11 best “free” or low $$$ Websites for your Startup
These incredibly helpful Websites can help a Startup or small business make the most of precious time & money to be more successful !!!
Topics: How to start a Startup, TalkWalker, InsureOn, Pocket, FiveRR, HyFy, Do.com, CanVa, 99 Designs, Slack, Streak.
Whether you’re just getting started or have been in business for a few years, running a startup involves a tremendous amount of work. Yet never before have there existed so many inexpensive or free websites, apps, & online tools to help startups. Take it from Josh Inglis, founder of the Public Relations [PR] firm Propllr. Since his company specializes in startups & fast-growing tech companies, he makes it a point to test & evaluate online platforms whenever he can. Here are some of his favorites
1. How to Start a Startup. This series of “recorded” Seminars offers practical advice on every facet of launching Startups to growing a business. It also features the insights of some of Y Combinator’s most successful alumni & advisors. What I love most about it is, that it avoids platitudes & generalizations, but instead offers very real, very actionable advice. While everything’s available online, I recommend listening via the Podcast option. Totally Free. [No Strings or other things]
2. TalkWalker Alerts. is a great replacement for Google News alerts, but more robust & comprehensive. It sends Email or Text notifications any time there’s an online mention regarding your brand, competitors, or any other topic you designate. Totally Free. [The right price for you & me. Wiz4biz]
3. InsureOn. In the spirit of full disclosure, InsureOn is a client, but a stop at this site is a must. Small-business insurance is very complicated, but they make understanding and getting it – very simple. They also have deep expertise in hundreds of industry verticals, so they’ll know exactly what coverage startups or a small business should have and which carrier or carriers would be the best fit. And if you’re not sure what kinds of coverage your business needs, InsureOn’s Policy Buddy is a good place to start. Free as a Research tool.
4. Pocket. When you’re online and find an amazing article – but don’t have time to read it – Pocket saves it for later, even if you’re offline. As an entrepreneur, my mental clock is always ticking when I feel I’m doing anything not related to running & growing my Startup PR firm. This is a big issue, because I live my life online and there’s so much content that really doesn’t need or deserve my immediate attention. Free to $4.99/mo or $44.99/yr.
5r. FiveRR ($5?). I never had occasion to use FiveRR until recently, when we decided to host “Here’s How,” our first-ever startup Marketing conference. I knew I wanted it to have a Logo that would be text-based – so artistic creativity wasn’t quite as important to me. For $10 I got exactly what I wanted. We may have to tweak it over time, but for $10, I was very pleased with the result. Gigs start at $5. [That’s surprising. LoL Wiz4biz]
6. HyFy. (not the old HiFi. Wiz4biz) There are lots of tools you can use if you need to record something on your screen to share with others, but none are as simple as HyFy. It’s a simple browser extension that lets me record not just everything on my screen but also my voice, so I can narrate what I’m showing, as well. Once recorded, I just shoot a link to whoever needs it. This is so powerful. Think about a Legal Contract – where you want to explain a particular clause, but where you can simply say what you’re thinking vs having to write the perfect Email. And for designers, it’s a much more natural way to present ideas or to discuss revisions. It’s a fantastic collaboration tool. Free to $10/mo.
7. Do.com (not Do do.com) Most people feel they are in too many meetings, but I think the bigger problem is that they are in too many “bad” meetings. Do.com is all about making meetings better. Agendas, To-do lists, Take-aways, and so on, are all covered automatically. And then there’s also reporting & analytics, so you can see how much time your team spends in meetings and how productive they are. Super cool & worth a look. Only $10/mo.
8. CanVa. I think this is a great resource when you just need a quick design for something like a Blog post, a Facebook Ad or a PDF brochure, and you know exactly what you want. CanVa has a ton of great images & tools that make it easy to create Marketing pieces that combine cool art & creative text. Word of warning: It’s very fun to use, so it can be addictive: Free to $12.95/mo.
99 Designs was one of the very first tools I turned to, when I launched Propllr 5r years ago. I had a basic sense of what I wanted from a logo – but had a limited budget – so 99 Designs made sense. It allowed me to write up a creative Brief to guide designers’ work + set a budget with the knowledge that – if I didn’t like what I got back, I wouldn’t have to pay for it. You’ll get a fair amount of designs that are derivative or too-familiar, but if you take the time, you’ll get some fantastic options. Varies according to project. For example, a Facebook cover starts at $79, whereas a logo design starts at $299.
10. Slack is a great way to collaborate internally & externally – particularly with distributed teams of Free-lancers or with Clients. It allows messages to be grouped by category, so it is much easier than Email searching to quickly get up to speed on what’s happening within a specific “channel.” It’s also helped us get more tightly integrated with our clients, as several of them have added us to their own internal Slack channels. Free to $15/mo per user.
11. Streak. I love, love, love this Gmail plug-in. It helps roundup Emails relating to anything your business does that occurs in stages. We used Streak to create a CRM for PR. At the push of a button, it gives us the ability to show our Clients – who we have contacted – the stage of contact, the pitch topic & any relevant notes. This powers one of Propllr’s biggest differentiators–transparency–without requiring hours of reporting time. We also use it for other things, like hiring & event management. It’s ridiculously wonderful. Free to $89/mo.
Comments: Do you know of any other Websites that are great for a Startups?
from US News & World Report 08 Dec16 enhanced by Peter/Wiz4biz
For more info, go to Link for: Startup, Starting a Business & Growing a Biz.