The saying, “you get what you pay for,” isn’t always true. There are tons of fantastic free business tools out there that help a small business manage, market, and socialize their company. Some have been around for a while, others are on the newer side, but they all help small businesses be more productive. Let’s take a look at some of the best:

Evernote
Running a business means having tons of things to do and never enough time to do them. Evernote can make your business (or even your personal life) more manageable. Yo can take notes, create to-do lists, save favorite webpages, store documents – all in one place. You can also quickly save any thoughts or ideas that come up during your work day. What’s great about this tool is that it can always be with you. It syncs up across your computer, smartphone and tablet. Our CEO Janine Popick, is a huge fan.

FreeConferenceCall.com
The name says it all. Use this service to put together a conference call for free. It’s really as simple as that.

Dropbox
Want to access your files from anywhere? Need to share a huge file that’s too big to send via email? Well, Dropbox is a simple and easy way to do it – for free. Just set up a Dropbox account and you can easily upload documents, photos, and videos. Organize them into folders if you need to. Share any of your files with clients, customers or vendors.

Wave Accounting
Accounting, invoicing, payroll, payments and just knowing where your money is coming from or where it’s going can be accomplished for free and in the cloud with Wave Accounting.

Google
There are tons of free business apps that Google provides for small businesses. There are productivity apps like Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive (provides cloud storage), and Google Voice (gives you one number for all phones you have). If you have a physical location for your business, it’s a must to sign up for Google Places for Business. This gets you listed in Google Search, Maps, and more. For those of you who use social media (tsk! tsk! if you aren’t), Google+ helps you share your brand (and gives you an SEO boost).

Appointlet
If your business relies upon appointments with clients (like all you massage therapists, dentists, and accountants out there), Appointlet can make your life a little easier. Just add a “Book Now” button on your website and your clients can see your calendar and book their appointment right online. It collects client information and can even accept payments.

Skype
Skype allows you to have video or voice calls to anyone else on Skype. All you need is an internet connection and a computer (a tablet or mobile device works too) with a webcam, speakers and a microphone.

Wunderlist
That’s right,  it’s Wunder with a “U”. If you’ve got tons on your to-do list and are sick of losing your crumpled piece of paper or yellow sticky Post-it notes, Wunderlist is a fabulous solution. Add tasks to your list using any device and it automatically syncs it up on your computer, tablet or cellphone. Even better? You can share your list and assign it to someone else to get it done.

Free Press Release
Get the word out about your business – whether you’re just launching the business, a new product or updating your service. Free Press Release will distribute your news to major search engines and targeted journalists who cover your industry. Plus this helps with SEO by creating links back to your website.

If you need a solution for your small business marketing efforts and you’re on a tight budget, there’s probably a free service out there that you should explore. Here are a few more of our favorites.

Any other free tools or services that you find really useful?  Share away in the comments.

© 2013 – 2019, Kathy McGovern. All rights reserved.