Ten Free Online Tools for Small Business
Ten Free Small Business Tools anyone can use to run their business for free.
I have listed 10 free online tools for running your business. If you are thinking "what's the catch," there is no catch at all. I even gave links for these tools so you can download and start using the tools immediately. Orchestra uses most of these free online tools in order to do business, so don't be afraid to use these tools at your company. We at Orchestra believe in free and promote Open Source Software. We are simply just passing the information on to you.
Telecommunications
Skype www.skype.com
Instead of paying upwards of $100 per month, per line; use Skype to handle all of your business telecommunication needs. With Skype you are able to make free Skype to Skype calls to anywhere in the world. You would be surprised how many companies use Skype as their primary or secondary means of telecommunication, especially outside of the US. Skype also has video conference and desktop viewing features. Pay $3 a month and get your own local phone number and unlimited calls to the US and Canada.
Fax
Box.net www.box.net
OneSuite www.onesuite.com
No need to buy a fax machine and get a dedicated fax line to send and receive documents. For those of you who have evolved and are using electronic fax services such as eFax; you are paying too much. Most of these electronic fax services are between $5 and $15 per month but some include a variable fee. Here is the trick to getting unlimited electronic fax services for FREE or $1 dollar a month if you need incoming fax services.
Sign up for a FREE Box.net account. Box.net is a web service that allows users to upload files into a virtual "Box" on the Internet. Users are also able to share spaces within their box with other users in order to share files. Within Box.net there are many applications that allow you to do certain things with these files. One of those applications, is an integrated eFax application which allows you to fax any document to any number for FREE. Simply scan the document you would like to fax. Upload it to your Box.net space. Right-click on the document and select the eFax option. Just makes sure that the file you are sending is in the correct format. PDF's seem to work the best.
If you have a need for incoming fax services then sign up for a OneSuite account. OneSuite is primarily a Telecommunications company focusing on international calls, however they have a really cheap incoming electronic fax service. You can get unlimited incoming electronic fax for only $1 per month. This fee also includes a local phone number for these faxes to be sent to. If you haven't used an electronic fax service before, it is easy. Every time a fax is sent to your local number, you receive an email with the fax as a PDF. You can use a printer to print it out if you would like or otherwise delete your email. Much more environmentally friendly than the traditional facsimile method.
Remote Desktop, Desktop Sharing & Remote Support
LogMeIn www.logmein.com
ShowMyPC www.showmypc.com
Although Microsoft Windows has a Remote Desktop application, you will still need a Static IP, VPN and tons of configuration. Your alternative is to use LogMeIn as your secure remote desktop tool. LogMeIn allows you to install a program onto any computer you wish to remotely view or remotely view from. You can have multiple computers on your account and you can create passwords to connect to each individual computer. Now you can work remotely or access any computer for free.
For technical support it is common to log into a customers computer to correct the problem remotely. There are a lot of services that allow you to log into a computer remotely, however a good free one is ShowMyPC. ShowMyPC allows any user with an Internet connection to quickly gain access to their computer and perform remote support. Simply have your clients generate a random password by a click of the button and enter that password in your end. Now you are accessing a clients computer and you can take care of them at no additional cost to you.
Web Meeting
DimDim www.dimdim.com
Web Meetings have become extremely popular over the past few years. Companies like Web Ex, GoToMeeting and others alike have made millions of dollars by providing a way for remote participants to engage in a Power Point presentation or software demo. You can pay a good monthly fee for this service or use DimDim for free. The free service gives you access to 20 participants, 1 web camera and a Free Audio Bridge. If that is not sufficient for your Web Meeting needs then you can sign up for their monthly plans which claim to be cheaper and better than the competitors. Now you can be giving Web Meetings over the Internet for free.
Screen Capture and Screencasting
Jing www.jingproject.com
Screen Capture and screencasting seem to be great tools in which businesses can use. There are many tools out there which you can pay for or just download Jing for free. Jing will allow you to create screen captures and screencasting can help you display screenshots or video clips of your desktop in order to showcase a piece of software or to construct a "How to video." Although Jing is for free, the free version is a bit limiting. If you can afford $14.95 per year than I would suggest paying for the Pro version which includes the following:
-MPEG 4 and SWF instead of just SWF
-Unbranded Videos
-Share instantly to YouTube
-Recording from webcam
Company Email
Google Apps www.google.com/apps/business
Thunderbird www.mozillamessaging.com
If you want to have a professional business, then setting up a company email address with your websites domain can be a good start. The paid email clients such as Microsoft Exchange can be expensive. You can most likely get a free company email address with your web hosting package, but it is usually limited. Google has recently allowed businesses to use a customized Gmail account with your companies website domain. For example, your address can be tom@mybusiness.com, but be hosted on a Google server. The advantage to this is you get to run your business email account on Gmail. Who doesn't like Gmail? You can even upload your company logo and change the theme of the page to make it more customized. Be careful to choose the free STANDARD account as they will try to get you to pay for 25MB business package.
