More Free (& Low Cost) Tech Tools for Business

Because of the positive feedback and follow-up questions I received from my last blog post titled, "Free (& Low Cost) Tech Tools for Business", I decided to start 2017 as I ended 2016 by providing you with additional free and low cost tools for your business. Happy New Year!

Social Media Marketing

Social media websites and apps enable users to create and share content, promote their business and service offerings, and to participate in social networking. Social media marketing is the process of gaining website traffic or attention through social media sites. To effectively grow your business, you need to draw traffic to your website.

Facebook is the most popular website and app of all time. Facebook reported that as of the third quarter of 2016 it had 1.79 billion monthly active users. While Facebook has a large business presence, it has a larger consumer presence making it the number 1 website for use in Business to Consumer (B2C) marketing.

LinkedIn is the most popular business website and app. LinkedIn reported that as of the third quarter of 2016 it had 467 million active users. The Content Marketing Institute reported in 2016 that LinkedIn as the number 1 website for use in Business to Business (B2B) marketing.

Twitter, the very popular micro-blogging service, reported that as of the third quarter of 2016 it had 379 million monthly active users.

YouTube, Pinterest & Instagram are social media platforms used to host and promote video and images. This form of social media marketing is increasing. The Content Marketing Institute reported in 2016 that YouTube is the number 2 website for use in B2C marketing and the number 3 website for use in B2B marketing.

Are you not sure of the effectiveness of social media marketing? Look back at the 2016 US presidential election season. The candidates posted their content in social media more than ever before. That content was then picked up and reported by other organizations and people. Begin to use social media marketing to grow your business.

Business Email

Having a business email address (e.g. my-name@my-website-domain.com) is much more professional than using a free service for your business email (e.g. my-company@yahoo.com). Google, GoDaddy and other web hosting and internet service providers offer business branded email for about $5 per mailbox. The primary requirement is that you have already registered the website domain that you want to use for your email address. Google and GoDaddy also include up to 30 alias email addresses. With an alias you can create additional email addresses (e.g. support@my-website-domain.com, billing@my-website-domain.com, etc.), and all messages sent to the alias email address will go into your email box. If you want those email message to go into their own email boxes, that will cost an additional $5 each. Google also includes a 15 GB Google Drive, plus their suite of business apps with the one account.

Anitvirus Software

Antivirus software is a must-have for any PC. Without this, you risk losing your data and picture files, personal information, even money from your bank. As per PC World magazine, there are several free products that are well rated. For a Windows PC, consider Avast Free Antivirus, AVG AntiVirus and Panda Free Antivirus. For a Mac, consider these as recommended by c|net Avast Free Mac Security for Mac and Avira Free Antivirus for Mac.

Conference Calling

With FreeConferenceCall.com you get unlimited free domestic phone conferencing for up to 1,000 participants. Accounts also include free recording of calls and free video conferencing with up to 1,000 participants. The company makes money by selling other premium business features.

Website Analytics
You cannot truly measure the effectiveness of your website and related marketing campaigns without looking as the utilization and performance statistics associated with your website. Understanding those statistics will allow you to improve your website promotions and user engagement. Google Analytics is a free web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. Once you open your account, you place a small piece of web programming code in each web page. That code reports the user activity on each page.

Business Development

The Small Business Administration offers business education and advice without an agenda. On the US Small Business Administration’s website (www.sba.gov) you can find information about writing business plans, tips for starting a business, information about how to finance your business, and more. It’s a wonderful resource for beginning and veteran business owners.

Your local Small Business Development Center, which is sponsored by the SBA, helps small business professionals and entrepreneurs start their businesses through free business education, consulting, and mentoring services. Visit the SBDC website (www.sba.gov/tools/local-assistance/sbdc) to find your local center.

For over 50 years, the non-profit business association SCORE has provided education and mentorship opportunities to help small businesses start up and achieve their growth goals. The SCORE website (www.score.org) provides free online training as well as scheduling of confidential in person mentoring services throughout the country from volunteer entrepreneurs with years of business ownership experience.

Technology does not need to be costly to be effective. They key to using technology, or any tool, to grow your business is to define the challenge you wish to tackle. Then, you can search for and identify the tool, even a free or low cost one, to help you overcome that challenge.

