Online Tools
** this is by no means a comprehensive list of all of the tools available online. This is just a tiny list of the tools I've personally used myself after endless hours of searching and testing...
Email Marketing:
iContact.com – this is my favorite of all the email marketing tools I've tried (and I've tried A LOT OF THEM). It's intuitive and easy to learn! It has all of the tools necessary for any small business- including integrating with FaceBook and Twitter!.
Online Assessments, Training, Courses
Jigsawbox.com - Create your own online coaching or services business with Jigsawbox.com. This new tool is taking the entrepreneurial world by storm. This is an easy to use tool which allows you to sell your own content and training online. It's priced very reasonably (with a flat monthly fee). If you're interested in creating multiple streams of income and make money online, check this out. I highly recommend you attend a free webinar if you're interested.
Stock Photos
Dreamstime.com - Do NOT use photos you randomly find online for your website, presentations or email marketing for your business. This is not only unprofessional, it's illegal! Sure, there are “tons” of “free” images when you do a search, but in reality, you're stealing someone else's work.
My favorite place to get images for my projects is Dreamstime.com.You'll find all kinds of options for purchasing high quality images and illustrations.
Design Ideas
Before & After - If you're a serious designer, this site is for you. This is one of the best resources online for designing marketing materials.
SEO Tools
If you know what SEO is, you could already be using these tools. There are lots more tools online.. but I've been using some of these tools for years. Not only will they help you analyze great keywords and phrases, they'll help you determine the popularity of a niche you're considering in your field (which is a great idea by the way)
URL Shortners
Whether you use Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn or Email Marketing, these are a must have (bookmarked). These tools make the URL you're sharing, short enough to share! (If you don't know what a URL is, check out my E-Book, “The Basics of Computers and the Internet. The answers to questions you're too embarrassed to ask!”)
Screen Sharing
Crossloop.com - Whether you're helping your grandma and grandpa learn their new computer, or training a new client, having the ability to see and share another persons computer can be invaluable. CrossLoop is easy, intuitive and free.
Sharing Files
DropBox.com - If you have files to share that are too big to email, or you have so many, it's hard to manage, check out DropBox.com. This nifty tool helps you easily and securely do the job. (If you are helping your grandma and grandpa, get them the E-Book, “The Basics of Computers and the Internet. The answers to questions you're too embarrassed to ask!”)
Build Your Website today!
I can't recommend any of the tools that claim you can have a website up in an hour. I've checked out a lot of them, from Intuit, WordPress, Hostopia to GoDaddy.
Building a website takes thought and planning first.
Where you host your site and what tools you use is secondary to having a good business model and plan.
None of these are worth checking out until you have a solid foundation. If you'd like help with planning your web presence, contact me to get started, or check out my E-Book – “Secrets to a Successful Web Presence.”
Form Builder
JotForm.com - If you're a Do it Yourselfer, but not a total geek, here's a site you'll want to check out. You can create all kinds of nifty forms for your website, including payment and product options. It integrates well with Paypal so if you know enough to be dangerous, you can be selling stuff in no time. I don't use this much any longer as I have a kick-ass technology partner who I trust with pretty much everything I do.
Fonts
So many fonts, so little time. Wow, when I began there were 4 fonts to choose from on my computer (my first Mac). The only other option was to buy them from Adobe. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of fonts that are best if purchased from Adobe (the GrandFather of Fonts and Postcript) , but there are a lot of free ones as well.
(If you don't know exactly what a font is... check out my E-Book, “The Basics of Computers and the Internet. The answers to questions you're too embarrassed to ask!”)
Online Articles
A great place to check out the pulse of the internet is Ezine Articles. You can browse by any number of subjects and see the top rated articles. This is also a great place to submit articles! (See client Byron Edgington - he has LOTS of articles). It's an excellent SEO strategy and gives you tons of credibility.