Recommended Business Tools
There are some fantastic web tools and programs available, tools that I use every day or at least regularly and would recommend. I've listed these below. Most of the tools are free to use. Some have options to upgrade to paid versions, but even then they are highly cost-effective. I have an affiliate relationship with some of these, which means I might get paid a small percentage (or get extra credits or something) if you click through and use them.
Weebly: For creating websites... I've used weebly every day for years. In my opinion, it's is the best tool for creating websites and definitely the easiest to use. It's also got better recently with new functionality. It uses an incredibly simple drag-and-drop interface. So you don't need any tech abilities whatsoever (which is just as well in my case!). It's free to use, and very cheap, even if you upgrade to the professional version. I've developed several websites using weebly, including this one, and I've helped other people and organizations develop websites with weebly. It's one of the tools I just couldn't do without.
Eventbrite: I've organized 64 events using Eventbrite. Eventbrite is an online platform for the organization and marketing of events. Free for free events, you only pay a small fee if you sell tickets. I use Eventbrite both for organizing free events and for high value training events, which I charge for. Events are integral to the business development process I use and recommend (I've written a an article about this entitled: "Using events to market and grow your business", which you can download from my business articles page. There are plenty of online tools around for organizing events. In my opinion, this is is by far the best, which is why I keep using it. It's good!
Dropbox: I could not do without dropbox. It's a place (in the cloud) for keeping all your stuff (documents, pictures etc), which you can access from anywhere on any computer as long as you have an internet connection. I freely admit it's saved my bacon a couple of times. If you've ever had a laptop stolen or lost a device or had a computer crash, you'll know what I'm talking about. It's free to use, unless you need to save a lot of large files, like movies. Even then it's cheap. A simple but brilliant little tool.
Audacity: Audacity is a free (open source) tool for recording audio. You use it to create and edit audio (sound) files and can export those files in various formats. It's great. It works. It's free, though you can donate if you choose to. You might for example create an audio of a yourself giving a PowerPoint presentation. Then you can import your PowerPoint slides (as pictures) and your audio file into a program like Windows Moviemaker to create a movie. This movie (video format) can then be uploaded to YouTube or to your website or anywhere else you fancy putting it.
Pamela: You use Pamela for recording (audio) skype calls. It's a brilliant little tool with free and paid versions. The main reason I use it is to record audio interviews over skype. Once set up, it will automatically give you the option to record any skype call you make or receive. Once recorded you can export your audio in a suitable format, then input that file into audacity for editing. Once edited, you could for example create a podcast from your audio interview, although there are few more steps before you can publish your podcast.
Mailchimp: An excellent free tool for opt-in email marketing or newsletters. It integrates seemlessly with Eventbrite, so you'll find it incredibly easy to move between event organization and email marketing. One of the most important functions you'll want to use is autoresponders. This is where you send a scheduled sequence of follow-up emails to an opt-in list. Another great tool with similar functionality is called Aweber.
Open Office: A free, open source alternative to Microsoft Office (word processing, spreadsheets, database etc.). Has some business-friendly functionality that Office doesn't have, such as one click conversion to PDF and preservation of hyperlinks. That might sound a bit geeky but it actually saves a lot of hassle and is very good for business e.g. e-books.
Affilorama: Affilorama has free and paid / premium versions. It's a great information and training resource for everything related to affiliate programs and other aspects of web marketing. Affiliate programs are basically for when you want to promote or recommend other people's stuff and get paid for it. Examples could include include software, information products and books. It's a very interesting and totally legitimate business model. At the moment, I generate a small amount of affiliate income each month, but it's growing.
Dropbox: I could not do without dropbox. It's a place (in the cloud) for keeping all your stuff (documents, pictures etc), which you can access from anywhere on any computer as long as you have an internet connection. I freely admit it's saved my bacon a couple of times. If you've ever had a laptop stolen or lost a device or had a computer crash, you'll know what I'm talking about. It's free to use, unless you need to save a lot of large files, like movies. Even then it's cheap. A simple but brilliant little tool.
Audacity: Audacity is a free (open source) tool for recording audio. You use it to create and edit audio (sound) files and can export those files in various formats. It's great. It works. It's free, though you can donate if you choose to. You might for example create an audio of a yourself giving a PowerPoint presentation. Then you can import your PowerPoint slides (as pictures) and your audio file into a program like Windows Moviemaker to create a movie. This movie (video format) can then be uploaded to YouTube or to your website or anywhere else you fancy putting it.
Pamela: You use Pamela for recording (audio) skype calls. It's a brilliant little tool with free and paid versions. The main reason I use it is to record audio interviews over skype. Once set up, it will automatically give you the option to record any skype call you make or receive. Once recorded you can export your audio in a suitable format, then input that file into audacity for editing. Once edited, you could for example create a podcast from your audio interview, although there are few more steps before you can publish your podcast.
Mailchimp: An excellent free tool for opt-in email marketing or newsletters. It integrates seemlessly with Eventbrite, so you'll find it incredibly easy to move between event organization and email marketing. One of the most important functions you'll want to use is autoresponders. This is where you send a scheduled sequence of follow-up emails to an opt-in list. Another great tool with similar functionality is called Aweber.
Open Office: A free, open source alternative to Microsoft Office (word processing, spreadsheets, database etc.). Has some business-friendly functionality that Office doesn't have, such as one click conversion to PDF and preservation of hyperlinks. That might sound a bit geeky but it actually saves a lot of hassle and is very good for business e.g. e-books.
Affilorama: Affilorama has free and paid / premium versions. It's a great information and training resource for everything related to affiliate programs and other aspects of web marketing. Affiliate programs are basically for when you want to promote or recommend other people's stuff and get paid for it. Examples could include include software, information products and books. It's a very interesting and totally legitimate business model. At the moment, I generate a small amount of affiliate income each month, but it's growing.