Best Google Apps for Your Small Business

As if Google didn't have its hands in enough products, last week the search engine launched Google Apps Marketplace, a market that allows developers to sell software applications to the more than 2 million businesses already using Google Apps, such as Gmail, Google Docs, Google Calendar and more. This move takes Google deeper into the enterprise market, where it can compete with Microsoft Office, and it also makes it easier for new startups to target the small enterprise market.But, which new Google Apps can help you expand your business?Note that you will have to be an administrator on a Google Apps account before you can install apps from the Google Apps Marketplace.Zoho ProjectsZoho and Google Apps technically offer a lot of the same services: email, word processing, spreadsheet and more. But, Zoho Projects also offers services beyond what Google Apps can do, in that it can keep track of deadlines and tasks by automatically adding them to team members' calendars. It also serves as a kind of project intranet by providing wikis, shared file spaces and public web pages. Your team can post files in a centralized space and use integrated group chat.This app is $12/month for unlimited users. You can try out the app for free for one project.ManymoonManymoon is similar to Zoho Projects in that it is a team collaboration application that integrates with Google Apps, but it perhaps serves a more social function with Twitter-like status updates. The app integrates with Google Docs, Google Calendar and Gmail. It also created a Google Gadget which monitors tasks.Manymoon is free and the highest-rated app in Google Apps Marketplace.Aviary Design SuiteOne of the coolest Firefox plug-ins is in the Google Apps Marketplace. Aviary Design Suite is a Web-based image and audio editor that allows you to add effects to and tweak images, along with creating logos, business cards and labels. The Aviary Google App lets you use Aviary to create and edit graphics for use within Google Docs.The service is free.TripItTripIt for Google Apps lets you see who in your apps workgroup is traveling and when. When you book travel online and get an email of your itinerary, you forward that email to plans@tripit.com. TripIt then automatically gleans your trip's details and builds an itinerary page with useful information, including the weather, local time, directions, online check-ins and travel delays. You can then share this information with your friends and coworkers. You can also integrate information into your Google Calendar and see where employees are traveling on a company travel map.TripIt is a free app.Box.netBox.net is a full-fledged content management system similar to Microsoft Sharepoint. In addition to an unlimited storage system, the Cloud Content Management app for Google Docs will let you access and integrate your Google files directly within the Box.net ecosystem, meaning you can create a Google Doc as a file type within Box, and then utilize the collaboration tools. You can also access your Box content directly from Gmail or Google Calendar. You can be alerted when any changes are made to your content with an Update feed.The Google App is free for Box.net business users and $15 per month for new users.SlideRocketAs an alternative to Power Point, SlideRocket is a full-featured presentation editor that can be pulled up on any computer with Internet access. With SlideRocket, you can integrate video, audio and live data feeds into your presentations. You can also utilize analytics to see who views your presentation and when. You can then embed presentations easily on your website or blog.SlideRocket is $12 per month per user. A free “lite” version is available.Intuit Online PayrollIntuit, the makers of Quicken and Quickbooks, has an online payroll tool that allows users to access their payroll or paychecks from anywhere in Google Apps. Intuit Online Payroll lets your employees to access their paystubs from their Google Calendars. You can seamlessly integrate your payroll and Google Mail, which helps you easily keep track of invoices and bills. You can also track payroll dates on your Google Calendar, print checks, use direct deposit, pay taxes and file forms electronically.You pay $39 per month for one employee and for filing taxes in one state. Each additional employee is $1.50 per month; filing taxes in each additional state is $12 per month. There is a free 30-day trial.