One of the great benefits of being an entrepreneur in the internet age is that you can work from anywhere, but how do busy entrepreneurs keep their systems streamlined and businesses running smoothly. To find out, I sat out to interview some entrepreneurs to find out what internet based tools they use in their businesses.

Deb Kolaras, a Small Business & Social Media Coach and owner of BizCoachDeb www.bizcoachdeb.com said, “Project management tools help me stay on top of deliverables and milestones with my clients. It also allows my clients to stay on track over the year. Rather than back and forth emailing and the question of “where is that document I sent”, these programs allow a place for all those items to be stored, and then tracked for the duration of a project.”

Here are the internet based tools Deb uses in her business:

Google Apps: Documents, Talk, Calendar, Contacts, Wave, and of course, email. Using this platform allows me the advantage of portability and “on the fly” syncing, so I’m no longer tethered to my desk or laptop. My handheld is updated remotely, so appointments, tasks, contacts, and documents set by my VA show up instantly without me doing a thing.

Prezi.com: This is a presentation software second to none. I can load up a presentation anywhere, from any computer, and train and educate remotely, plus share the link with clients who can view it similarly on Macs and PC’s.

Jing: Using this tool, I can make short videos and tutorials for my clients and share it in a library for others to view. It also does great “screen shots” that you can annotate, so it’s flexible.

Zoho Projects/Deskaway/ManyMoon: Project management tools abound, and the jury is still out for me on which of these I prefer-I’ve been testing these three products all year long. As each develops specific things I like, another gets closer to being completely tabled. I wanted a very simple solution, as I guide my clients throughout the year and don’t want them bogged down in trying to learn a complicated platform like BaseCamp.

Believe it or not, Twitter: because of the “instant gratification” factor, Twitter allows me to find out about events, applications, etc., by simple searches. It’s more accurate than Bing or Google and gets me feedback from trusted connections immediately.

Jami Beaton, a public relations consultant and owner of JB Public Relations http://companies.to/jbpr said, “I run a public relations consulting business and have a few internet services that I rely on daily. I definitely think each of these offers my business a competitive advantage as it allows me to work productively, manage time and resources and most importantly, it gives my small business legitimacy. The fact that I can share files, run professional looking reports, coordinate web and phone conference calls in a professional manner makes my clients feel confident that I am not just someone working out of my basement. Many of my clients have commented on my work process and have even incorporated some of these services into their own businesses to save time and money.”

Here are the internet based tools Jami uses in her business:

Basecamp – Manage all of my projects, retainers and contractors through this service. Seamless and great way to keep communications and files in one place…no more looking for emails in your trash folder to find that written approval.

Cashboard – Manage all of my invoices, track my time and any contractors that I outsource, run productivity reports. This service really makes it look like I have it all together as a consultant…professional looking invoices, run quick and easy reports to analyze cash stats and I can produce a time sheet for my clients at a moment’s notice.

Adobe Share – Perfect for a small FTP alternative, share files easily with clients through a customized download URL. PDF file conversions and web conferencing services.

Things for Mac – Task management to keep all to-dos in my life organized, prioritized and updated. Matching iPhone app makes this even easier to manage, no missed deadlines!

Evernote – Effortlessly organize thoughts, notes, clips and inspiration as I find it, so that I can easily reference it at a later point in time. No more brilliant ideas forgotten!

Google Docs – To share spreadsheets/word documents with team or clients that need constant updating. Instead of routing a new spreadsheet each week for a status report, we can update just one doc on a weekly basis through Google Docs.

Dimdim/YuuGuu – Web conferencing solutions that are seamless, easy to use and have very good free options for small businesses.

FreeConference.com - Set up free conference calls, quick and easy…and most importantly free.

Andy Hayes, managing director of Travel Online Partners www.travelonlinepartners.com, a coaching and consulting firm, that provides online marketing support for the travel industry uses the following internet based tools to increase his productivity.

Google Apps: From Google forms that make things super quick and easy to their effective iGoogle homepage (to do lists, RSS feed, etc), I love Google. I plan to switch to GMail in 2010.

Highrise: This is a small business’s marketing dream come true. I just love it – so easy to track the pipeline of work and follow-up on people. Guaranteed with this we now close twice as much work.

5PM: Just getting started on this, but our project management tool. As we operate on a virtual model, it’s essential for everyone to have a solid platform to track work and update on communications.

Dropbox: Love having a seamless and near-instantaneous backup tool. In a pinch, you can even go online and pull off files that you need.

Skype: Chat, free/cheap calls, what’s not to like?

Audacity: Audio recording and editing for non-techies. Brilliant piece of equipment.

WordPress: our content management platform of choice. It’s not perfect, but it is very powerful given the cost.

and last but not least…

Spotify: It’s only in a few countries but it is all-you-can-eat music. My number one productivity increase.

What tools could you use to increase your productivity and streamline your business?

Julie Barnes is a Freelance Writer focusing on her passion of entrepreneurship. Julie published “So You Want to Start a Business…Now What?” (Available on Amazon) in December 2009. Julie lives and works in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, KS with her husband Ron and lovable dog Hank. You can visit her site at www.onewhowrites.com. Follow Julie on Twitter at twitter.com/onewhowrites .