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Free is too good to be true. Right? Not always. And who doesn’t like trying something for free?
It can be hard for a small business to find the extra money to spend on online tools. Especially when starting out. Some of the best online tools are free and will save you time and help you stay organized. When running a business, you need all the help you can get!
Here are a few of our favorite FREE online tools for small businesses!
1. Trello – Project Management
Trello is a web-based project management tool that makes organizing projects fun! It lets you create boards and cards within the boards for each of your projects or tasks.
One favorite feature is assigning tasks to different team members (Yes, you can collaborate on Trello!). You can set a due date, and upload attachments to specific tasks.
Trello has a great interactive layout that allows you to see a good overview of several cards at once. If you are a visual person and like seeing everything in one place, you will love Trello!
2. Slack – Communication
Have you tried Slack yet? Slack is a communication platform that is great for collaboration. Once you start using Slack with your team you will never want to use email again!
Ok… so maybe Slack can’t replace email completely.
But Slack’s messaging feature allows for faster and more effective collaboration.
You can direct or group message any team member. You can create different channels to keep messaging organized by subject or project.
Some Slack users create a #random channel to share funny and interesting stories with members. Slack allows you to send emojis, files, reply to specific threads.
You can also follow specific messages to receive notifications keeping work organized. Slack allows teams to collaborate in a less formal environment.
3. Hootsuite – Social Media Scheduling
Save time and use Hootsuite to schedule your social media posts. Hootsuite’s free version allows for up to 3 social media profiles and 30 scheduled posts.
You can manage your social accounts activity and reply to comments and posts all in one place. The free version offers a statistics report, and there’s a mobile app for convenience.
Using Hootsuite for social media will save you time and help you reach your social media goals.
4. Stripe – Billing/Invoicing
Most people would agree that getting paid is one of the most important parts of business, right? It’s important to make invoicing easy for you and your clients.
The easier it is, the faster you will get paid!
Stripe is a web-based software that accepts and sends out payments. You can set up a free Stripe account and send customized invoices to your clients.
Stripe charges a small transaction fee like Paypal. But accepting credit cards and ACH makes it easier for your clients to pay you faster.
You can set up recurring invoices for clients. Clients can set up a preferred ACH/credit card account and pay invoices with little effort going forward.
Stripe will keep track of payments received making bookkeeping a whole lot easier!
These free online tools give us more time to focus on our clients and build our business, and spendless time invoicing and posting to social media.
What are your favorite free online tools that help you run your business? Tell us in the comments!
Need help using these tools?
Book your free consult with Joann to see how a virtual assistant can boost your business!