The rapid growth of new technology is a real blessing for us entrepreneurs. Running a business online is just getting easier and easier, and I’ve found some of the best free tools on the web to help me get there.
When I first started working at digital agencies back in 2006 it took months to develop a website, weeks or months to add new features to it, and web design required heavy input from someone hugely skilled in Photoshop. Can you imagine how frustratingly slow it would have been back in those days to adapt your business to an ever-changing marketplace?
I’m always on the lookout for new tools, resources and apps that are designed to make the life of the entrepreneur easier. Here are ten that I’ve been really excited to discover (and no, I’m not affiliated with any of them):
Wordswag
An app that lets you add cool styled text to any image in seconds. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you’ll know I love my inspirational quotes. So this is a great app to upload images to places like Instagram.
IFTTT
Not the catchiest name I’m admit, but this is one cool app. It allows you to create all sorts of rules to make your life easier. Here’s a few examples of the rules you can add:
- Upload an Instagram post to Twitter automatically
- Save new and popular Technology articles to Instapaper
- If I put an a photo in this iOS album, send it to my mom (cute!)
Supertasker
I had an email about this one just today. Sounds similar to fiverr, but with a bit more quality control and the added benefit of getting what you want delivered within hours. I’m definitely going to be using this one in the near future.
22s
This looks hugely useful. It’s a Facebook app that helps manage your social media activities. Mentioned in the sales literature is the ability to upgrade your page and add valuable integrations – sounds hugely tempting if you want to get the most out of Facebook for your business.
PopupAlly
I’ve been considering this for my site for a while. It’s a fantastic popup plugin for WordPress, designed by the brilliant Nathalie Lussier. I know a lot of entrepreneurs who are raving about this and the positive impact it’s had on their conversions, so you might be seeing it on this site in the near future.
ThemeInk
Create your own themes in WordPress without having to write code. Sounds good to me.
Withoomph
Create professional looking logos for your business instantly
Thenameapp
Perfect for those of you struggling to find a catchy name for your business, this app will help you find the right name that has a free domain (and they also check social media).
Swayy
This one looks pretty interesting. They claim to personalize your users’ experience based on their behavior. If it’s something that can lead to better conversions, then I think this could have huge potential for small business owners.
Skitch
I think Skitch looks interesting. The people behind Evernote (which I love) are responsible for the design. It allows you to create sketches and annotations for your content, which has got to be a great thing. Fewer words = higher engagement.
So now it’s your turn. What are your recently discovered tools and resources? What is your one must-have app that you couldn’t live without? Drop me a comment below.
