155+ Free Portable Biz Tools

You Might Also Like 155+ Free Portable Biz Tools

Free vs Paid

The resources on this page are mostly free, or already installed on your computer. I’ve included the most recent pricing of anything that has a fee attached. Please use the resources you already own and already familiar with, whenever possible. It will make this process so much easier.

Royalty Free Images

Free to use on your blogs – but it’s always a good idea to watch to see if the terms say otherwise.

Images for Blogging  :: Creative Commons & Stock Photos

  1. Ancestry Images offers a free image archive of historical prints, maps and artifact photos, like this print of a New Zealand Maori Warrior from 1817.
  2. Design School Canva offers 74 free stock images – a great combination to use with the graphics you can create in their free design software.
  3. 123RF (some aren’t free, but this link “should” lead to free ones)
  4. BigFoto (amateur photographers, no login required)
  5. Bigstock  (Free Images each week)
  6. Compfight.com (searches through flickrs creative commons images)
  7. Crow the Stone  
  8. DeathToTheStockphoto.com (free high resolution, sent to you once a month)
  9. Dreamstime a free section that’s searchable and frequently updated. You will have to sign up for a free account though.
  10. Everystockphoto.com
  11. Foodiesfeed (free high resolution food images for personal or commercial use)
  12. Foter   (compiles Flickr images, including some that may not be usable for commercial purposes)
  13. Free Pixels 
  14. Freedigitalphotos.net (categorized and searchable. Business, personal or educational use.  Small sizes are free, larger sizes available for purchase)
  15. Free Images – more than 350,000 stock photos, searchable and categorized. Bit of a painful sign up process.
  16. Freemediagoo.com
  17. Free Photos Bank  (categorized & searchable. Download without login)
  18. Freerange Stock (free high-resolution stock photos. Registration required)
  19. Getty Images (over 350K images)
  20. GetRefe 
  21. Graphic Leftovers (includes some vectors too)
  22. Gratisography (free high-resolution, completely free of copyright, weekly, simply click to download, no registration)
  23. IM Free (search by keyword or browse by category. All for commercial use.)
  24. ISO Republic 
  25. Little Visuals 
  26. Kozzi.com
  27. Life of Pix 
  28. Littlevisuals.co (7 images every 7 days)
  29. Magdeleine
  30. Microsoft Clipart (retiring Jan 1, 2015)
  31. Morgue File.com (credit the photographer when possible)
  32. New Old Stock Photos (vintage photos from public archives)
  33. Pexels  
  34. Photodropper.com
  35. PhotoDune (several free images available each month)
  36. Photolib.noaa.gov
  37. Photopin.com (searches Flickr’s creative commons licenses)
  38. Picjumbo.com (New photos uploaded daily, no registration)
  39. Pickupimage (nature and outdoor images, free to do as you wish, including commercial use)
  40. Picography 
  41. Pixabay.com (copy, modify, distribute and use the images, even for commercial purposes. No registration is required)
  42. Pixel Perfect (free stock photography for designers)
  43. Public Domain Archive 
  44. Public-domain-photos.com (amateur photographers. signup required)
  45. Rgbstock is a free stock image site created by photographers and graphic artists. Registration (required) is one-click and the pool of photos is pretty deep.
  46. Snapwi.re 7 free photos each week. Plus, signup to use Snapwire and we both get $20 towards a photo from a request or their marketplace. Use my link http://ssqt.co/ccPq
  47. Stock Vault
  48. StockPhotos.io (photos sharing community, 25,000+ images. Allowed for commercial use with credit to author)
  49. Split Shire 
  50. Startup Stock * must attribute
  51. Stock Exchange
  52. The Stocks (compilation of photo sites – including many on this list)
  53. Travel Coffee Book  (10 new photos every 10 days – travel photos – no sign up required)
  54. UncleSamsPhotos.com (directory of US Government ‘s free photo galleries)
  55. Unprofound.com (no sign up required, all images are available for commercial use)
  56. Unsplash.com (10 free photos every 10 days in your inbox)
  57. Wikimedia (also includes video & mp3)

Free stock photo bundles from Hubspot

(you’ll need to enter your name and email, but you’ll have full rights to use their images)

Where to Edit Your Images

Create Image Mockups

(create mockups of iphone, laptops etc)

Want to find the original source of an image? Worried about copyright?

