One of the hardest challenges as a sales manager is hiring great talent. Even after multiple interviews, sales evaluation exams, and impeccable references contacted a less than hire can still happen. What makes them less than?

I can sum this up in one word, Drive.

In my experience it is really hard to root out whether a person has drive or not. Most, if not all, potential candidates can talk the talk but very few can walk the walk. After a few months their drive, or lack of, is what usually starts frustrating me. Those that have drive and are driven, a breath of fresh air. The latter I started analyzing years ago and here is what I found.

An Epiphany
As a previous owner of a business I was frustrated with the seemingly lack of desire to succeed from my employees. My conclusion was maybe they didn’t have enough “skin in the game”. Creative pay plans with possible incentives and bonuses were designed with little success. While money, or lack of, can motivate it really was more than that I was after. Where was their creativity, their motivation, and where was their drive?

This brought me to a new point in my hiring and managing ideology. I would hire people that had drive. Then I could take my business, my sales and management teams, to the level of success I and more importantly we desired.

To get started I needed a concrete definition of drive. Simple enough. Well… not really. As I did some research I found that the definition of drive was all over the map. Nothing fully describing my concept of being driven anyways. Finally, I decided to come up with my own definition which has served me well for some time now.

“Success is almost totally dependent upon drive and persistence. The extra energy required to make another effort or try another approach is the secret of winning.” -Denis Waitley

Drive Explained
In an effort to hire driven sales and management pros a basic understanding of what that means needed to be had. Cleverly, or at least I think so, I have broken drive into 5 components that spells this out. Literally.

Components of D.R.I.V.E.

Disciplined – Intense focus on the job at hand. To be intensely focused seems straight forward enough. Unfortunately it’s not for the average sales professional. Throughout my management career I have found sales people to be a little “ADD” (attention deficit disorder) typically. While they might not be diagnosed as such they have many of the same strong characteristics. Just the term “disciplined” brings a knot in most sales staffs stomachs. The really great successful sales pros however have overcome this somewhere, somehow, in their career. Without discipline success very rarely happens.

Resourceful – Finds a way to succeed no matter what the obstacle. Optimistic. Understands the value of education, networking and teams.

Ingenious – Thinks different. Smart. Looking for opportunities within, and without, existing opportunities.

Voracious – Is motivated, competitive, and won’t stop until achievement is attained. This is a mindset. It’s a formidable desire and tenacity for success. When everyone else has given up voracious sales pros are still finding ways to make it work.

Entrepreneurial – Does not look at their career as a job. Has vision. Gets excited. Dedicated work ethics. Not afraid to put in the time. Money is typically not their only motivation. Success Driven.

Items to Think About
Question: Can any of these above components be absent and still have drive?
Answer: No! To have a driven desire to succeed takes all of the D.R.I.V.E. components.

Question: Can drive be taught or is it something we’re born with?
Answer: From birth we are given a “natural curiosity” and are driven to explore. Some more than others. Environment plays a large role here as well. Ultimately, everyone could nurture and expand their basic drive.

Question: Is drive really that important to sales success?
Answer: Not only is it important but it’s crucial to long term successes.

One of the ways I root out a persons drive is by asking them to define D.R.I.V.E. live and in person. I do this as I am interviewing them without any preparation on their part. I want to see their gut reactions and responses. I also ask them to fill out a sales questionnaire. Basic questions relating to sales processes. Typically when both have been done I have a pretty good idea if they can sell and will have the drive to achieve. While some of this can be subjective it is important to me to see if they share the same basic sales ideology and drive that I do. If so, a comradeship, or bonding, takes place and success begins. Typically quickly. Isn’t that ultimately what we as managers and owners are looking for?

© 2012, Chris Lott and SalesBlog!. All rights reserved.

Is your phone system purchase that important? Seems like a dumb question doesn’t it? However, in all the years I have been in the telecom industry it never ceases to surprise me at how little companies think about their communication needs. I’ve received call after call with panicked employees and/or owners needing a last minute bid on phones and phone lines with no due diligence and typically no real idea of what they need, or don’t. This applies to all sizes of companies.

Communication systems are not simple “How many phones and voicemail users do you want?” configurations any more. In trying to consult with a potential last minute client I typically see panic turn to full on terror. “What do you mean it takes 3-4 weeks to get a digital trunk-T1! I’m open for business in a week!” and/or “I just need a phone system… I don’t have time for this!”.

