15 Tools To Market and Manage Your Business Online

The Coronavirus pandemic has ushered in a new evolution of the digital age, forcing more day-to-day operations online. Businesses and consumers alike are more reliant than ever on electronics, the internet, and the software that comes with them. If your business is already using these innovations, you’re a step ahead of the pack. If your business isn’t already integrated online, you may be trailing behind. Here are some free and cost-effective tools you can use to kickstart your digital presence!

Note: If you’re a fan of lifetime deals like I am, tap that link to find the best software sales of 2020!

This article contains affiliate links. If you follow them and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no additional expense to you.

Why You Need to Market Your Business Online Now

Even if we ignore the current global crisis (which we certainly shouldn’t), 2020 is the year in which all businesses should be looking to get online. While online sales have been increasing every year in recent memory, they are forecasted to increase even more significantly in the next 3-5 years.

It has never been easier to get a website, an app, a handful of social media accounts, and everything else you need. It’s easy to get these things because they’ve already been in high demand for years, and that demand is still growing.

Who These Tools Are For

These tools are ideal for any individual or business that is looking to make money online. Whether you have products or services to sell, whether you’re a store or an artist or a gym or a therapist, these tools will be ideal for bringing your presence to the internet and generating dollars digitally. You might be surprised it how easy it is to take your expertise and monetize it when you put these (mostly free) tools together!

Just to clarify, I’m not suggesting that you immediately start using all of these tools. Check out the ones that sound like they’d be best for you, compare their features, and make the right choice based on what you learn.

Tools To Digitize Your Business

Here are some of the best tools for bringing a business online, along with brief descriptions of how to use them.

Google Docs, Drive, and Associated Tools

A free Google account comes with much more than just a reliable email address these days. You also get 15 gigabytes of storage space and access to a powerful suite of cloud software which makes working as a team online easy. Here are just a few of the applications available for free with a Google account:

• Google Drive: Cloud storage for safekeeping and easy sharing of files and folders. It is fully integrated with the other apps on this list.
• Google Docs: Powerful word processing software that includes a proofreading/suggestion mode, group editing and notating for documents, voice typing, and many third party integrations.
• Google Calendar: A full featured calendar app that integrates with many third party platforms.
• Google Sheets: A spreadsheet solution that can be custom coded – also integrates with many third party softwares to act as a database.
• Google Slides: Presentation software which can also be used for designing PDFs and images.
• Google Forms: Perfect for surveys and accepting form submissions with or without a website. Directly integrated with Google Sheets for filing submissions.

With all this (and much more) available for free, having a Google account is a logical first step for anyone looking to build a business online. If you’re a local business you’ll also want to set up a Google My Business page, which is similar to a social media platform where you can post information and updates about your company.

HubSpot

HubSpot is an incredible tool because of its overall powers and what it offers free of charge. The free software suite includes contact management, email marketing, chatbots and livechat, ticket support, and much, much more. This may seem overwhelming, but you only have to use the features that you need.

When you sign up for Hubspot you also get access to a growing library of free online courses. These are designed to teach you how to market your business in general and specifically using their tools. I’ve been through some of their content marketing courses and got a lot of value from them, so I recommend HubSpot as a great starting place for a business that’s moving online or starting out online.

The downside of HubSpot is that most or all of their free tools include their branding, so you’re giving them advertising space whenever you use their software. HubSpot’s rates are also fairly steep when you feel ready to graduate from the free suite, although they’re worth the price.

Even if you don’t end up using their software, HubSpot’s free courses and blog are great resources for your education when it comes to online business.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp provides many of the same services as HubSpot, though not as thoroughly. True to their name, Mailchimp started out as an email marketing platform and expanded to provide a suite of related services. 

One of Mailchimp’s best features is the fact that they include landing pages with their free plan. That means you don’t need a website at first – you can create a Mailchimp landing page and send your subscribers there to sign up. It’s not as good as a custom website, but Mailchimp also integrates easily with most website builders and content management systems.

Mailchimp’s multiple lower-priced options scale with increased contacts and are designed for growing businesses. If you look at HubSpot and feel like it has everything you need, I would recommend starting there. However if the number of resources on HubSpot overwhelmed you, I think Mailchimp is the easier alternative for getting started.

Whichever one you start with, there’s no reason you can’t eventually use both if necessary, or switch from one to the other. Both of these systems make it easy to export your contact lists and other data.

Trello

Trello is a cloud based list building software, and it’s flexibility makes it useful for managing almost any type of project. You can create boards that are public or private, invite other users, assign people to cards (tasks), add due dates and labels, and that’s only SOME of the features of the free version.

