Digital Marketing Resources

ROI Calculators

Use this google spreadsheet calculator to determine what you can afford to pay for advertising and other costs for a target ROI.

     

    Recommended Reading

    There are a few key books that any entrepreneur should read to get their business on the best footing with proven business principles. 

     

    Recommended Videos

    Recommended Tools

    1. Free Websites

    A few things to note about free website platforms. Usually, you’re limited to a small number of web pages, you’ll have limited bandwidth and storage, and often you’ll have a sub-domain. If you can spare $2.95 a month, It’s highly recommended to setup your own website with WordPress. Not only is it affordable, but it’s also extremely simple to set up and use, and it will give you a professional-looking website.

    2. Free Online Productivity Tools

    If you prefer online time management tools – here’s a great list to keep you on track.

    • Cozi – Simple family organizer
    • ClickBook offers free online appointment scheduling
    • Doodle – Scheduling application that will sync all of your calendars together – Free for 14-days
    • Evernote – Virtual to-do list
    • Google Calendar – Online calendar
    • RescueTime – Time tracker
    • Todoist – Task manager

    3. Free Forms and Templates

    If you’re looking for free forms and templates to organize your business and life this list has you covered.

    4. Free Finance Tools

    Save yourself the frustration and use a professional platform. The resources listed below offer invoicing, budgeting, planning, bookkeeping, and accounting solutions.

    5. Free Business Templates

    Here are some great resources forms and templates that you don’t even know you need until a particular situation arises.

    • Bplans – Business plans, proposal templates, startup checklist, and more
    • Ryan Robinson – Free freelance proposal template
    • SCORE – Business planning, financial, marketing, and management templates
    • The Work at Home Woman – Free business plan template

    6. Free Content and Project Management Systems

    The best way to stay on top of everything is by using a content or project management system to keep you organized.

    • Airtable – Free spreadsheet and data table management tool
    • Asana – Project management platform
    • Basecamp – Project management tool 
    • FreedCamp – Free project management platform
    • Trello – Online collaboration and management tool
    • Wrike – Task and project management platform

    7. Free Marketing Tools and Platforms 

    It’s been said that you should spend at least 20% of your time marketing your business. With hundreds of ways to market your business, you should be able to find a formula that works for you. Here are a few free platforms and resources worth checking out.

    • Clearstream – Free SMS marketing (25 messages per month)
    • Constant Contact – Free 60-day trial 
    • Craigslist – Free online advertising
    • Facebook – Free social media marketing platform
    • EZ Texting – Free 30-day trial
    • Hootsuite – Free plan includes 3 profiles and 30 scheduled messages per month
    • Hotcards – 100 free business cards (free local pickup)
    • HubSpot – Free email signature
    • Instagram – Free photo-sharing media platform
    • LinkedIn – Professional social networking website
    • MailChimp – Free email marketing for 2K contacts
    • Mix – Social media bookmarking site
    • OneSignal – Send to 30,000 subscribers for free
    • Pinterest – A visual marketing platform
    • Sendinblue – Free email marketing, unlimited contacts, 300 emails per day
    • SocialBee – Social media scheduler (free 14-day trial)
    • Survey Monkey – Allows you to gather feedback, collect data, and analyze survey results
    • Tailwind – Pinterest and Instagram scheduler (free month)
    • Twitter – Free social media marketing platform
    • Webpushr – Free push notifications to 50,000 subscribers for free
    • YouTube – Video marketing

    8. Free Office Suite Tools

    You may already have Microsoft Office on your computer, but if you don’t here are some other options that work great and they’re free. 

    • Cute PDF – PDF conversion tool
    • GoogleDocs – Word processing, spreadsheets, forms, slides, and more
    • LibreOffice – Word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, forms, and diagrams
    • OpenOffice – Word processing, spreadsheets, multimedia presentations, and more
    • PrimoPDF – Create PDFs for free

    9. Free Communication Tools

    When you run your own business, you’ll quickly learn that you need a whole host of tools. Luckily, there are lots of free and reliable options.

    • FaxZERO – Fax documents for free, up to three pages, two times per day
    • FreeConferenceCall.com – Conference and video calls, up to 1,000 people for free
    • Google Hangouts – Talk to other people over the internet for free
    • IFTTT – A free tool to get all of your apps and devices communicating effectively with each other
    • Mikogo – Desktop sharing tool, ideal for web conferencing, online meetings, or remote support
    • Skype – Free call, video chat, and instant message for Skye to Skype users
    • TextNow – Free text and call app
    • WebEx – Free video conferencing free for up to three people
    • Zoom – Video and web conferencing service (free up to 100 individuals for 45 minutes)

    10. Free Design Tools and Stock Images

    You don’t need any special training to create professional-looking images, presentations, and marketing materials; these tools are both free and easy to use.