Of course I oblige with a quick install… they pay for temporary lines and a quick system configuration. They’re always grateful at first but then come the complaints. Not a win-win in my opinion. Here are some basic questions you should be asking.

Phone System Considerations – 8 Critical Questions
1.) What services are actually offered by various business lines carriers at your new location? Time frame?
2.) Is the building wired correctly for these services and communication systems?
3.) Does a premise (CPE) communication solution or a virtual (HOSTED) solution make sense?
4.) How does the new solution affect the current data network, software integration (i.e. CRM), and/or your 1, 2, and 5 year IT plans in general?
5.) Do you have the IT resources/knowledge needed for a VoIP/SIP solution?
6.) Is there a place for a phone system? Do you need a rack, environment change (i.e. A/C), virtualized server, or is co-location a better option?
7.) Do you have remote users, other locations? What is the best connectivity needed to make this work?
8.) Mobility? Are you going to connect to smartphones and/or tablets? Will there be an integration with Android, RIM, or Apple?

Order Taking a Phone System – A Recipe for Disaster
There are those that will turn to the Internet and order their system. Easy right? Don’t have to deal with the pushy sales professional – consultant. That’s got to be good. “I will have 10 phones please and could you add an order of fries to go with that?”. Of course I’m exaggerating here a bit but you get the point. Months later I get the call… “My phone system sounds terrible. It’s affecting my business and sales. I’m tired of the non-local support. Can I re-use my phones?”. What a mess. Their upfront investment a waste of money. The importance of a phone system to their business has now hit home.

Communications Systems are Critical to ALL businesses!
There are a lot of factors in designing a usable, affordable, communications system. It is imperative that you put some thought into this prior to purchasing. Other than the computer it’s the single most critical interface you’ll use . It needs to be easy, simple, and specific. Team up with a respectable provider and interconnect. Make them prove their configuration. Negotiate a fair price and for heavens sake don’t wait until the last minute!

© 2012, Chris Lott and SalesBlog!. All rights reserved.

Advertising
There are now many alternatives to traditional newspaper, billboard, yellow page, and radio advertising. Here are just a couple…

Go social! Powerful tools like Twitter and Facebook can save you hundreds if not thousands a year on advertising. Guess how much it costs to create a Facebook Page or Twitter account to promote your business? $0.00! At the very least… listen to what your customers are saying about you online to figure out how you can serve them better and increase your revenues.

Build a website! In today’s market you simply have to have a web presence. It’s also an inexpensive way to improve your company branding efforts. You need a place for your twitter and/or facebook users to go. This is easier to do than you think. Host it on providers like Hostmonster for less than six bucks a month! You can literally start your site with a click of a button using their built-in site scripts feature. WordPress for blogging and/or Magento for eCommerce can be up and running within minutes. Getting your domain name registered is simple and easy with these folks as well.

Desktop
Open Office – As powerful as Microsoft Office and FREE! You can save the files in a format compatible with office as well. (i.e. .doc .ppt, etc.) Save as a .pdf is standard. Oracle is leading the charge on the development which makes this open source product extremely credible. “The leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages and works on all common computers. It stores all your data in an international open standard format and can also read and write files from other common office software packages. It can be downloaded and used completely free of charge for any purpose.”

Google Apps for Business – “More than two million businesses run Google Apps. Reliable, secure web-based office tools for any size business. Powerful, intuitive applications like Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Docs can help reduce your IT costs and help employees collaborate more effectively – all for just $50 per user per year.” Synchronization with the Droid O/S is a snap as well.
Recommendation: Chrome.

Protection
These two programs are as powerful and feature rich as any commercial grade alternative.

AVG Anti-Virus Free – AVG is definitely my favorite anti-virus product. Extremely high end product and amazingly is offered FREE! “Surf, and search with confidence, while LinkScanner® keeps you safe from harmful sites. Get online and offline protection from viruses, spyware, and other nasties. Enjoy consistently high-speed PC performance with our new enhanced virus scanner. Automatic updates keep your protection current. Compatible with Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP and Windows 2000.”

Spybot Search & Destroy – “Detects and removes spyware, a relatively new kind of threat not yet covered by common anti-virus applications. Spyware silently tracks your surfing behavior to create a marketing profile for you that is transmitted without your knowledge to the compilers and sold to advertising companies. If you see new toolbars in your Internet Explorer that you haven’t intentionally installed, if your browser crashes inexplicably, or if your home page has been “hijacked” (or changed without your knowledge), your computer is most probably infected with spyware. Even if you don’t see the symptoms, your computer may be infected, because more and more spyware is emerging. Spybot-S&D is free.”