TinEye will do a reverse image search for you. It will show if there is modified versions of the image, or even higher resolution versions. Creating eBook or eCovers :: Click Here

 

(click on these “tabs” above to view resource guides for images, video, music and more) There are plenty of options out there to create weekly / monthly email newsletters, or automated drip campaigns. Instead of trying to persuade you to use one or the other, I’ll do a quick comparison of each & include a link so you can get started. I’ll also include my affiliate links, but my opinion of each will not be impacted or swayed by them. In fact, just to prove that point? I’m not going to recommend Aweber as my absolute favorite, even though by far it’s would earn me the most affiliate revenue (it pays 30% ongoing, month after month, whereas I will earn absolutely nothing from mailchimp). These companies all make it really easy for people to promote their products -it’s a bit of a thorn in my side, because I know it causes you (and me) confusion when trying to make a decision about what the best tool really, really is for our business.

This page is under development. Quick links below & I’ll come back to fill in the rest very soon. Thanks for your patience.

MailChimp_Logo_NoBackground_Dark

Freddie_wink(from Free to $60+/month)

“Free forever” plan with MailChimp for up to 2000 subscribers with great features (including autoresponders, as of May 2017). Great industry specific resource guides here that you may want to look at, regardless of which platform you use.

  • Working with Automation
  • Mailchimp for Designers
  • Mailchimp for Musicians
  • Mailchimp for Non Profits
  • Mailchimp for Online Sellers
  • Mailchimp for Bloggers

MailerLite

All of their features are included for the first 1000 subscribers, including beautiful landing pages, autoresponders, two step popups and tagging (soon), and pricing that scales up nicely (very affordable)

View MailerLite

Aweber from $19/mo

aweberPreferred by many. It has autoresponder and list segmentation starting at about $19/month

Can You Have More Sales, Too?Helping over 120,000+ businesses like yours raise profits and build customer relationships using AWeber’s opt-in email marketing software for over 10 years. Take a Free Test Drive today!

Benchmark (from Free-$29/mo)

Free Forever plan (technically you can send your first 1,200,000 emails for free) Including Autoresponders

Active Campaign (from $9-$29/mo)

www.activecampaign.com (*) Scroll down below their pricing table to see the free forever plan for up to 2500 subscribers(free version no longer available – 14 Day Trial instead) Active Campaign is a serious contender with Infusion Soft. If you’re looking for automation & integration with your online store, social media and/or membership site, Active Campaign can provide you with a much smarter end user experience than simple newsletter software. Take a tour through their workflows & experience a different way of nurturing your relationships with customers, that goes far beyond autoresponders.

Get Response (from $9.00/mo)

(I’ve pulled the links for get response currently because of some negative feedback I’ve been getting)

mad_mimiMad Mimi (from $0.00)

Free Plan lets you send up to 12,500 emails, and have 2500 contacts (if you have 200 people on your email list, send a message 2 -4 times a month you’d be fine for your first year in business. It’s a great way to start)

Other:

Emma (from $45/mo)

http://myemma.com/ Automation, segmentation, social and a basic CRM tool

Agile CRM (from Free-$64.99/mo)

Leadscoring, timelines, tagging, web grabbers (like pop ups), drag and drop automation, various plugins, 2-Way Email & Tracking, Google Contacts & Cal Sync https://www.agilecrm.com/pricing

These websites regularly look for guest posts

Paid posts:

Podcasts and Telesummits

This is a list I’ve had since 2011 – some may no longer be valid. Please send me a note at loralee@loraleehutton.com   if you find one (or more) links that are no longer valid.

If you’re in BSchool, click through to this file, for some great options (people looking for guest posting, and a place to pitch your own offerings)

http://www.guestbloggingtactics.com/the-ultimate-list-of-health-blogs-that-accept-guest-posts/

See “PR for Ordinary People” to learn how you can reach out to media and get more exposure. It’s included in your paid membership of the Biz Training Club.

Do you have other resources I should add to this list? Open the chat, send me an email or message on FaceBook. I’d love to add it to this list.

Video Background

http://www.coverr.co/

Want to create awesome graphics images to share on Facebook and Pinterest?

