DOTC: Free or Cheap Business Tools (Part 2)

Over in Part 1, I gush about all the free stuff by Google, mostly.  I didn't even mention the Google Apps for mobile devices, which I'm also a huge fan of (I'm starting to use Google Keep and I like it!)

Now let's examine other great free (or cheap) tools you should check out for your business.

MARKETING TOOLS:

There's lots out there, and all of the social media services have free apps and can be used via your PC browser, so I'm going to focus just on the ones I think highly of.

Kid, that ten bucks will pay
 for two months of Google Apps.

I've mentioned HootSuite before.  I can't stress enough how easy I think it is to use to manage your social media channels.  It's hard to find any tool at this price (which for less than five accounts is nothing) that does better.  However, you might try BufferApp - like HootSuite, it has free and paid versions also.

For email marketing, MailChimp is well known as the best free tool around.  You don't have to pay tons of money out of pocket especially if you are sending one newsletter a month.  It also has a free and paid version.

For customer relationship management, try Zoho CRM. It's limited to three users in the free version, but for most of you, that should work fine.  Bonus is that there's no software to install - run it via your browser, or any browser, from anywhere.

I always recommend to my clients that they get professional help with web sites and SEO.  That being said, it's very easy to set up a free web site (starting with a blog) on Wordpress or Blogger.  Both offer to help you buy a unique URL and have templates that are very easy to use.

The folks over at Small Business CEO have done an excellent job of collecting a ton of white papers on a variety of topics.  Again, all free! Small Business CEO: Free Small Business Tools

Need images for blogs, social media and other marketing purposes?  My go-to site is Morguefile.  Lots of images, completely free, no attribution required.  I used Morguefile for the image on this very post.

Finally, if you're looking for a good news reader, use Feedly.  I use it to subscribe to lots of marketing and small business blogs.  I then share that content via my social media channels.  It's also a great general education resource.

OTHER BUSINESS TOOLS:

Apache offers a free productivity suite called Open Office.  It's been around a long time and has been a competitor to Microsoft Office for years.  While I prefer Google's offering, this is a very good alternative to Office, with a ton of apps for your business.

Alternate (or additional) to Google Drive for cloud storage is Dropbox and Box.  However, if you have an Amazon account, you also have some cloud storage there. Learn more here: Amazon Cloud.  And of course, for Apple users, there's always iCloud.

For basic accounting - can't afford QuickBooks?  Try Freshbooks.  They have a free version as well as paid services.

For notes, to-do's and planning, lots of people swear by Evernote.  It's free and you can use it on multiple platforms.

You can have calls completely free (video chats too) using Skype.  It's also a great chat tool.

So what do you you think?  Did I miss anything important?  Let me know!

DOTC: Free or Cheap Business Tools (Part 1)

I love cheap stuff.   I write a lot about it here, and I use every free or cheap service I can get away with.  I advise my marketing clients to do the same, as well as teach Abanico Workshops on the topic.

Fry is unclear on the concept.

Last week I talked about the tools I use in my business.  Most of what I use, I use the free version. 

I'd like to expand on that a bit.

Many of us do things the long and difficult way - or spend money we don't have - on business tools because we don't know what's out there.

By “tools” I mean things like:

• Network and cloud drives
• Productivity software, like a word processors, spreadsheet, presentations
• Email clients, contact managers and address books
• Notes and productivity tools
• Marketing tools and services

You may be a one-man-band but you need these things to run your business.  Lucky for us, living in the modern world, there are tons of tools available.

In my opinion, it’s best to look for solutions that don’t require you to enter the same information in more than one place, more than once.  If you have to manually insert duplicate information in multiple places, you’re wasting your time and you might want to consider a different tool.

I’m a huge fan of Google services: Chrome, Gmail, Blogger, Picasa, Google Calendar, Google Apps, Google Tasks, and Google Drive, just to name what I use most often.  I’m also an Android user - I have a Samsung Galaxy II smart phone and a Google Nexus 7 tablet - and by associating my Google account to my Android devices, all of the services/content I get on my PC are also available on my phone and my tablet, and I don't have to duplicate any work.

I am never anywhere without my contacts, my files, my email, or my tasks.

It's awesome.

And it's FREE!

Here’s the list of active Google services (scroll down to “Home and Office” to see many of the tools I mentioned above): http://www.google.com/about/products/

If you need a more powerful solution, Google Apps for Business is available at a crazy low price and offers more tools and bigger storage.  Learn more here: http://www.google.com/intx/en/enterprise/apps/business/

I know Apple has similar services for free or cheap , and I see that Microsoft is offering Office 365, but in my opinion, Google has cornered this space by providing free services that are worth paying for when you can afford it.

I didn't go into other popular (and free) services in this post; I will in Part 2.

Do you like something more than the Google tools I've mentioned?  Let me know!

DOTC: Bringing on the Barter

Let's get back to brass tacks today, and do it on the cheap!

As a small business, you often need many products or services that you simply can’t afford to buy outright.  This can be especially true in the very beginning of a new business.

One way to work around this is to go very, very old school  - barter.

Not only does it help you get around a cash shortage, it’s also a way to get your service/product out there, and hopefully, have a barter client who will sing your praises, perhaps via a recommendation on your web site or on LinkedIn.

Note:  referrals and recommendations are a "currency" that can help you out big-time, so don't discount the value of this.

So, how would this work?

A pot of honey for a mauling?  DEAL!

Let’s say, for example, you are a bookkeeper.  You need a logo created.

I bet, if you are out there leads referral networking (and if you’re not, why aren't you? It’s one of the best cheap tactics around), you know a graphic designer or know someone who can recommend a good one. 

