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Are you a coach or consultant to Solo Entrepreneurs?
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Resources >
Free Tools
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A comprehensive guide to starting, running, and terminating your business.
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Free naming guide, updated July, 2007! A comprehensive (96-page) guide, it includes a six-step process to naming, why certain names work, trademark considerations, and research and case studies.
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This free interactive Business Planner walks you through the steps involved in completing your own Business Plan. It includes spreadsheet templates and financial tables to help you create a comprehensive and professional Business Plan. Did we mention it was free?
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This astounding press releasing-writing resource from EvanCarmichael.com is the most comprehensive I've seen -- and it's easy to read and understand, too! Best yet -- it's free! Features a five step process, complete with dozens of topic ideas to get you started and a template where you fill in the blanks and it builds your press release for you! Plus direct links to lists of media outlets and scores of additional resources.
If you are serious about using press releases as a marketing tool, this is THE serious press release tool for you.
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Most article publishers prefer articles to be formatted to 60 - 65 characters per line. You may want to format your text ezines this way too. This free tool formats your text in seconds.
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Offers free tutorials for PhotoShop, QuarkXPress, Corel, Macromedia Freehand and Deneba Canvas. Free fonts too!
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Submitted by Carol Elkins:
GoogleAlert is the web's leading automated search and web intelligence solution, allowing you to catch new information as it appears. Google Alert runs daily personalized Google searches for you and emails you new results that appear. I use Google Alert to track new pages posted by my competitors; people who might be using my company name or publications without giving me credit; new pages posted about my passion (Barbados Blackbelly sheep); anyplace I want to be alerted to new information that I can pass on to my clients. I use the free service, but there is an industrial-strength version for a nominal fee.
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MarketingSherpa published a wonderful list of seven free (and one paid) search engine optimization tools, most of them user-friendly and valuable for the solo entrepreneur as well as small businesses! I love this list not just because it's a great collection of tools, but because of the ideas they share for HOW to use the tools, too. For instance I've had SEOQuake for months and didn't know you could use it to sort your search results!
Great tools and great tips -- if search engine optimization is one of your marketing strategies (or even if you just want to do some competitive research), I highly recommend this article!
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Formerly only available if you already had an AdWords account, this version doesn't require a login! It offers a number of great features helpful in finding the words *real* customers use when they are searching for your products and services.
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Resources >
Free Tools >
Search Engine Optimization
SEO Guide for Beginners
A fabulous guide for those planning their first website, or getting started optimizing an existing site. It's not too long, easy to read, and includes great examples. It's not a replacement for hiring an SEO expert, but it gives you the basics and helps understand how SEO works, the lingo, etc.
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Resources >
Free Tools >
Search Engine Optimization
Google Analytics
Web traffic statistics on steroids! Dozens of reports on where your traffic is coming from, new vs. repeat visitors, top keywords, organic vs. paid search campaigns, and an overlay of what buttons/links on your page get the most clicks! You could spend hours perusing and analyzing the data. PLUS: set up a goal page (newsletter signup thank-you page; shopping cart receipt, etc.) and/or a visitor funnel and Google will track your conversion rates!
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Find out what "crawling", "bots", and "PageRank" are all about; get help with common questions; and learn Google's Guidelines for Webmasters.
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Resources >
Free Tools >
Search Engine Optimization
Google Webmaster Tools
Learn how Google views your site; find errors Google is encountering when crawling your site; see what search queries produce the most clicks; and much more.
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Want to quickly and easily figure out the best keywords for us in search engine optimization, article and press release writing, etc.? This is a handy little tool will show you how many times per day your keyword/phrase is searched for from both Wordtracker and Overture.
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If you do any of your own web design or maintenance for your site, you may be like me when it comes to CSS -- you know just enough to get by, but get flummoxed with alignment issues and cross-browser quirks. This excellent reference page points out many common web design issues and how to fix them. I was able to *finally* align the title of my categories with the little RSS icon, after many rounds of experimentation and exasperation! Definitely a link I'll be bookmarking!
