4 Brilliant Tools and Apps We’re Crazy About

I have a confession to make... 

I'm a total new app nerd (let your freak flag fly, right?)

But seriously, you should see my phone.

Apps everywhere. 

Ones I can't live without, ones I should get rid of, and ones I haven't quite figured out yet. 

It's bad news for my data usage, but great news for all of you because I'm excited to share my favorites. 

These 4 apps will help you discover awesome insights, improve productivity, generate feedback, and beat writer's block. Sounds too good to be true? That's because they are. 

Rooms by Facebook

Remember chat rooms?

You'd dial up, start chatting with strangers, and pray that your Mom didn't pick up the house phone and kick you off. Ah, the glory days.

Facebook's brand new app, Rooms, aims to bring people back together in a similar fashion. 

Rooms is a pseudonymous chat room app that allows users to create forums around specific topics that interest them. 

The forums are referred to as "rooms", and serve as a place for people to share text, photos. and videos relatives to the specified topic. 

Here's how it works:

1. Pick a topic

Interested in photography? Marketing? Graphic design? Create a "room" for your interest where you can interacted with other people who share the same interest. 

2. Customize 

The app allows users to pick a unique color for their "room." They've also made the "like" button customizable for added personalization.

3. Share

Invite your friends from the app or share the unique QR code for your "room" on social media to extend the invite to an even wider audience. 

Latergramme 

Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Snapchat, Vine...

It's safe to say that staying on top of your business' social media presence is no walk in the park. 

For us, Instagram often falls by the wayside. It's not that we don't love 'gramming, it's just that sometimes we forget (marketers are humans too!)

Lucky for us, Latergramme makes it easy to add photos to a scheduling dock from our desktop or mobile phone. 

The tool's "scheduled" tab shows posts that are in your queue, and if you need to make a change to a photo before it goes live, simply tap to modify. 

Unfortunately, photos scheduled in Latergramme doesn't post automatically. Instead, the app sends a push notification that reminds you that it's time to hit post. 

Tally

We're always looking for a second opinion on things around here.

Seriously though, if this were Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, we'd have used up our "ask the audience" card long, long ago. 

Whether it's something a long the lines of, "Do you like this email subject line better than that one?"

Or something a little more urgent like, "Should we get Sushi or Thai for lunch?"

We make more constructive decisions after generating a bit of feedback, which is why we love Tally. 

Tally is the most simple, stripped-down poll generator I've come across thus far. 

When you land on the website you're instructed to pose a question followed by as many multiple choice options as you'd like. 

...That's it. Share the link and that's literally it. 

Also, you'll notice that when you copy and paste the link to someone, Tally automatically populates a "lazy tweet" for you to spread the word at your convenience. 

The more feedback the better, right?

Prompts

We're no strangers to writer's block. 

I'd go as far as saying that the blinking cursor on the blank white screen is the bane of my existence (which is why we created this awesome tool!)

So when our marketing director suggested that I download the app Prompts, I didn't think twice. 

While Prompts is technically an app for creative writing, I've found that it works for business blogging just the same. 

In an effort to put forth relatable, conversational content, we try to create introductions that tell a story. With a touch of a button, Prompts suggests what you should write next by providing you with a prompt.

Don't like it? Hit the refresh button to populate another. 

Here are a few examples of the sentence starters Prompts offers:

• "I do my best work from..."
• "The day I will never forget began with..."
• "If there was one unanswered question I would want answered today, it would be..."
• "If this failed I would..."
• "A lesson everyone will learn is..."

If you look closely as some of my latest posts, you'll find bits and pieces of prompts everywhere. 

Want more?

There are tons of apps on the market that'll make your job – and life! – a lot easier. We've tried them all and created a free guide detailing the best of the best. 

Simply follow the link below and they're all yours.