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Tonya’s Toolbox

Tonya’s Online Marketing Tools

The Resources You Need Right Now to Run Your Business

Your Search is Over!

Searching and comparing tools to run your business can be a pain and I know you have more important things to do. So let me help you!

You found the right place for internet tools to run your business. Your search is over. See? I’m helping already.

These online marketing tools are easy to learn and are surprisingly affordable because most are either no-cost or have a very low start-up cost.

I thought it would be helpful to create a resource page that you can always come to for all of your online tools and marketing needs. I recommend bookmarking it (use Google+) for your reference and convenience. Enjoy!

Disclosure:  Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase.  Please understand that I have experience with all of these companies, and I recommend them because they are helpful and useful, not because of the small commissions I make if you decide to buy something.  Please do not spend any money on these products unless you feel you need them or they will help you achieve your goals.

ONLINE MARKETING TOOLS

Accounting/Financial Management

  • Outright organizes your small business finances all in one place. It’s FREE – No trial, no credit card, and no payment needed. Try it today!

Backup Service

  • Mozy If you do not have a regular backup scheduled STOP RIGHT NOW! This service is FREE up to 2 GB’s. It has saved me twice. Two different laptops and two hard drive crashes. Okay, don’t say I didn’t warn you. Start your automatic backup TODAY.

Blogging

  • WordPress can create a beautiful website or blog.  This is the perfect solution to build your online foundation. Google and Facebook love it and you should too!
  • Elegant Themes provides attractive and user-friendly WordPress templates that will help you achieve your online goals. Not ready to commit?  Picked a theme you don’t like anymore? No problem, you have 76 (as of this writing) premium themes to choose from until you are happy.

Books

  • Anything You Want this is an amazing story by Derek Sivers as he chronicles how he built a multi-millionaire dollar  business doing what he loved.
  • Book Yourself Solid Michael Port the author provides 7 easy-to-follow core self-promotion strategies.
  • Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us WOW, was this book ahead of its time! Written in 2008 way before the huge social media explosion. Read this and you will have a better understanding of how important social media really is to build your business.
  • Audible Digital Books Don’t have time to read your books? No problem! Purchase your book using Audible so you can listen on your phone, iPad, iPod, or MP3 player.

Droid Apps

Use the links on this page to create accounts for these services first. Then go to the Google Play Store to download each one of these apps directly to your phone.

  • Dropbox see the description in file sharing below.
  • Evernote an easy-to-use, free app that helps you remember everything across all of the devices you use.
  • Google Goggles can scan business cards then add the their information to your contact list. You can use it to scan and search for things on Google too.
  • Join.Me Viewer Attend your next online meeting on your phone with the join.me mobile viewer. View someone’s screen and collaborate in real time, on your time, 100% Free.
  • Mozy see the description in back service above.
  • Shoeboxed see the description in productivity below.
  • Square Card Reader is ready to accept credit card payment anytime anywhere you are.
  • TeamworkPM see the description in project management below.
  • TripIt puts everything in one place. If you travel more than twice a year you need this app.

Document Creation

  • Google Docs has it all! So save your money and don’t by Microsoft Office. Everything you need to run your business with anywhere anytime access.

Email Marketing

  • AWeber is an easy email marketing tool with features to automate your follow-up. Ask any internet marketer they will tell you that you need a list because the fortune is in the follow-up.
  • MailChimp is perfect for a newbie just starting out. Just remember when you grow you start to grow you may want to move your list to a more robust service. Chances are they all will have to opt-in again so you may lose quite a few people.

File Sharing

  • Dropbox always has your stuff when you need it with Dropbox. Carrying thumb drives is old school. With Dropbox, you can bring your photos, docs, and videos anywhere and access them on your laptop, desktop, iPad, iPod, and Droid. Sign up for free!

iPad Apps

Use the links on this page to create accounts for these services first. Then go to the Apple  App Store to download each one of these apps directly to your phone or tablet.

  • Dropbox sees the description in file sharing above.
  • Dragon Dictation lets you dictate your next blog post, email, or whatever.
  • Evernote an easy-to-use, a free app that helps you remember everything across all of the devices you use.
  • Join.Me Viewer Attend your next online meeting on your iPad with the join.me mobile viewer. View someone’s screen and collaborate in real-time, on your time, 100% Free.
  • LogMeIn provides anytime anywhere access to your desktop computer from your iPad.
  • MindMeister see the description in mindmap below.
  • Penultimate is the best app for note-taking. I no longer use paper in meetings, workshops, and conferences. Plus it integrates with Dropbox and Evernote. This app needs a stylus I recommend this Griffin. Save yourself time and money Griffin is great.
  • Shoeboxed see the description in productivity below.
  • Square Card Reader is ready to accept credit card payments anytime anywhere you are.
  • TeamworkPM sees the description in project management below.
  • TripIt puts everything in one place. If you travel more than twice a year you need this app.