Try out these resources to create them fast!  And if you need images, click through to images guide

  1. http://quotescover.com/
  2. http://quozio.com/
  3. Wordle.net
  4. http://picmarkr.com/
  5. http://www.tagxedo.com/
  6. http://wordpress.org/plugins/proquoter/
  7. http://www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/
  8. ReciteThis.com
  9. ShareAsImage.com
  10. Pinstamatic.com
  11. Pinwords.com

Done for you:

http://katrinamayer.com/quotes/#/

Quotes:

http://inspirational-quotes.info/

http://www.brainyquote.com/

Other

Wistia shares their video production secretswistia behind the scenes

http://www.appsumo.com/~5KZ1b/

  • Keynote & Screenflow on Mac
  • Powerpoint & Screencast-o-matic.com (PC or Mac)
  • or Snagit (PC or Mac)
  • Prezi.com (for unique presentations)
  • and this Resource Guide for background music

Also, some of the tools & checklists in Your First Webinar may be helpful depending on the style of video you’re creating.

this page isn’t quite ready yet, but take a look at the resources that are ready below

The QuickStart Website videos

  1. Step 1: Getting Started
  2. Step 2: Basic Setup
  3. Step 3: Adding Content
  4. Step 4: Styling
  5. Step 5: List Building
  6. Plugins

PDF ebooks/lessons to help you with this topic:

(Note to Loralee: Upload files from PLR archives)
  1. Set up WordPress – DIY
  2. SEO
  3. Headers
  4. Content / Blogging

PLR

  1. Tutorial Mixer
  2. Blogging Bounty
  3. Premium Header Pack
  4. Clipart Library
  5. Graphics & Buttons

Recommended Programs:

  1. Nathalie Lussier
  2. Girls Guide to Web Design

Content Marketing Editorial Calendar For WordPress

WordPress Plugins available to members for your personal use:

  1. SEO Max Lite
  2. Squeeze Manager

Other Resources available as part of your membership:

  1. “creating images” course
  2. Info Graphics Mega Pack
  3. Images from Loralee’s camera (free for you to use)
  4. PLR article packs
group_programs

Here you’ll find resources specifically for entrepreneurs who have group work in their business model.

Including:

  • Tech Tools
  • Marketing resources
  • Tips on leveraging the work you’ve already done (including re-purposing content)
  • Events/Workshops you may want to participate in to help you achieve your goals faster

Some of this content is for logged in members only. If you’re not a member yet, you’ll be directed to a sign up page after clicking through.

Overview

When you’re creating group programs in your business the tools & resources you need are just a little different than than if you were selling digital products or strictly offering your services for sale. You will want tools to keep your group engaged, focused & seeing results. Often we look to “Membership sites” for this type of thing, but it doesn’t have to be.  Plenty of great group programs exist with a weekly lesson delivered by email and a Facebook group.  Or a group phone call / google hangout and a Google Plus Community.  It doesn’t need to be complicated.   Like with anything, keep in mind your ideal client & how he/she would best benefit. The simpler, the better.

Ultimately you want to achieve this:

Group meeting   => Easy way to communicate & engage   => Results (for rave reviews & repeat customers)

Creating

Tech Tools

  1. Get Started ebook (for free and low cost tools I used to run my business on less than $30/month)
  2. Membership Plugins for WordPress:   s2Member.com (free/paid), Wishlist (paid), emember, Paid Membership Pro (free)
  3. Membership platforms, non WordPress:  Ning, WildApricot, Facebook groups, Google Plus Groups
  4. Group Calls:  Google Hangouts (private, maximum 10 people), Skype Group (private, maximum 10 people), GoToMeetings (paid, max 10), FreeConferenceCallHD.com (100+ attendees, free)
  5. Email Management:  Mailchimp, Aweber, GetResponse, Benchmark
  6. Online file storage (cloud storage):  Copy.com, Dropbox.com, Box.net
  7. Sharing worksheets & handouts (PDF):  see my post on lifehack “20+ tools to create a simple ebook“, and my tutorial “how to write an ebook for free“, creating fillable PDF’s
  8. Video Training: Keynote & Screenflow on Mac, Powerpoint & Screencast-o-matic.com (PC or Mac), or Snagit (PC or Mac), Prezi.com (for unique presenetations) and this Resource Guide for background music
  9. Learning Management Systems (LMS): WordPress Plugins like, Namaste LMS, Sensei, WP Coursemanagement. Or online like Udemy, Simplero, Ruzuko, Fedora, Zenler

