First there was the Internet as it was used by scientists, the government and various other very smart individuals in private and education sectors. Then a fellow in Europe decided that it would be cool to share data he was collecting while working at CERN. To do this in an efficient and elegant manner, he created what eventually became the World Wide Web. His notes and info were now able to be “found” by his peers and eventually they were creating their own pages of knowledge to be shared and commented upon.
Fast forward to today, and you’ll find an infinite amount of knowledge and experience online. If you have a question you go to a search engine. Perhaps your query is somewhat specialized? You go to a niche portal that accumulates and coalesces information for your research pleasure.
One of the most powerful paradigm changes the Internet has brought to the masses is the ability to download software from any connected computer, anywhere in the world. This global delivery system has revolutionized the way computer programs are not only distributed, but has actually affected their development processes.
Following are some of the most downloaded software programs that will come in handy during any word of mouth marketing campaign, including a quick review and discussion of what makes that title interesting.
10 Programs to Assist in Online Marketing
- Pidgin – This instant messaging client helps you combine other popular messenger accounts (Yahoo, AIM, Gtalk, etc.) into one program so you can keep in touch with anyone, no matter what network.
- Open Office – If your business is not at the right point to invest in the Microsoft Office suite, Open Office offers you the best of applications with similar features to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and others. You can also convert most Office documents into Open Office format and vice versa.
- Thunderbird – Again, if you don’t use Microsoft products, Thunderbird is an alternative email management program similar to Outlook and Outlook Express to help you organize your emails.
- Firefox – Professionals in the business of coding and developing web based applications took quickly to this new web browser software. It was a key tool that created competition for Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.
- Winzip – A compression/decompression program that provides utilities for creating smaller files for easier online distribution. The program has developed handily over the years and is still amazingly popular with anyone needing advanced compression tools.
- iTunes – iTunes is home to tons of podcasts for all forms of online marketing.
- Ad-Aware – As with most things online when you download software you also run the chance of getting spam, spyware, and possibly Trojan horses designed to take over your machine. This popular program checks the data stream as you download it.
- Skype – Originally just a way to communicate with others via voice, Skype has become THE online video communications software. Free communications has never been nicer.
- Gimp – Need to edit some images? Gimp is an open source Adobe Photoshop like product that will be able to assist you with your basic image editing needs. I have even created a few simple business card designs in this easy to use program.
- Acrobat Reader (PDF) – For over 7 years this document reader program has positioned Adobe’s portable document file as the leading way to secure the display of files across most operating systems and browsers.
Much of the download software available today doesn’t even resemble the earliest days of the Internet. With increasing usage of Application Program Interfaces (APIs), companies are centralizing the software and distributing the information via remote access to the application.
While this has affected downloads, there are still numerous categories of software which will always be needed, and downloaded regularly by Internet users. What are your favorite free, open source, or premium programs to help with all of your marketing needs?
This guest post is by Vern, a freelance consultant who uses a variety of open source software options as an alternative to having to buy software. With a little research, almost anything can be found freely.
