Business Tools

I often am asked about the tools I use in my business and am always happy to share my own experience or that of trusted colleagues. Below are a few tricks of my trade. I will update the list periodically.

Full Disclosure: Some of these products have affiliate programs and if you buy I will receive a small commission. I sought out the affiliate programs for services/products that I use. If you’d rather not click on my link, no problem! Use the non-affiliate URL instead to go directly to the site.

Business Builders

RingCentral (non-affiliate link: http://ringcentral.com)

I can’t say enough about this phone system. It is a virtual PBX with all of the bells and whistles of a traditional phone system with one key difference – it’s completely web based. It has a follow-me feature, can be programmed with business hours, can send email and voice mail via email or text. I pay less than $30.00 per month for 18 extensions and I have used it since the inception of my business.

Quickbooks Pro
(non-affiliate link: http://quickbooks.com)
I use QuickBooks for invoicing and tracking. You can even use it to send estimates to customers which can later be converted to an invoice with one simple click. Clients are able to pay online on a private invoice center. You can use it for one time or recurring billing. You can integrate it with your website (I have not done this yet) and PayPal also has a Quickbooks integration (I didn’t have good luck with this, in all honesty).

IAC-EZ

If you hate bookkeeping, you’ll love this service. Easy, online bookkeeping tailored to the needs of solo professionals and small business owners.

Legal Zoom
(non-affiliate link: http://legalzoom.com)

Incorporate your business, or get legal documents prepared online. Legal fees can be expensive and sometimes you need legal help that you can trust without the hefty fees.

Egnyte

Virtual server that allows you to store, back-up and share files. Instead of emailing large files, I create private client folders and provide each client access to their folder. The server tracks versions and users making it easy to manage and find files. I pay $15 per month, there are other plans available. Excellent service!

Video Seminar Live

Pay as you go webinar service. I used this for a social media demonstration and was up, running and conducting a meeting in 10 minutes. There are no account set up or monthly fees (unless you choose a monthly plan option). You simply pay as you go. Quick and easy way to add webinars to your service offering. The service is excellent & they’re on twitter.

TraxTime - This is a personal time clock for Windows. It sits on your desktop and enables you to track your time. I use it to track client projects for billing, and admin tasks to monitor how I’m using my time. One time cost of $39.00.

Vertical Response – Create, send and manage email marketing campaigns or newsletters. I have also used this to create and send hard copy postcards. The postcards were high quality and very inexpensive. You create it online and VR prints and mails.

Cool Free Stuff

YWriter

Totally free writing software. I used this software during National Novel Writing Month and it was so much better than Word. It allows you track scenes, characters and add notes.

Jobblogs.cc

Incredibly easy to use and free project management tool. Each project is a “blog” that gives you a central location for project contacts, notes, milestones and files. Nice clean interface. I learned about this from Alina Popescu and have loved using it.

When Is Good – Coordinate meeting schedules minus the endless emails, you simply click on dates/times and send the link to your invitees. They add their dates/times and you then confirm when is good.

PitchEngine - Create and distribute social media press releases for yourself or clients.

Snipshot -Edit and/or crop your photos on line. I use this to crop photos all the time, it’s quick, easy and free and allows you to save images in gif, jpg and more.

Vista Print (non-affiliate link: http://vistaprint.com) – Low cost printing services.

Aweber - List Management, Opt-In Forms

Can You Have More Sales, Too?

Helping over 57,000 businesses like yours raise profits and build customer relationships using AWeber’s opt-in email marketing software for over 10 years.

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