As children, there was nothing worse than getting a box of raisins while trick or treating. Unless it was Dots, Necco wafers or a popcorn ball.

No such worry this Halloween — the Aker Ink team is dropping the business equivalent of full-size chocolate bars just in time for the holiday. Team members shared their favorite time-saving tricks and marketing treats.

Just don’t try them all at once! You won’t get sick, but you might get sidetracked and miss Halloween altogether.

 

Tricks

  • Use Google Alerts to monitor not only your company, but also competitors and industry trends. Google will send you an email any time your search terms appear on web pages or in articles, blogs or research reports.
  • Save a lot of time formatting documents by using the Format Painter tool in Microsoft Word. The tool allows you to copy the desired text format and apply it to text that needs to be changed. You can find it on the toolbar under Home > Clipboard. Simply highlight the properly formatted text, click the Format Painter icon and select the text you want formatted.
  • Use Calendly for scheduling appointments with others. It’s a great way for people outside your company to check your availability.
  • Project management software like Trello, Smartsheet and Monday are essential for keeping track of tasks and the status of multiple projects.

 

Treats

  • Struggling to come up with social media content? Use a site like National Day Today to find inspiration for tie-ins. From National Redhead Day (Nov. 5, Valliere would like you to know) to National Fun at Work Day (Jan. 28), you find plenty of events you can use to promote various aspects of your business.
  • Want to show fellow executives or your board just how far the company has come during your tenure? Hop on the Wayback Machine to show them how the website has evolved over the years.
  • Want to know your website’s carbon impact? The Website Carbon Calculator tells you how much C02 is produced every time someone visits, how many trees it takes to absorb your annual visits and how far an electric car can go off the energy it uses. If you want to reduce your carbon impact, a good host goes a long way.

Of course, if you want media coverage to trigger a Google Alert, need help crafting an effective social media strategy or hope to take your website to a new level, Aker Ink has king-size tricks ready year round.