Communications
MagicJack – Possibly one of the easiest and less expensive business start-up phone solutions available. MagicJack uses your existing broadband internet connection (i.e. DSL or Cable) to connect. You can make calls anywhere in the US for free. The unit runs around $40 bucks and the annual fee is only $19.95. CallerID, Voicemail, call waiting, local phone number, unlimited long distance. Drawback however is no phone book listing. With that said who searches for you in the phone book anymore anyways? You can get a vanity number however!
Recommendation: Cordless DECT 6.0 phone(s).

Send2Fax – I have used this product for years. I love the 800#. “Send a fax online securely. No hardware to purchase. No software to download. No fax phone line required. Get a toll-free number at no extra cost.”

Skype – Video presentation can be much more powerful than a simple conference call. Limitation is one to one but Skype is easy to use and FREE. “Voice and video calls to anyone else on Skype. Conference calls with three or more people. Instant messaging, file transfer and screen sharing.”

MagicJack Conferencing – Free conferencing (with invites) for your business. Open to anyone this is an incredible bargain. You set up a conference room (virtual) and send invites. It really is that simple. Never pay for conference calling again.

DSL or Cable – These two technologies are simply the best broadband connections for the buck! I have seen DSL with 40Mb Download and 20Mb Upload for a measly $150 bucks!

We now have some incredible options to the traditional approach on business technology and software. Large traditional software companies would suggest fear-uncertainty-doubt on using “FREE” open source products. My experience has been different. I have only touched on a few of the alternatives available. Keep an open mind and save some money!

© 2012, Chris Lott and SalesBlog!. All rights reserved.

Let’s get started
If you haven’t already… then you need to sign up with twitter. Before you do however make sure you have a decent name. I use totallysales which is unique and catchy, at least I think so, and describes’ what I want to focus on. Also you will need a logo or picture, small size, so that you’re not stuck with the ugly bird avatar Twitter gives you by default. Don’t worry… you can change it later. I would also change the default background. A great background tool is twitrbackgrounds. It’s free and very simple to apply.

What’s your End Game?
Using Twitter can be extremely powerful but typically you need your followers to go somewhere. I found this with Linkedin as well. With Twitter you get around 119 characters with a “shorten URL” to get your message across. Hardly enough space to tell any story much less “offer” something. Start a blog. This is easier to do than you would think. Your provider through programs like simplescripts make this an absolute no-brainer. Post some decent content. Blogger is probably the easiest to get started with. I use WordPress because I like to program and tweak.

Remember: Too much self promotion is a turn-off. The 80-20 Rule works well here. 80% of your tweets need to be of some value to your connections. For example I use totallysales to promote lottspace. My tweets are typically sales related with occasional updates to my latest articles.

Sticking with your end game, search for folks that are the type of followers you’re looking for. Below are some great free tools that can help you focus, locate and maintain your social media network. Even if you’re a beginner you’re results will be astounding in no time.

Twitter Tools
Pockets You can now leave a private voicemail for anyone on twitter. From quick texting to quick voice messaging easily. Great business application for that personal touch.

Screenr Now you can screencast as easily as you tweet. Show presentations from your desktop by simply hitting a record button on their website. When finished you have an instant ready to tweet presentation. Powerful and easy business product presentation tool.

Topsy Topsy displays realtime results for related terms & articles, trending topics, identifies experts (influencers) for any queried term and shows you trackback pages for everything in its index, displaying what everyone is saying about that query. This is a must have to see what’s being said about you and your brand.

Localtweeps If your looking for local tweeters then there is not a better tool to do this with. It’s easy just search by zip, city, or keyword. A pretty cool feature is you can post and browse local events and specials.

Socialoomph Here’s just a few of the powerful features SocialOomph offers: Scheduling your tweets, Sending welcome direct messages to new followers automatically, Follow those who follow you automated, Unfollow those who unfollow you automatically, and purging your direct messages inbox .

Twittercounter To see how your trending, total counts, and a great place to find more followers you just can’t beat TwitterCounter.

Tweetdeck What can I say… 90% of the professionals actively involved in Social Networking are using this tool. Download it, install it, and it’s FREE. At first it can be a little overwhelming. Just take some time with it. You’ll be happy you did.