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No more need for confusing "image editing" software if all you need is to make your images bigger or smaller. Thanks to Sandra DeFreitas, the Tech Coach, for telling us about this handy site. Upload your digital picture in just about any format, use simple buttons to resize, crop, even rotate, and download the result. Very easy!
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Do folks complain that your website text is hard to read? Maybe your color combinations are the problem. Text that looks good on your monitor may be fuzzy and faint on someone else's monitor. Fortunately, someone has put together a tool that uses established standards of how well your text contrasts with your background colors. This is a download executable, but it's very easy to use!
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A free alternative if you don't need the power of DreamWeaver or Frontpage, NVu is a great alternative. Thanks to Susan Fuller and Jay Hamilton-Roth for this resource!
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Resources >
Free Tools >
Web Design
HTML Tutorial
Want to learn basic HTML? Here is a nice tutorial, recommended by Linda Dessau. There is also a handy tool to let you practice your html skills by putting codes in the left window and seeing the results in the right window: HTML test tool.
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Having troubles with how a page on your website is appearing in different browsers? This is an excellent free service for your webmaster -- or you, if you are managing our own website. The validator checks html code on an existing page, a file on your computer, or just cut and paste your code directly. The explanations of the errors are detailed and helpful in fixing your page.
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Free web training on some software programs, such as FrontPage, DreamWeaver, Word and Access. You can pay and get more selection--but you might find what you need in the free section!
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A fabulous collection of free basic scripts and other tools for your website -- including an autoresponder, recommend script, spam-proof web form, content rotator, site search script, anti-spam email link code generator, RGB/Hex color code converter, short-link generator, and many more! Most are more basic versions of still-affordable scripts for purchase, but if your needs are pretty simple, the free versions will probably meet your needs.
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Planning a teleclass or schedule a meeting with folks around the globe? Try this handy scheduling tool. Enter up to four cities and get a color-coded chart you can use to pick the best time for all of your participants. Adjusts for Daylight Savings Time, too!
Courtesy of Sandra De Freitas
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Need to get 12 people in your mastermind group on the phone at once, but having trouble finding a good time for everyone? This handy, easy-to-use tool can help! You create a simple "poll", showing potential times/dates. Send the resulting link to your attendees and let them vote, while you monitor the replies. Choose the best fit and you're done! Can also be used as a simple polling tool for other purposes. Not as full-featured as other survey tools, but it's also a lot easier to use.
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Resources >
Free Tools >
Productivity Tools
File Transfer Service
Some files are not easily sent through e-mail; either because of their size or because or spam filters and such. There is a free service that ha no file size limit, no limit on the amount of files sent, and the security is the same as email.
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Need a way to receive faxes, but don't want the expense of a fax machine and an extra phone line? eFax is the answer. I've had this service for several years now, and I love it. When a fax is sent to me, I receive it via email. I can then read and print it if choose! eFax offers a free trial, and after that it's $12.95/mo. Or, if your fax volume is low, you can receive up to 5 faxes/mo. for free!
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Google launched their beta version of an RSS aggregator recently. Andy Wibbels has created a short Flash demo that walks you through the basic functionality, setting up your first feed, and searching for other feeds.
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We recommend FreeConference.com for free bridge "rental". It offers different call-in numbers for the leader and participants, mute capabilities, and capacity for up to 100 participants, among many other features. A great free service!
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This unique service offers a lot of choices. Need a dedicated phone line for one of your products? Don't want to get a receptionist, but can't afford voicemail either? Get your messages delivered via email!
eVoice offers two options. The free option gives you a private phone number (not local) and 20 minutes of voice messages, sent to you in a special format via email. Download the special free player to listen to your messages. The plus version offers more goodies for a monthly fee, including a local number, .wav files for more flexibility, the ability to retrieve your messages by phone (when you can't get to your email), and even text messaging to your cell phone when you receive a new voicemail. A very cool service by the same company that brought us eFax!
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