everyone isn't using them.

http://www.google.com/analytics

Just to put this in perspective - When it was still Urchin - they were charging $500 a month. Then when Google bought them they lowered the price to $200 a month - and then it went free.

I do not know of any other free web analytics tool that even comes close to what you get with Google Analytics.

- Ophir

Done.

Anyone else? What's your favorite copywriting productivity tool?

Here'a a couple I downloaded within the last two weeks:

• Camstudio - free software like Camtasia (thanks Vin)

• Audacity - free audio editing software (thanks Primo)

Cheers,