Power Twitter The goal of Power Twitter is simple: make twitter better. You can play videos and music, see and share photos, search and track, find cool people / mark your Top Friends, answer the #dailyquestion, and lots of stuff like Facebook updates, expanded links, peek, and more. I have always felt limited with the current twitter interface… With Power Twitter that is past history.

With these powerful twitter tools you’ll be on your way to successful social networked sales lead generation quicker than you can imagine.

© 2012, Chris Lott and SalesBlog!. All rights reserved.

The “great fear” of businesses globally is that their employees are going to commit them to unspeakable liabilities and ultimately “twitter” their business away. Could this really happen? If you ask any business attorney they will of course tell you absolutely or at the very least possibly. My question then is how is this any different than emails, text-messages, recorded conversations (especially in one-party states), voice-mails, letters, verbal conversations… etc.? While I’m not an attorney common sense would tell me that while each of these “technologies” have their differences they are all areas of possible worry and liability. So why the big focus on only new social media avenues?

Well… they’re new. Most business owners and upper managers really have no clue on what the new social media technologies are and what can and can not be done with them. This makes them nervous. Then they read about the latest tweet causing havoc with a business and/or employee and nervous becomes full-on paranoia. For some reason an email doesn’t have the same affect however. Yet we read article after article of emails implicating people, companies, and government. Bottom line, all company communications should be taken serious.

Most business owners and upper managers really have no clue on what the new social media technologies are and what can and can not be done with them. This makes them nervous.

There are obviously many takes on whether social media will be a force in marketing and support for any business ultimately. In my mind the answer is simple. Of course it will. One has to only look around at the Gen Y group and the technologies they’re using to start to see what lies ahead. I can remember not that long ago that there wasn’t a business in the world that would let their employee email an attached contract for review and/or signature. Credit card purchases had to be physically run and not taken virtually. Obviously this is common place today. Doing business has changed and will continue to do so. There’s the rub. If a company hides behind legalities and paranoia and doesn’t wrap their arms around all communication technologies won’t they be left behind in the near future?

What should a business owner do?

As most of you know… as soon as you hire any employee potential communication liabilities automatically exist. Nothing new here. Educating your employees of what is tolerable and what is not is imperative. Here are a couple of ideas. Again, I’m in no way trying to replace solid legal advice only offering suggestions.

If you currently have guidelines for employee communications add social media correspondence to the policies.
If they are writing about anything that has to do with your business they need to know they need permission to do so. Even the simplest comment, criticism, and commitment can be a problem.
They need to know that once it leaves their PC it is out there in social media “neverland” literally for ever.
They need to understand that there are data collectors collecting all that is said.
Finally, and most importantly, all of the above apply even if its their personal social media account.

It is just as important to guide/train in not only what not to do but how to do it successfully. The new technologies can be very successful if used correctly. My organization is getting great leads/sales and industry information from social media. It’s a powerful tool if used correctly. Embrace it, train on it, and for heavens sake stop being paranoid.

© 2012, Chris Lott and SalesBlog!. All rights reserved.

Life is chaos at the best of times. Issues like employment, money, relationships, illness and/or tragedy can put anyone’s life into a tailspin. Yet the bills keep coming in. Your responsibilities don’t stop. Life just keeps moving forward.

Losing my company/job in the late 90′s I found myself at 40+ years old without a lot of career options. I was an emotional wreck. Bills were piling high. Cars repossessed. House payments were behind. Finally it ended with bankruptcy and some major loss of pride. Times I can’t look back at and laugh about unfortunately.

I needed to do something positive in a very non-positive time of my life. There were so many things to fix I didn’t even know where to start. Then it hit me… I need to focus.

It was time to get a job.
I worked all day, every day, trying to find employment. I literally had a stack of turn down cards/letters from HR departments all over the state, and some out of state. Each time calling them and asking why I wasn’t chosen. I would study resume strategies, cover letters, and practice answering interview questions making changes as necessary. I networked with everyone I knew. I stayed the course and stayed focused even after six months of no success. I did finally get an interview and a job which turned into a great career.

What did I learn from all this?
Staying focused is a key ingredient to success in any endeavor. Not with blinders on. I had to make a lot of adjustments to finally be successful. But the end game was always in my mind. So many times there were other “pressing” issues to distract me from my goal. Having faith in myself was critical. I made a conscience decision to change my life and to succeed. I could have given up. Blamed everyone else for my problems. Many do that very thing. I couldn’t live with that. In the midst of turmoil I knew I wanted more.