Ideas

  1. Brainstorm Ideas: Use post it notes or recipe cards to brainstorm ideas (see my post here)
  2. Tools: Use a mindmapping tool like Mindmeister or TheBrain.com
  3. Content Creation starter packages: Consider using “white label”, PLR (private label rights) or starter templates as a framework to build your programs/course content. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel every time. It’s similar a teachers lesson plan, in many ways. Learn more about my PLR resources here

Selling

Tech Tools

Membership plugins/tools will accept payments for you (they sync with paypal and other merchant accounts). And if you’re  group can run just as easily on a simpler model, using a simple shopping cart, or paypal button that delivers information to the group member, is equally good.  You’ll want them all to connect to an email list, so you can stay in touch with the entire group.

  1. Membership Plugins for WordPress:   s2Member.com (free/paid), Wishlist (paid), emember, Paid Membership Pro (free)
  2. Membership platforms, non WordPress:  Ning, WildApricot, Facebook groups, Google Plus Groups
  3. Non-Membership WordPress Plugins:  Simple Paypal Shopping Cart, Plain paypal button (see tutorial)
  4. Email Management:  Mailchimp, Aweber, GetResponse, Benchmark
  5. Sales Pages: See my “Sales Pages” post from the 14 Day Product Challenge
  6. Extras:  Launchrock.co

Promoting / Marketing

Promoting a group program is not much different than promoting your one-to-one offerings, or a digital product. Except that you usually have a specific start date, and a specific number of people you can possibly work with.  You will ultimately have a date where you will need to close sales (either because you have a max number of participants, or because the course is starting soon).  Because of this, you’ll want to plan out your marketing carefully.  If at all possible, give yourself 3 months before the start of the program, to get everything in place with the least amount of stress.  Or, consider doing a beta program that’s impromptu, (free in exchange for feedback, or usually with some kind of discount) the group knows it, and you create the content as you go along.

You’ll also want great images to convey your message, on social media and on your sales page. Consider outsourcing to Fiverr.com, but you can create your own too. Just keep it simple.

Tech Tools

  1. Social Media:  Hootsuite, Social Oomph, BufferApp
  2. Planning Tools:  Asana, Teambox.com, Basecamp, Do.com, Google Docs
  3. Graphics:  See graphics resource page

Resources

  1. Resources for paper planning your marketing: EthicalLaunch.com
  2. Guest Posting: Where to submit guest blog posts Resource Guide
services

Here you’ll find access to resources specifically for entrepreneurs who offer services (like coaching, VA work, copywriting, or anything where you’re providing service directly to your customer)

Including:

  • Tech Tools
  • Marketing resources
  • Tips on leveraging the work you’ve already done (including re-purposing content)
  • Events/Workshops you may want to participate in to help you achieve your goals faster

Overview of Service Based

In many ways having a service based business is the easiest way to get started. Plus, there are huge rewards to starting out as service based because you have the opportunity to find out where your skills truly are & if you keep your eyes and ears open the experiences will lead you to creating group programs or products, to leverage the work your doing in your service based business.

The tools & tips below will help you in setting up your service based business.

Booking

Overview

You’ll need a few important elements to create a seamless booking experience with potential clients (especially if you’re offering some kind of coaching).  If you’re work involves taking on new projects that you’ll work on later (freelance work) then you might be able to skip this step & stick with a email correspondence instead. Early on it would be good for you to create some type of CRM system to keep track of leads (people who may be interested, but not yet ready to buy). It doesn’t need to be fancy, but something that will make it easier for you as you get busy.

Tech Tools

  1. Create a professional email address:  don’t use a personal hotmail address like Love2Sail@hotmail.com, but something like loralee.hutton@gmail.com works to keep things professional.  Gmail works great because it integrates with so many other platforms. You can also use one that’s set up with your domain name.  Just make sure it’s a domain that you will want to use long term (I’ve had ones that didn’t auto-renew & it created a mess)
  2. Scheduling Tools:  Some have payment systems, some work really well with gmail calendars.  Check out Acuity, youcanbook.me ,  Scheduleonce.com,Schedulicity.com,  TimeTrade.com