One popular use for Trello is creating public roadmaps for companies or products, because in addition to everything else viewers can upvote cards that they’d like to see pushed into production.  Whether you’re using it for blogging, social media, team management, or something else, Trello is sure to help keep you organized and on task.

Clickup

Clickup is branded as “one app to replace them all,” although it’s core functionality is quite similar to Trello and it has many of the same powers and integrations. Another similarity between these two cloud-based tools is that they have powerful free plans which will be suitable for the early stages of most small businesses. 

Although I haven’t used Clickup quite as much as Trello, my general impression is that it has more functionality but is a little harder to master. I recommend taking a look at both of these great applications and reading through their full features as well as their premium plans, to develop a full idea of which is best for you.

Skype

Skype is a Microsoft-owned leader when it comes to VOIP (voice over internet protocol) and video calling. With a free Skype account you can communicate with your contacts individually or in groups, via text, voice, video, or any combination of the three. You can also record your conversations and download them using Skype’s native tools, which is a fairly recent and welcome addition.

With a premium Skype account you can get an internet-based phone number that enables you to receive calls on any Skype-able device. This can be integrated with third-party voicemail providers in order to provide the same functionality as a local landline. You can also call out to almost anywhere around the world at very reasonable rates with a paid Skype plan.

Slack

Slack and Skype are often compared, but the truth is Skype is much more of a messaging/calling app whereas Slack is more geared towards teamwork and collaboration. Skype is fine for small groups working together, but if you have a team of five or more people Skype can get busy. That’s where a tool like Slack can be so crucial.

In the free version of Slack you get most of the important functionality, although there are some limitations on message history storage and number of total integrations. However like most of the tools on this list, the free version of Slack is probably adequate for many small businesses as they get started.

With Slack you can create workspaces and assign people to them individually or in groups. You can send public messages in groups or private messages, and as an administrator you can control some of these options for your users. Slack also supports one-on-one video and voice calling, although for larger group calls you will need a premium plan. Because of this, for most small business I recommend starting with Skype and moving to using Slack (or both) when it makes sense for your company.

SocialBee

Socialbee is similar to Hootsuite in many ways, although it has a few extra functions and a 14-day free trial rather than a limited free version. Socialbee can integrate directly to most social media platforms including Google My Business, and adds some really handy options such as RSS feeds, Pocket integration, and the ability to save groups of hashtags for quick implementation. 

I personally use Socialbee and I recommend upgrading to it if you have more than three social media accounts or if you need to be able to add team members. While Hootsuite hooks a lot of people with the free account, Socialbee provides more value to their paying customers. Between that and the fact that they’re still a new company, it’s understandable that Socialbee doesn’t have a “forever free” plan. 

When you get to the point where you want to outsource more of your marketing work, Socialbee also provides concierge services for a number of tasks ranging from content curation and creation to scheduling and managing your posts for you.

WordPress and WooCommerce

WordPress is the most popular blogging and website building solution in the world, and WooCommerce is its eCommerce integration. Both are open-source software, meaning they are completely free to use despite being created, updated, and maintained by experts but are. Don’t get too excited though; in order to create a self-hosted WordPress website you’ll need to buy a hosting package.

Here’s a guide to some of the best web hosting companies in the world. While there are many good options out there, few of them are as reputable and experienced as those outlined in that article.

It may also be in your best interest to purchase a premium WordPress theme and or plugins. I personally use and recommend Divi, one of the most popular themes in the world. It is a powerful drag-and-drop builder. You can try a demo of Divi for free on the Elegant Themes website, but in order to use it on your own sites.

A free alternative to Divi which is quite popular is using the free version of a theme called Astra paired with the free version of a page builder plugin called Elementor. Like Divi, Elementor makes it easy to drag-and-drop elements wherever you need them quickly.

To get started learning WordPress, I recommend going to YouTube or Udemy and watching a few beginner tutorials, or even a full course if you have time. There are a lot of intricacies to running a WordPress website which many users overlook, so you may want to outsource your website/blog building to an expert if you have trouble learning software.

GrooveFunnels / GrooveKart

GrooveKart is a growing eCommerce platform set to challenge the likes of Shopify and WooCommerce. It’s a powerful and flexible tool with a lot of potential as it is still very young.

Check out my GrooveFunnels review for more info on GrooveFunnels and GrooveKart. You can get GrooveKart for free by signing up for a lifetime free GrooveFunnels account!