Most people want to start a business at some point in their career. But only a few are able to actually start even a side project. You want to follow your passion and hopefully also make a living at it? You want to…start an online business?
The good news is that, you don’t have to spend a fortune on business tools to get started. There are now hundreds if not thousands of free tools you can use for free to build a profitable business online. These are fifty nine of the most popular business tools for creating your independent, bootstrapped online business.
Building a website
1. WordPress.org | WordPress.com – Obviously. Create your new website for free.
2. Strikingly – Free, unlimited mobile optimized websites for strikingly domains.
3. Wix – It’s only one of the hugely popular tools for website creation.
4. Squarespace – One of the easiest ways to create a beautiful website.
5. Shopify – Build an online store and start selling immediately.
Design and Branding
6. Really Good Emails — Get inspired by the best email designs.
7. Tailor— Generate instant custom-made logos.
8. Pablo — Design engaging images for your social media posts.
9. Best About Pages — Get inspired by the best about page examples.
10. StockSnap — Download free amazing high-resolution photos.
11. 99Designs –Get graphic designs for logos, business cards, t-shirts, websites, and more.
12. Logaster— Professional online logo maker & generator.
Marketing
13. MailChimp is an email newsletter service that is used by more than 7 million people.
14. SumoMe is a suite of free tools that can be used to grow your website’s traffic.
15. Medium is a place to read, write, and interact with the stories that matter.
16. CoSchedule lets you analyse your post headlines for better conversion.
17. BuzzSumo helps you find content and topics that will do best for your type of audience.
18. Canva lets you create beautiful marketing graphics in minutes.
Analytics and Website Data
19. Google Analytics – The absolute gold standard in web analytics.
20. Crazy Egg gives you heatmaps, clickmaps and scrollmaps of your visitors interacting with your site.
21. Mixpanel is another real-time analytics tool that measures user engagement.
Social Media Management and Automation
22. Hootsuite — Post and schedule updates to multiple social media platforms.
23. Buffer: The easiest way to manage social media on the go.
24. Buffer for Video: All-in-one video scheduling & management for social media.
25. SocialRank: Identify, organize, and manage your followers on Twitter.
26. ManageFlitter – Curate, prune and grow their Twitter account.
27. Topsy – Social search and analytics.
Productivity and Communication
28. Asana allows you to create projects and assign and track tasks, leave notes, links, upload documents and it is free.
29. Slack brings all your communication together in one place. It’s real-time messaging, archiving and search for modern teams.
30. LastPass — Store all your passwords safely and securely in one location.
31. Skype — Communicate with anyone, worldwide, for free.
32. Skitch is a tool for screen captures and annotations.
33. Grasshopper — Turn your smartphone into a business line.
34. Free Google Products — Gmail, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Google Apps – emails, online shared documents, drafts, forms, and scheduling.
35. GoToMeeting allows you to host meetings and webinars.
36. Zapier integrates hundreds of web apps and allows you to automate tasks.
37. PandaDoc: Create, share, and sign documents with legally binding electronic signature software.
38. Mailbox—Makes email light, fast, and mobile-friendly.
39. GDrive | OneDrive | Dropbox – Cloud storage for your business. Great for all entrepreneurs.
40. Ruzuku — Building and running a great online course is challenging. Ruzuku makes it easy to teach online.
Outsourcing and Virtual Assistants
41. Gigster – Hire a quality developer for your project in under five minutes.
42. Upwork — Hire Freelancers & Get Freelance Jobs Online
43. FancyHands brings you a team of virtual assistants who can do a lot of things at less than $1 a day.
44. Clarity: Schedule a call with an experienced entrepreneur and get expert advice on your business no matter where in the world you are.
45. Fiverr is a great resource for getting stuff done for a small fee, starting at $5.
Payments
46. PayPal — PayPal is for everyone who pays or gets paid.
47. Stripe acts as a merchant account without the fuss, requires API integration on your site.
48. Gumroad is a powerful platform that allows you to sell digital products directly to your audience.
49. Simple Goods – Sell digital downloads, with one-step checkout.
Invoicing
50. Expensify — Track every expense in your business.
51. Free Invoice Generator: Alternative free invoice generator.
Free Guides & Courses
52. Primer: No-nonsense, jargon-free marketing lessons (by Google).
53. KeepYourFriendsClose: A free e-book about maximizing Customer Lifetime Value.
54. Pricing Course: A free 9 day course on charging what you’re worth.
55. Email Course for Sponsorships: How to get sponsorships for anything.
56. Startup Sales Course: A free course to help you become a better marketer.
57. Build an online course: A free course to help you build an online course.
58. MailCharts: A FREE email course to help you become a better marketer.
59. FirstSiteGuide: The beginner’s guide to successful blogging.
2 comments
Beautifully written post… Informative as well. Thank you.
Informative and inspiring. As usual. I will specifically have a look at the section Free Guides & Courses…
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