Top 10 Best Free Resources For Getting Stuff Done Online

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If you’re anything like me, you don’t want to spend more money than necessary to get certain things done. Many of the most powerful tools I use on a daily basis are absolutely free. Some of them are well known but some of them are hidden gems I’ve come across that are free, open source alternatives to more mainstream products. Here are the top 10 free resources I use and recommend, along with the paid alternatives so you can compare for yourself.

Top 10 Best Free Resouces for Getting Stuff Done Online

1. WordPress Software and Plugins: WordPress is the engine that powers my blog, as well as some of the most powerful sites on the internet.  While hosting your site may cost you about $10 per month, the actual software to display your site is absolutely free, along with thousands and thousands of plugins that make your site infinitely expandable and customizable.  When you host your own blog with a hosting company like HostGator you have your own asset that you can grow as large and as profitable as your business plan will allow.  Compare that option to something like Typepad, which ranges from $8.95 per month to $29.95 per month, and you are bound by Typepad’s terms of use, which means they have some level of control over what you can and cannot do.  Not optimal if you ask me.
2. Audacity Audio Recording Software:  Audacity is a wonderful open source that allows you to record and mix audio.  All you need is a microphone and you can start creating and editing audio tutorials that can be used to create opt-in giveaways, tutorials, or voiceovers for video. It is very user-friendly and allows you to do some multitrack mixing.  It’s a great free tool for when you need to do some quick-and-dirty recording or mixing.  Compare that to Adobe Audition which, while it is more powerful, sells for $349
3. CamStudio Screen Capture Software:  If you plan to do any type of screen-capture videos or tutorials, CamStudio is the free tool to get it done.  You can output your videos to avi or swf format, and from there, use another great software Handbrake, to compress it to a smaller sized .mp4 file.  Or you could just upload your file to Youtube and let Youtube compress it for you and you can download the .mp4.  Compare this to Camtasia Studio, which will set you back $99
4. Komposer Web Publishing Platform: Komposer is an excellent free platform for authoring HTML Websites, if you’d rather not deal with WordPress.  While I don’t publish many non-Wordpress sites (I do have a few, though) I do sometimes test snippets of code using Kompozer, and I also enjoy its WYSIWYG interface, for times when I don’t want to figure out the HTML Code to do something.  Compare Composer with Adobe Dreamweaver, which will cost you $399
5. Anymeeting: Anymeeting, formerly known as Freebinar, is a webinar hosting alternative to GoToWebinar that is absolutely free.  GoToWebinar starts at $100 / per month, while Anymeeting will let you hold up to a 200 person webinar absolutely free.  They do display banner advertising during the webinar, but they are nonintrusive and not distracting to your content at all.
6. OpenOffice: OpenOffice is an invalubalbe alternative to Microsoft office.  It is a suite of productivity software that is also cross-compatible with Microsoft Office, so it can read any documents created in Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc.   You can create documents entirely in Open Office and then save them with a .doc, .xls, .ppt or any other MS Office-based extension.  Compare this to MS Office Student and Home which starts at $119.99
7. Gimphoto + Gimpad = Free Photoshop: If you want to do some photo editing and manipulating, the Gimpad + Gimphoto combo can’t be beat.  It’s the closest software you can get to Photoshop, and it’s free.  It’s kinda like Komposer and Audacity.  They’re not as powerful as their professional-level alternatives, but they’re excellent for quick and dirty projects that you are editing or even creating from scratch.  Compare this to Adobe Photoshop which will cost you $699
8. Google Voice:   Google gives you a free phone number and voicemail box.  This phone number can be routed to your cell phone, home phone, or any other phone for that matter.  Your voicemail is cloud based, so you can access it through the Google Voice App or through the Google Voice Website.  The voicemail box is a great free resource that you can direct your leads to when you do direct marketing.  Compare Google Voice to Onebox which starts at $49.95
9. Freedigitalphotos.net: This is an excellent resource for adding royalty-free pictures to your blog or website.  They have a vast, categorized and searchable database of pictures that only require attribution back to the website for usage.  Compare this to iStockPhoto, which will cost you $5-$7 per image for a small one.
10. Google Keyword Tool:  Google Keyword Tool is an invaluable resource for keyword research for both SEO of blog posts and articles and PPC advertising.  When used in conjunction with a few other free tools, you have the power to research the relevance, traffic, competition, and commericality of your intended keywords.  You could use Google Keyword Tool as well as a few other free resources, or you could use Market Samurai, an all-in-one tool that does it all, without the use of multiple resources.  It gives you instant access to a free trial period and an introductory price of $97 if you purchase during the trial.  After that the price is $149.

Well there you have it, my top 10 resources for getting stuff done online.  Can you think of any that should be added to the list?  Leave me a comment below and let me know!  For more ways to promote your business for little or nothing, watch these free videos.

Nate Jackson

Email: natejackson@natejacksonmarketing.com

Skype: natejacksoninc

Get Money -- Empower Network

Image(s): FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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