Delivery

  1. Client Calls:  Google Hangouts (private, maximum 10 people), Skype Group (private, maximum 10 people), GoToMeetings (paid, max 10), FreeConferenceCallHD.com
  2. Email Management:  Mailchimp, Aweber, GetResponse, Benchmark
  3. Online file storage (cloud storage):  Copy.com, Dropbox.com, Box.net
  4. Sharing worksheets & handouts (PDF):  see my post on lifehack “20+ tools to create a simple ebook“, and my tutorial “how to write an ebook for free“, creatingfillable PDF’s
  5. Video Communication: Create quick video tutorials or communication with Jing, Screencast-o-matic or Screenflow (Mac only)

Marketing

  1. Real Life Networking: 
  2. Join online groups/forums: Facebook, Google+, Twitter Chats, LinkedIn groups, Life & Biz Academy
  3. Guest Posting: Where to submit guest blog posts Resource Guide
  4. JV – Joint Venture Opportunities:  through online groups, online communities
  5. Social Media:  Hootsuite, Social Oomph, BufferApp

Billing

Tech Tools

  1. Invoicing System: Freshbooks, Satoriapp.com, Paypal invoices
  2. CRM – Customer Relationship Manager: simple versions with Rapportive, Contactually & gmail. Or Insightly, BaseCRM or Streak.com

Collections

  1. Freshbooks will send out automatic reminders. If you’re using another system, setting up reminders in your google calendar with “canned response” email drafts can help make this process easier.
  2. Great report here: http://www.freshbooks.com/blog/2006/06/28/streamline-your-collections/
  3. __

Resources:

  1. Great ebook (free) on Freelance mindset & pricing  http://breakingthetimebarrier.freshbooks.com/
  2. Free training for Virtual Assistants  http://virtualsuccessavenue.com/free-training-for-virtual-assistants/

One of the paid tools for coaching that could really streamline everything for you is Satori and vCita. Both have an easy system for people to book initial intake sessions, plus follow up sessions & payments. Satori also includes templates for contracts and some additional structure for the way your coaching practice is run. It’s priced a little higher too. Take a look at both before deciding to go with the completely free options. If either of these would save you $50/mo of your own admin time, then upgrade to a paid tool.

Satori

Appointment Scheduling For Your Website, Business Calendar For Your Team

askloralee_create_products

Here you’ll find access to resources specifically for entrepreneurs who are creating & selling products (physical or digital)

Including:

  • Tech Tools
  • Marketing resources
  • Tips on leveraging the work you’ve already done (including re-purposing content)
  • Events/Workshops you may want to participate in to help you achieve your goals faster

Creating

Tech Tools

  1. Get Started ebook (for free and low cost tools I used to run my business on less than $30/month)
  2. Creating Ebooks:  see my post on lifehack “20+ tools to create a simple ebook“, and my tutorial “how to write an ebook for free“
  3. Audio Files:  Use Garage Band on Mac and Audacity for PC, or an online tools like Vocoroo.com, or call into your favorite conference line & hit record
  4. Videos:  Keynote & Screenflow on Mac, Powerpoint & Screencast-o-matic.com (PC or Mac), or Snagit (PC or Mac), Prezi.com (for unique presenetations) and this Resource Guide for background music

Ideas

  1. Brainstorm Ideas: Use post it notes or recipe cards to brainstorm ideas (see my post here)
  2. Tools: Use a mindmapping tool like Mindmeister or TheBrain.com

Selling

Tech Tools

  1. Shopping Carts for WordPress:   Simple Paypal Shopping Cart, Woocommerce, EasyDigitalDownloads.com
  2. Shopping Carts for any type of website:  Gumroad.com, Ecwid.com, Etsy.com, eJunkie.com
  3. Online file storage (cloud storage):  Copy.com, Dropbox.com, Box.net
  4. Email Management:  Mailchimp, Aweber, GetResponse, Benchmark
  1. Sales Pages: See my “Sales Pages” post from the 14 Day Product Challenge

Promoting / Marketing

Tech Tools

  1. Social Media:  Hootsuite, Social Oomph, BufferApp
  2. Planning Tools:  Asana, Teambox.com, Basecamp, Do.com, Google Docs
  3. Graphics:

Marketing

A product can be marketed very much the same as a group program. There should be some teaser information provided early in the creation process & time to promote it when it’s ready.

  1. Resources for paper planning your marketing: EthicalLaunch.com
  2. Guest Posting: Where to submit guest blog posts Resource Guide

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