Keyword Research

  • Market Samurai is a full-service internet marketing tool. It not only does keyword research, but you can also find content and strategic sites for blog commenting and guest blog posting.
  • Google Keyword Tool can help you find keywords that you might not think of or realize your target audience is using to search Google.

Merchant Gateway

  • PowerPay for hassle-free credit card payment processing. What if you could sign up for a merchant account to accept all major credit cards for your business today with ZERO upfront costs and no long-term contracts?

Mindmap

  • MindMeister online mind mapping and brainstorming. The perfect tool when you need to get a process out of your head and on paper, well the computer.

Monitoring Results

  • Google Analytics tells you EVERYTHING you need to know about where your visitors come from, what they did and what was the outcome of their visit.
  • Clicky offers a simple way to begin reviewing the activity on your website.

Outsourcing

  • Elance has a host of expert programmers, designers, writers, translators, marketers, researchers, and admin contractors with tested skills to help you get things done one project at a time.

Phone Service

  • Google Voice will amaze you with everything it can do for the low, low price of FREE. This is the perfect solution to get a dedicated phone number to run your business like a business and not like a hobby.

Productivity

  • AudioBoo is a mobile and website service for effortlessly recording and sharing your voice. You can make a 3-minute podcast from your desktop, iPad, or smartphone.
  • Evernote helps you remember everything and capture anything for free. Take notes, take a picture, remember recipes and so much more. Okay I don’t use this nearly as much as I should but I will start now, how about you?
  • Shoeboxed is the easiest way to keep track of receipts and generate expense reports anytime, anywhere

Project Management

  • Teamwork PM is the best team task management tool I have ever used. This is project management made easy. It helps managers, staff, and clients work together more productively online.

Screen Capture

  • Jing is perfect for capturing images on screen or creating a quick 5-minute video of your screen. Easy and free, you’ll love this one too.
  • Screenr is completely free. You don’t have to download or install anything. Just click the record button, capture your screen and voice then share the link. AWESOME!

Screen Sharing

  • Join.me lets you hold a simple screen share or webinar with 250 people. Best of all it’s totally free with NO ADS. WooHoo!!! Oh, and you can join a meeting from your iPad, iPhone or Droid. NICE!!

Shopping Cart

  • 1Shopping Cart can take orders, do email marketing, track affiliates, create coupons, and more. It’s an all-in-one marketing and shopping cart solution.
  • Paypal gets you started accepting credits online right now.
  • Square Card Reader accepts credit cards anywhere. All you do is signup and they will send you a free Square Card Reader you can use on your phone, iPad or laptop.

Social Media Scheduling

  • HootSuite is perfect if you want to plan ahead by scheduling your updates. You can also use it to manage most of your social media engagement in one place.
  • Social Oomph uses this to schedule your tweets and other social media updates. Or you can use it to monitor the Twitter tweet stream and periodically email you a digest of the tweets that contain your keywords.

Teleseminars

  • Free Conference Calling there are many of these sites to choose from. However, this is one of the only ones you can change your access and host codes on the fly.

Video Creation

  • Jing creates short videos directly from your computer screen. You can easily record up to 5 minutes.
  • Screenr is completely free. You don’t have to download or install anything. Just click the record button, capture your screen and voice then share the link. AWESOME!

Video Hosting

  • Vimeo has private and public areas to store your videos. You will need the Pro version to use it for business.
  • YouTube gives you a channel to upload your original video content to a custom vanity URL.

Webinars

  • GoToMeeting has exactly what you need to run a webinar with a small or large group. You can conduct do-it-yourself webinars with up to 1,000 people – all for one flat rate.
  • Join.Me is a simple screen-sharing tool for meetings on the fly. The free version has plenty of features plus you can have up to 250 viewers! You will need to upgrade to the pro version to schedule meetings in advance.

Website Creation

  • Get a Simple WordPress Website for $275 That’s it! And its worth every penny (and a whole lot more).

Website Hosting

  •  Hostgator I have used them for more than a decade now because I love them. Christmas Day my site was hacked they worked with me until I got it fixed.  An easy 1-click WordPress install with more benefits than you will ever need.  NOTE: Here’s a 25% off coupon code: SavvyBizBuilder

 WordPress Plugins

  • Popup Domination has beautifully designed templates to capture opt-ins. I know, I know everyone hates them but they really work.