It is very possible that your designer friend needs somebody to set up their Quickbooks.  Maybe the time it takes the designer to whip you up a logo is similar to the time it'd take for you to set up Quickbooks.  Thus, it would be a mutually agreeable arrangement for both of you to barter this service.

In my opinion, this works best with services trading for services, but there's no reason why you can't do it for goods.

The possibilities are endless, but here's some services I bet you could find a barter partner for:

• Graphic design
• Copywriting
• Web hosting
• Bookkeeping
• Cleaning services (especially if you have a physical location, like a martial arts school or a small office)
• Administrative services
• Execution of social media
• IT services

Note: When bartering, do make sure you are trading equally - that is, the value of your time (or cost of goods) versus what you receive in trade needs to be relatively the same.

You don't want to give more than you get, right?

Track the value of barter just as you would as if you were paying cash, and evaluate the return on investment the same way.

Also - talk to your bookkeeper or accountant about how that needs to be tracked, as it is considered taxable income by the IRS in many cases.

Have you ever used barter in your business?  I'd love to hear about it in the comments!

Doing Things On The Cheap (DOTC): Leads (Referral) Marketing (aka "networking")

Leads (or referral) marketing activities can be one of the best, most effective tools in your arsenal as a small business.

These groups work by bringing together people in a variety of industries for the express purpose of creating relationships so you can confidently refer people to each other.

It is very common for these kinds of groups to be industry exclusive - once a member from a specific industry "locks in" membership (and how to do that varies from group to group) no other person in that industry is allowed to participate in the group.

It's a great way to meet other business people who are there for the purpose of meeting you and learning more about you.  They’re also great if you need to practice speaking in public (as you will usually do at least a 30 second “pitch” about you and your business).

So wait, which color of wine goes with my business card, again?

There usually are several groups in your area – some completely free, some cheap, some pricey.  I’m going to focus on finding the first two rather than the latter (if you are interested in the latter, check out groups like BNI or NetWorkz.  Also, many local Chambers of Commerce have these sorts of groups going for their members - if you are a Chamber member, use this service!) 

Go to Meetup and set up an account for yourself (do it as your business, not you, personally).  Make sure you use a good - and accurate - picture of yourself and fill out your profile completely.

Search for meetups within your target geography (typically not too far from your house or center of business) using the following interest keywords:

Referrals, small business owners, network marketing, business referral exchange, referral marketing, small business marketing, marketing strategy, business entrepreneurs.

You should also add any special terms related to your ideal customer base (as some groups may be industry specific).  Over time, additional terms will be suggested to you by Meetup in order to find more groups.

Several meetups should appear, unless you live in a very small place.  If none do anywhere near you, and you're the organized and outgoing type, you could try starting one yourself (I'll write about that another time).

Join a few on Meetup, go to the meeting, do one-on-one meetings with the people you meet there, develop relationships, and above all, learn as much as you can about the group members and do your very best to refer leads to them as much as you can.

They will pay you in kind, at least, a good group will (I talk about "bad" groups in "Five Reasons Your Leads Referral Group Sucks" Part One and Part Two).

Be aware it can take a while to get traction in a group, so don't expect a ton of leads on your first visit.  This marketing tactic requires patience and time to develop trust, and you must do your best to contribute to the group by bringing in new members as much as possible.

Many, if most, of the groups you find on Meetup either are free (they are at a restaurant and the expectation is that you buy something to eat - you can keep your cash expense down by ordering just ice water or a soda or something) or have a very small fee of some sort.  So, essentially, the major investment here is your time, especially as you also need to have stand-alone one-on-one meetings outside of group meetings to get to know the members better.

Of course, you will need to evaluate the investment in time and money versus the return (generally measured in leads) like any other tactic.  Be objective, but also don't discount the "vibe" of the group in your decision making process.

You may need more than one group, but don't do too many, as the "pool" of people you can refer business to will be too large to be meaningful.  The key here is building relationships and being known as someone who actively seeks leads for the rest of the group.

So sign up for Meetup and get going - let me know how it's working for you!

Doing Things on the Cheap (DOTC): A Series

Starting today, I’m going to be sharing with you some ideas for things to do when you don’t have a ton of money and/or time to spend on various activities for your business.  I'm calling it "Doing Things On The Cheap (DOTC)".

Why  yes, my ideal customer includes elephants.

This series assumes you know what your budget is – how much you have to spend in operations (on such things as product, equipment, rent, insurance, tax compliance, etc.), and how much you can invest in marketing activities.

You also know how much time you need to spend on your product/service (to make your revenue goals) and how much time you need for other purposes (for example, most people sleep 49-56 hours a week).

You've also identified your ideal customer, crafted your value proposition and your core message, and have a good idea on where they can be found.

Yes?  Cool.

No?  Let's Talk.

Keep an eye out for posts titled "DOTC" and tagged "cheap stuff".  I'll be talking mostly about marketing tools and tactics, but I want to make sure ya'll are aware of the free/cheap business tools out there - and there's TONS.

So here's a quick tip:

I'm going to discuss various services and apps that Google offers in more depth later, but if you have a Gmail account, you have up to 15GB free storage on Google Drive associated to your account.

This is awesome for being able to access your stuff on the go from various computers and devices, or as a backup tool in case your computer gets fried.

I highly recommend anyone with a Gmail account to use this service, as it's very secure and every day you do not back up your important files is a day you are risking a disaster of epic proportions.

Learn more about Google Drive here and read the basic support information here.  I'm a hard core user of Drive, so if you have any questions, drop me a note!