When starting an online business there are a tonne of things to create, design and sign up for.
Some, more pressing than others.
Some, much more expensive than others.
Some, 100% free! Forever.
There are some things you need to buy upfront. I had to get ridiculously expensive insurance to work for a large corporation, for example.
Other things you can just grab as you need it. Or switch your trial over to a paid subscription as you discover how much you use it, or how great the paid features are.
Or exclusively use the free product. Forever.
So here is my round up of my Top Seven Favourite Freebies For Online Business.
1. Family and Friends.
Often overlooked, I would argue your family and friends are your most valuable.
For me, it was a family member who gave me my start. It was her who, encouraged me, inflated my ego and, yes, paid me, to work for her!
She was the first to follow all my social media accounts. Quick with the love and comments on each post.
Ready with a list of groups to join and people to follow. It was and still is, her who sings my praises and highly
recommends me to those in her business circle.
My husband attentively listens as I read each new project aloud. He wrangles the kids so I can plan out my schedule and Skype with a client.
Never underestimate the value of the love and support your village has to offer.
The catch? You have to be free back. Return the favours. Babysit their kids, cook them a meal, edit their posts, guest post or discount your invoice for them.
Best terms and conditions I've ever read and accepted.
2. Wix
Oooo potentially contentious. There are a heap of different websites to build your site on. I use Wix and I like it. I'm not a web designer, nor do I need it for sales.
I use Wix for publishing my blog and basic contact information for my business.
Wix does all I need it to do.
It is relatively easy to navigate and build a site on. I can create a blog straight up, include pictures from Wix’s free gallery or import my own.
Wix has a mobile app specifically for blogging.
The down side is you cannot edit your site from a mobile, you need a desktop.
The step-by-step instructions are easy to follow. They have hints and tips to help you build. There are many apps you can add to your free site.
Wix also has a fairly extensive list of blogs for more tips and tricks.
Is Wix for you if you want an online store? I couldn't tell you because I don't use it for that.
Is Wix competitively priced in terms of domain and add ons. I'm not sure. Remember this is about my favourite FREE things!
3. Wave
Wave allows you to create free accounting documents. Invoices, quotes and payroll can all be created directly from the site.
You can design your own accounting documents with your logo and contact information.
Wave allows your clients to immediately pay using a credit card (although there is a fee involved with this). You can also choose which currency and connect a bank account.
Once your bank account is connected, Wave is able to track your business expenses.
Create sleek looking quotes and invoices that can be directly sent to clients or downloaded and emailed later. Wave keeps track of which ones are sent and you can set up reminders for you and your clients.
Wave will also send your clients receipts and store your receipts in one place. Handy for tax time!
4. Pinterest
Businesses set up their own free business account where they have access to analytics, similar to Instagram. Pinners (Pinterest users) save pins to boards for inspiration. The majority of Pinners search for non branded content, and use Pinterest as a visual search engine. Your brand can easily become a trusted voice as you share your products and information. Pinterest is used in the 'research' or inspiration stage before customers commit to buy. Pinterest also directly links to your website or shop, driving organic traffic to your site.
Read more about Pinterest and your business here.
5. Toggl
Toggl is a time tracking website that, obviously, tracks your time.
I used it when a client requested to pay me hourly. It offered peace of mind. If the client were to question how long a project took, I felt Toggl offered a level of accountability outside of my word.
You can use it on your desktop or your mobile. They talk to each other, so if you start on one and end on the other, Toggl records it. If you walk away from your desk and forget to stop your timer, Toggl still records idle time.
You can also manually enter the time and break your day up into clients and projects.
I am a one woman show, but you can use it for a team and there are a few more features that I didn’t fully explore.
Toggl offers a 30 day Free Trial period. If I charged by the hour on the regs, I would definitely invest.
6. Later
This is my newest find and I'm in love.
I forget to post at the optimal time for engagement and reach. I'm not waking up at 5 am to post... I always get interrupted… Later has changed my life.
Organising a scheduling app was always on my list of things to do, but I never got around to it. I heard horror stories of important sales events not happening because the scheduling app failed... But so far, so good!
You can schedule your posts for Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. You can do it from your desktop or your mobile app. You can also group more than one lot of social media accounts, handy if you have two businesses or you post on behalf of someone else.
I use Later for Instagram and Facebook. I am yet to try it for Pinterest.
I can import content from pretty much anywhere, including re-posting content from other Instagram feeds. Throw up a caption, include hashtags, and set a date and time for my post. Magically, it appears on my Instagram feed!
Later offers you analytics but only on their paid plans. But with a business Instagram account, Facebook page and business Pinterest account you can see your analytics. Albeit not in the one place.
I can add links through Later’s Linkin.bio. My followers can click through to my blog.
It is so simple! Why did it take me so long to do this?
All of this for FREE! No trial period. Free Forever. There are a few conditions to their free plan, however.
You can only schedule 30 free posts a month. But that is 30 on Instagram, 30 on Facebook, 30 on Pinterest and 30 on Twitter. For me this is more than enough.
7. Unsplash
Mining for images can be a literal minefield. “Free” in the eyes of Google, your country, and the original creator’s country mean different things.
Enter Unsplash.
Disclaimer. I am not a copyright legal guru. But Unsplash has a community of users who upload their own content they want you to use.
Unsplash strongly encourages you to apply credit where credit is due. Once you download the image a popup appears with the information needed to credit the content.
By crediting the original creators on my Instagram I have had them engage with me and discovered new followers. It’s a win-win.
Unsplash is also used by Wix. A double win for me as I can directly insert pictures from Unsplash onto my blog.
8. Canva
Canva is one of my favourites! If you have never heard of Canva go and check it out here!
You can create professional looking content for free. Or you can choose one of their paid subscriptions. But for my purposes, free is all I require.
Upload your own images or use theirs. Create your work of art from a blank page or use one of their seemingly endless free templates.
Canva has templates for Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. You can directly publish to your Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter account.
There are a heap of options of where you can publish and download your design.
Even with the free option, Canva allows you to share your work with other users.
By using their free plan you do have limited storage and limited content access. I have never found that the free version stifled my creativity though!
I love Canva. It has changed my Pinterest aesthetics so now I have a uniform look that is easily identifiable.
If you are starting out in the business world and don't yet have the funds to splash out on fancy software, or need to pinch a few pennies, there is plenty of free software out there.
What are your favourite finds?