    11. Free Tools and Resources for Bloggers

    If you run a blog, there’s no doubt that you’ll need some specialized tools to make your blogging efforts easier.

    12. Free Password Management Tools

    Keep your passwords strong, secure and easy to remember because you no longer need to remember them with these free password management tools.

    13. Free Graphic Design Platforms

    Create beautiful graphics for your online business by using these free graphic design tools.

    14. Free Color Scheme Generators

    Choose the best colors for your brand with these free color scheme generators.

    • Coolors – Color scheme generator for branding and hex codes
    • Colorrrs – Hex code to RGB code converter

    15. Free Downloadable Fonts

    If you’ve got a soft spot for calligraphy, but your handwriting screams chicken scratch, then free downloadable fonts are for you.

    16. Free Stock Photos

    Get free stock images you can use for your business from the sites below. They are free to use for personal and commercial purposes under the Creative Commons License.

    17. Free Image Optimization Tools

    You need to reduce the size (not the resolution) of your image. And to do that, you need to use image optimizing tools like these ones.

    18. Free Meme Generator

    Inject fun into your social media feed with memes.

    19. Free Cloud Storage

    Save your files in cloud storage so you can access them wherever you are and whatever device you’re on.

    • Google Drive – Free up to 15 Gigabyte of storage
    • OneDrive – Free up to 5 Gigabyte of storage
    • DropBox – Free up to 2 Gigabyte of storage

    20. Free Form Builders

    Create forms for suggestions, surveys and questionnaires to send to your readers or potential clients.

    21. Free Online Presentation Software

    Create stunning online presentations for personal and business use with these free online software for creating and showcasing presentations.

    22. Free Email Marketing Services (EMS)

    Free email solutions to reach out to and engage with your customers.

    • Mailerlite – Free for up to 1,000 subscribers, 12,000 emails a month
    • Benchmark – Free for up to 2,000 subscribers, 14,000 emails a month
    • Moosend – Free for up to 1,000 subscribers, unlimited emails a month

    23. Free Domain Checkers

    Use these sites to check domain names or get ideas for your business or blog. 

    24. Free Site Analytics

    Analyze how your site traffic is performing. 

    25. Free Proofreading Software

    Correct mistakes as you type and improve your writing skills with these free proofreading and editing tools.

    26. Free Digital Note Taking Apps

    Use these amazing tools for note taking….desktop or on your phone.

    27. Free Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Plugins

    These free SEO plugins will guide you in optimizing your site and your posts to be as SEO friendly as possible!

    28. Free Keyword Research Tools for Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

    These free tools will further help you with SEO by suggesting long-tail keywords for which your website can rank. You can also check how your chosen keywords could potentially perform against other popular keywords people are searching for.

    29. Free Website Speed Checkers

    Here are free tools you can use to check your website speed and how to rectify what’s slowing down your website.

    30. Free E-Commerce Platforms

    Many e-commerce platforms will charge you a monthly fee or a list fee to sell your products. And that’s on top of the hosting and transaction fees you already have to pay! Luckily, there are platforms that will not charge you anything to sell your products, except for the hosting (I recommend Bluehost) and the transaction fees that come with using payment gateways like Paypal, Stripe or credit card fees.

    31. Free E-Learning Platforms aka Learning Management Systems (LMS) 

    These LMS platforms will help you launch your online course and only pay the payment transaction fees. There is no need to pay an ongoing monthly fee to host your course on their platform.

    32. Free Payment Gateways

    Receive online payments with ease with these free payment gateways you can use anywhere and anytime! It’s absolutely free to sign up and all you need to worry about is the transaction fee you have to pay per sale.

    33. Free Invoicing Software

    Simple and budget-friendly solution to bill your clients. 

    34. Free Social Media Management Tools

    Free tools that are all approved and recommended by Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter.

    35. Free Social Sharing Plugins

    Would you like your site content to be easily shared to various social media platforms? Then you need to check out these free social sharing plugins, which would help your readers share your content in a snap!

    36. Free URL shorteners

    If you ever plan on recommending products on your site for a fee (aka affiliate marketing), then you’re best off cloaking your affiliate links and setting them to nofollow. “Link cloaking” disguises your affiliate URL and makes it shorter and prettier.