Real Time Status for Your Business with GeckoBoard

Ever felt like you?d like the 911 status on your business, in one view, one place? All the vitals so you can see, at a glance, what?s going on in the different areas of your company? If you have wanted to combine your web analytics, CRM, project management, sales pipeline, customer support requests, to name just a few, then this review?of GeckoBoard is for you.

The first thing to understand about GeckoBoard is that it aggregates the stuff, the information, you need or want to see in one dashboard view. That dashboard might be on your iPhone or laptop or it might be an HD television hanging in your office lobby or manufacturing floor. Each device or monitor counts as one connection and, depending on your account, you are allowed a certain number of simultaneous connections.

For small business owners who are already managing too much information, GeckoBoard provides a way to streamline and simplify the information flow across your desk.

After you sign up for a free trial, I?ll admit it can be a little intimidating to figure out. However, it doesn?t take long to get it working. They are creating a new category of web-based application ? a tool that pulls all of your disparate software and applications into one view. The company calls it a ?real time status board.? I can live with that. The app comes with some basic parts installed so you can view samples. By clicking ?Add Widget? you quickly see how many apps are already easy to connect to, such as:

• Highrise for CRM
• Gmail and Mailchimp for email
• FourSquare for location updates
• Basecamp or Github for project management
• Salesforce, Twitter, Freshbooks, Google Analytics, to name a few more and the then you have tools to create custom widgets linking into datasets that are just your own. The custom widget button helps you build from scratch.

Frankly, it is a bit mind-boggling. And that?s my only real wish for the GeckoBoard platform ? that they do a bit more work on explaining what it all means for you as a small business owner. For some, it is a big ?aha? and quite intuitive; for others, it?s a rabbit hole of ?what does this do, really??

Here is a sample dashboard I created in less than five minutes; after I got up the courage to hook into different data sets of my own. ?I set up a search on Twitter for ?makers? and ?inventors?; then hooked into my Gmail account (I had just emptied my inbox to look organized). I also hooked into one of my websites Google Analytics account and it was all point and click and authorize. Here?s a quick screenshot below. I left the three default sample widgets that are right on top.

If you find yourself jumping from application to application to keep up with your inbox, your tasks, your social media, you could use GeckoBoard to put it all on one screen. More so, if you have information that you want to share on a big screen with your team or your customers as they come into your company offices, you could use it that way, too. It is fairly easy to use and offers a lot of potential for those trying to see a lot in one glance. Plans start at $9/month and scale up based on connections. No credit card to sign up for a free 30-day trial (which is what I used to test it out).

Learn more about GeckoBoard.

About the Author

TJ publishes Tech Biz Talk, a site that reviews business apps of all types and provides how-to posts and tutorials. Share your application or service at his Facebook page and share details about your company/app in the comments below. TJ actively studies all searching for new apps to write about. Learn more about TJ.

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Source: http://smallbiztrends.com/2012/02/geckoboard-product-review.html

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