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Free (& Low Cost) Tech Tools for Business

Powerful technology can be translated into dollars and cents when it helps you run your business more efficiently and profitably. The good news is there's a lot of technology out there that is cost-effective and can be a big help for a small business. The bad news is there's a lot of technology out there making things confusing. Let's clear up some of that confusion...

Collaboration
Sending large files via email can sometimes be an exercise in frustration. Some email system block the transmission of large files. Share files via email means there are multiple copies and version of the same file being used. File collaboration products allow you to manage content and collaborate online with your team, customers, and partners.

Dropbox allows users to upload files and send links to recipients worldwide. Free Dropbox accounts include up to 2 GB of space. Pricing for larger amounts varies. For example, 1 TB of space costs $8.25 per month for a single user or $12.50 per month for 5 users.

Google Drive, like Dropbox, allows users to upload and share documents with designated recipients. However, Google Docs does require a Google account for use. As an issue, that is minimized when all in an organization uses Google products. Users are given 15 GB of free space for all the services where they use Google (email, Docs, etc.). Pricing is available for larger space allotments.

Similar to Dropbox and Google drive, Microsoft OneDrive is free for up to 5GB, and costs $1.99/month for 50GB.

Workplace Productivity
Google Docs is a free web-based application in which documents, spreadsheets and presentations can be created, edited and stored online. Files can be shared and accessed from any computer with an internet connection and web browser.

Another option is Open-source software, which provides small business owners with alternatives to using mainstream commercial applications in the day-to-day management of their businesses, typically without a significant financial investment. One of the most popular open-source tools available for workplace productivity is OpenOffice, an office software suite which you download and install, and contains word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and more.

Remote Desktop Applications
Technology solidifies the connection between small business owners and mobility. Video conferencing, web conferencing, webinars and screen sharing keep you connected to your PC, and better connect you with your customers. Zoom.us offers these services where a basic plan is free. In a Basic plan you get unlimited 1-to-1 meetings, and 40-minute group meetings with up to 50 participants. Plans that do not limit group meeting times and allow you to record your connections start at $14.99/month.

Online Advertising
Google My Business allows you to create a free business profile and offers added visibility on the world’s most-used search engine. Use Google My Business to post your hours, your location with a map, pricing information, and share pictures. All of which will show up for your audience in their Google’search results. Having a robust Google My Business profile can also help your website’s overall SEO ranking.

Email Marketing & Newsletters
Email marketing is a form of direct marketing that uses email as a means of communicating messages to your audience. It can be a powerful tool for growing your business. MailChimp allows you to send up to 12,000 emails per month (limited to 2,000 emails per day) to as many as 2,000 email subscribers absolutely free. Larger email volume and list packages start at just $10 per month.

Websites
WordPress is the most popular blog & website management tool, and when signing up via WordPress.com it is free to use. When you build your website on WordPress.com, you will use the software as installed on the WordPress.com server. As an alternative, you can sign up for WordPress through a web hosting service where you will likely pay a moderate monthly hosting fee to create and manage your website for your business. When installed on a web hosting service, you have the added ability to download and install add-ons from a community of WordPress developers..

Google Blogger is a moderately robust blogging tool that can be configured for use as an attractive business website. In fact, this site is built on Google Blogger. Google Blogger is completely free of hosting charges and runs on the Google Blogger hosted server. While it has limited built-in templates and it lacks some robust features, there is a user community that will provide very robust website templates and features not available "out-of-the-box" for a small cost.

Landline Alternatives
Small business owners do not need to be tied to an office or computer in order to do their work and stay in the loop. One of the ways that business owners can take their business with them is by using an alternative to a traditional landline as their telephone service. Cell phones, VoIP, ​and virtual phone lines are a few of the options available. One VoIP service provider is Ooma. Once you buy the Ooma device (about $100), all calls in the US are free - you will only pay the local taxes of a few dollars/month. Long distance plans and advance features are available at a reasonable cost.

Being a small business owner or in an organization having a limited budget can feel overwhelming and isolating at times, especially in the beginning. Thanks to the internet, you don’t have to spend a lot of money to be productive. There are many free and low-cost tools that can help you grow your business and be successful.

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