Some of you love using a email/personal management software such as Outlook. The problem is Microsoft no longer includes it for free with a Windows copy. So instead of paying for a copy of Outlook, download the free Thunderbird. Thunderbird was developed by the same makers as Firefox (Mozilla). With Thunderbird you have most of the features Outlook has. If you don't find the feature you are looking for, then download an "Add-on." Thunderbird, like Firefox, is also Open Source and has "Add-ons" developed by 3rd party developers which enhances the software. My favorite "Add-on" is "Send Later" which allows you to compose an email and send at a later time.
Documents
Google Docs docs.google.com
If you hate having to pay for Microsoft products than I would suggest Google Docs. Google Docs has a spreadsheet, word processing, presentation and forms tool which is accessible online for free with any gmail account. In addition to having these capabilities, you can also archive these documents on your gmail account server. Share any file on Google Docs with others to edit or just view that particular file. Download documents as Word files, PowerPoint files, Excel files, and PDF's. Also you can upload Microsoft formatted documents onto Google Docs and edit them in Google format. It doesn't matter if you are on Mac OS, Windows or Linux. As long as you have Internet connection and a web browser, you can log on to your Google Docs to view and edit from anywhere in the world.
Websites-CMS and E-Commerce
Drupal www.drupal.org
Ubercart www.ubercart.org
The recent trend in websites have been Content Management Systems (CMS), which have become extremely popular due to the quick ability to create, edit, modify, publish and search content on a website. With blogging becoming an essential part of web presence, CMS systems allow users to very easily create content such as blogs and publish them to their website. In addition these sites allow someone with little or no web development experience to manage their website.
Now, these CMS websites can have a monthly fee associated with the service or you can get Drupal for free. I have heard Drupal being described as "A Content Management System on Steroids" and it is SEO friendly. The thing that makes Drupal special is all the contributing "modules" that are created by 3rd party developers to enhance Drupal. I like to use the iPhone analogy. The iPhone is the device that is used to make phone calls, surf the Internet and anything else that the iPhone is known to do. However, the thing that makes the iPhone a Smart Phone leader is all the 3rd party developers who are creating "apps" to enhance the iPhone. Drupal is to iPhone as Drupal "modules" are to iPhone "apps." Drupal is an Open Source Software which means that the public owns the licensing rights. So download Drupal for free today and get started on your own CMS website. If you need to add E-Commerce functionality to your website, then simply plug in the Ubercart "module." Ubercart as well as all Drupal "modules" are Open Source as well.
Search Engine Optimization- SEO
Social Media & Social Networking Sites
At the point that you have a website and are looking to increase exposure via search engines; Search Engine Optimization (SEO) becomes the key. SEO can be extremely expensive if you go down the "paid results" road. "Paid results" are usually charged by "pay-per-click" and Google does a great job of getting you marketed every chance they get. Anyone who has a Gmail account has noticed the advertisements on the right side of the page carefully called "Sponsor Links," while writing an email. For those of you who use Google to search, you have also probably noticed the "Sponsor Links" on the right hand side and the first three search results at the top of the page. These guys pay money to Google every time someone click's on their link advertised by Google.
So how does one achieve organic SEO results? The answer to that is extremely complicated, but I will try to give the basics. You can achieve organic SEO results by using Social Media and Social Networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Digg. By increasing your web presence via Social Media and Social Networking sites you can organically improve results for your website. It starts by being as simple as writing a blog and promoting this blog to your friends via Social Networking sites. It gets far more complicated than this and to the point where I don't even understand it. However, organic SEO success is extremely powerful. Our companies organic SEO success put our website on top of sap.com, in search results, when searching for a new SAP software release. SAP (a business software company) probably pays millions for their SEO results while a SAP channel partner reseller such as us, received better results for free.
Well, there you have it. 10 Free online tools for doing business. Feel free to start doing business for free:). If you have a hard time setting up any of these free tools, give us a call or shoot us an email and we will help you out. You can find our contact information on our website www.orchestrateam.com. Also, I would encourage everyone to leave comments on how these tools worked for them and if they know of a better solution.
Contact Orchestra today if you have any questions or want us to help you get started with these great tools.
Contact us HERE
