Useful free tools on the web!

[Utterly Aquariums]

Hi, I have just ventured into the world of self employment hiring & maintaining aquariums in offices and am loving every minute so far! I came from a marketing background, and have worked for several (very) small businesses. These are some of the website tools which I have found invaluable in setting up my own company - they are all free. I’m sure you will heard of most of them, but there might be a few which you find useful

Website building - Wordpress.org
Wordpress is a free blogging/cms tool which makes it easy to build websites in just a couple of hours. Whilst a little bit of computer savvy-ness is needed to get it going, you can save yourself a lot of time and money using this platform.

Analytics - Google Analytics - google.com/analytics
I’m sure most of you have heard of this, but if you haven’t, this is a must for all those building a site. This will track what your visitors are doing and where they have come from to get to your website.

Spreadsheets, Documents, Presentations (basically a Microsoft office replacement)
Google docs - docs.google.com
really great way of creating professional docs without having to fork out for microsoft office. There are also lots of handy templates, such as an invoice template to make your life easier.

Google Adwords editor - www.google.it/intl/en/adwordseditor/index.html
If you run Google adwords campaigns then download adwords editor - this will make making changes to your campaign a breeze!

Accounting software - GNU cash - gnucash.org
I have to be honest I don’t use this, but have heard great things about it from those who do.

Email Client - Mozilla thunderbird - http://www.mozillamessaging.com/en-US/thunderbird/
Microsoft outlook is pretty pricey - thunderbird (made by the same people that gave us firefox) is a really great alternative. download it to your desktop and it will work in exactly the same way.

Anti virus software - Avast - www.avast.com/free-antivirus-download
There are quite a few free anti virus applications out there, but this one I have found to be the best.

Like I say, most of you have probably heard of most of these, but they might come in handy for a few of you - and they are all free!

Cheers
Paul
Utterly Aquariums

[Carbonite Australia]

If you use MS Oulook for your email and would like to be able to sort and find contacts and emails they send you try Xobni. Its also free (there is a paid version).

I found it quite useful in sorting through my thousands of emails.

http://www.xobni.com/

[King]

I find Google desktop very good.

double tap the Ctrl button brings up the search box and it searched everything on your computer. Finds things in a flash.

The rest of the functionality I don't use.

[stephanie.f]

Thanks for the tips!

I haven't seen AdWords Editor around before - downloading it now!

I'd also like to suggest MailChimp as an email marketing tool - it's great! And free for those who have lists of 500 or less, who send 3000 or less emails a month! It tracks all your statistics and does the reporting for you.

[LukeMoulton]

In regards to setting up a Wordpress Website, take a look at HowToMakeWebsites.net.

[mike_allen]

I'm currently having a look at http://www.craftysyntax.com/ this looks like a great way to get free live chat. I'll post an update on how it goes.

[Craig_D]

What about use a picture to surf the webhttp://www.google.com/mobile/goggles/#text

Not sure if its useful.. but interesting.

[marvelit]

heres one for every single small business owner out there.

Backup your data.

I make a very nice living fixing this one issue for people in Sydney. Small or large business, the one of the most important things you can do for yourself.

[TheTrish]

It is funny as I am in the process of collecting and adding to a list of free or low cost resources on the web for small businesses.

Here is my list just from the top of my head, but I will be writing an article for my website soon and hopefully will have a few more. I am amazed that people don't know about these.

CRM / Project management
http://basecamphq.com/
http://www.zoho.com/
http://www.salesforce.com/au/

Time tracking, invoice and accounts
http://previewstreamtime.com/au/streamtime/
http://www.sohnar.com.au/index.php
http://basecamphq.com/
http://www.getharvest.com/
http://billingsapp.com/

Office
http://www.google.com/apps/
http://download.openoffice.org/

Send large files / file sharing / data backup
https://www.yousendit.com/
http://www.4shared.com/
http://www.filesanywhere.com/
https://www.dropbox.com/
http://www.box.net/pricing

Newsletter distribution
http://www.mailchimp.com/

Accounting
http://www.freshbooks.com/
http://www.saasu.com/
http://gnucash.org/

anti virus
http://www.avast.com/en-au/index
http://www.superantispyware.com/

Solo resources
http://thewealthyfreelancer.com/
http://www.flyingsolo.com.au/

Sydney Coffee Mornings
http://www.thelatteguy.com/

[FS Concierge]

Trish, you're a guru.

Can't wait to have a sticky beak at this very awesome list of yours.

Thank you!
Jayne