14 Things to do.

Don’t mistake unemployment for a vacation.
Get your resume in order.
Cover Letter: Add a suggestion of something you could do to help with their company.
Practice talking about yourself with everyone. Read some possible interview questions and their answers.
A completed Linkedin Profile is a must.
Network, network, network… Sow seeds everywhere.
Network inside the company you’re looking at. Always try to have someone inside the company working for you if possible.
Learn about the company so you don’t look ignorant.
Learn about the company’s competitors.
Don’t be afraid to show up at the company you want to work for without an appointment.
Dress appropriately for the company interested in anytime you’re in front of them.
Be on time for the interview, don’t be negative about past employers, and have a couple of questions for the interviewer.
Send a handwritten thank you note whether you received the job or not. If not call and ask why not.
Take control of your career: Focus on what you want from a career and not just trying to get a job.

Don’t give up.
Work each day towards a specific goal. Stay focused no matter how unfocused your situation and surroundings are.  I promise you’ll be glad you did.

© 2012, Chris Lott and SalesBlog!. All rights reserved.

Two things I love in a software and/or hardware product; easy and wow. Mightymeeting has both. I have shown this around the office and in every case they were pumped. Many of my sales team members have now started using Mightymeeting. With this much excitement I just had to write about it!

Easy
Arriving at Mightymeeting.com you’re presented with a wonderfully simple main screen. While there looks like only two things to do, “Sign Up Now” or “Join a Meeting”, there is actually a third item you should be aware of. I actually missed it the first time. I needed to install the touchscreen (iPad, iPhone, Android) application.

The links are in the lower left hand side of the main screen. I personally just went to the Android Market on my EVO, did a quick search, and downloaded it OTA (over the air). Maybe a QR code would make this easier? Hint, Hint. Overall, however, this is a pretty simple install and registration process.

After Registering I uploaded (web) my presentation and was ready to go. Using the Android app, I selected “Start a Meeting” and instantly had full control over my remote (cloud) presentation.

Wow
I’m a big fan of cloud computing applications. There’s definitely a sense of “wow” for me in easily accessing critical information anywhere, anytime. Doing this with my presentations and/or videos makes Mightymeeting one of my favorites. Here’s a couple of ways I found this product useful.

Scenario 1: I needed to do some critical training during my sales meeting. One of sales team members wasn’t able to attend. I just had him log into Mightymeeting, (app or web), enter the room id on his smartphone and I presented it to him there along with the rest of the team locally.

Now works on the Kindle Fire!

Scenario 2: I was setting at a potential customer site and they wanted to know more about my product offering. “No problem… just log into Mightymeetng.com, use my room id, and let me show you how this works.” It literally blew their socks off!

The only issue I had with both these scenarios was at first they were more interested in how Mighhtymeeting worked than with my presentation! I definitely looked like a guy that got technology however. Not a bad thing in my field.

Mightymeeting is a simple and extremely useful tool. It would have been godsend in the field in my previous life as a Regional Manager (road warrior). A quick “change file” and I could have shown any number of PowerPoint and/or video presentations.

There is more to this product, of course. Start a discussion and have others make comments is one. Chat, and view who’s online are some other great features as well. Not being a full interactive collaboration webinar package like WebEx, etc. makes Mightmeeting simple and easy. It has a specific purpose and that’s the point.

© 2012, Chris Lott and SalesBlog!. All rights reserved.

As one of the 4 million plus that recently received a Kindle Fire for the holidays a new tablet love affair has transpired. It doesn’t have a camera and bluetooth but I don’t need either. My EVO 4G works just fine there. Its 7” size is perfect to carry around for all my personal and business duties. The later being a huge unexpected surprise.

As I started searching for various Kindle Fire apps in Amazon’s app store I quickly found that not all the choices I had become accustomed to were available. Even those that I did find were not ready for prime time on the Fire or any tablet for that matter. Maybe Google Apps Marketplace? While you can view apps in the Google/Android Marketplace from a Kindle you can’t install them from there. Hmmmm…

Was the Kindle Fire “ready to rumble” for business and sales use afterall? The hunt was on.

Kindle Fire Business and Sales Apps Options

So what are the options… if any?

Option 1: Of course I could always “root” my Fire and access Google’s Marketplace but that wasn’t my goal. Also, this process is not for the weak of heart and I wanted to drink the Amazon services device “koolaid”. What could I do with this $199.00 tablet using the services and apps offered by Amazon for sales and business?

Option 2: There are plenty of cloud applications that I could connect with using Kindles silk web browser. Even though there has been some negative press on this browser I found with a couple of tweaks it worked great for cloud connectivity. I am sure as this product matures it will be even better.

Speed up silk on the Kindle Fire: (Under Web | Settings)
1.) Turn off “enable plugins”.
2.) Un-check the “accelerate page loading” box.
3.) Switch over to “mobile view”.
4.) Make sure you have the latest 6.2.x update.

With that said… while easily accessing the cloud worked well I didn’t want to always be online. I needed some apps on my device that would work locally as well.

Option 3: A combination of both. After hours of researching it turns out the Kindle Fire is a very capable device for both local and cloud applications. I did ultimately find some new business/sales related solutions currently available and many app developers are working frantically to get their solutions Kindle Fire ready as I type. This for both local and cloud usage. Let me share a few of my favorites that I am currently using and are playing nicely with each other.

Note: The 1.17 GB for apps and 5.36 GB for content seems to be more than adequate space.

Top 10 Kindle Fire Apps

1.) TripIt – Travel App (Ad Free) – $1.99

Link: TripIt – Travel App (Ad Free)

My two cents: I have used this as a road warrior before on different platforms. This is a must have for anyone that travels for business or sales.

Description from TripIt: TripIt turns chaos into order by making it easy for anyone to:

• Organize trip details into one master online itinerary — even if arrangements are booked at multiple travel sites.
• Automatically include maps, directions, and weather in their master itinerary.
• Have the option to book restaurants, theatre tickets, activities, and more right from within the online itinerary.
• Safely access travel plans online, share them, check-in for flights, or print an itinerary.

2.) Quickoffice Pro – $14.99

Link: Quickoffice Pro

My two cents: I currently use Microsoft Office (work) and Google Apps (everything else). This is a tremendous tool to get all those resources into one easy to use location. Also, you can build Word 95 through Word 10 docs without owning Microsoft Word! Well worth the 15 bucks.

Description from Quickoffice: Anytime Office Editing. Create, edit, access, and share Microsoft® Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and PowerPoint presentations, as well as view PDF files.
Cloud Compatibility. Our Connected File Manager offers integrated access to Google Docs™, Dropbox, Evernote, Catch, Egnyte, Huddle™, Box, SugarSync, and MobileMe™, so you can access, share and manage files on your device and the cloud.

3.) TouchDown with Exchange ActiveSync – $14.99

Link: Exchange By TouchDown

My two cents: While the email application that comes with the Kindle Fire is great for personal email accounts it doesn’t have a Microsoft Exchange integration. TouchDown is an easy-to-use application that gives you complete access to all those Office modules that you’re used to.

Description from TouchDown: With TouchDown, you get a desktop-like view of your corporate email, contacts, calendar and tasks on the Kindle Fire™

4.) Handrite Note Pro – $2.99

Link: Handrite Note Pro

My two cents: I now no longer bring my notepad for my initial meetings. I tried to use my EVO by typing in notes… but I always felt the potential customer thought I was texting. Now with using my finger for notes they think it’s cool and OK.

Description from Handrite: You’re in an important meeting or lecture when suddenly you realize–you forgot your pen or notebook! Or you’re at a party and need to take down a phone number or an e-mail address. Don’t trust your memory or try to scribble on a dry-cleaning receipt; the Handrite Note app is the solution you need. Rather than trying to frantically type notes on your device keyboard, Handrite Note allows you to write with your finger right on your Kindle Fire’s screen.

5.) Office Calculator Pro – $1.69

Link: Office Calculator Pro

My two cents: If you have anything to do with sales you need a solid calculator. I really like the “tape” feature. Designed for the Fire.

Description from Office Calculator Pro: Office calculator with a virtual tape, fixed point or floating point calculator, various rounding modes and percent calculation. This is a calculator optimized for office tasks.

6.) Alarm Clock Xtreme – $1.99

Link: Alarm Clock Xtreme< My two cents: As any road warrior knows… it’s great to have your own alarm clock. There are plenty of these type of applications available but I really like the clean interface of Alarm Clock Xtreme. Designed for the Fire.