5 Must have web tools for Small businesses to be "World-Class": Simple Explanations

Posted at 5:43 pm on 04/03/2013 by Daniel Sosa

We have a simple mission: Innovate Small Businesses to be efficient, powerful, and on an even playing field.  Ultimately reaching a point where commerce is driven by quality of products and services instead of financial resources. 


Here is my list of the most powerful, simple, and productive tools for small business.  The time is now to adapt and thrive in the connected world.  Embrace these technologies and your business and customers will reward you.


squareup.com


Never again should you lose a sale, or delay potential revenue because you can't accept payment.  Square provides a FREE card reader that works with your iPhone, iPad, or Android device and links with your back account.  It allows your business to accept credit card payments anywhere.  You can also input cash sales and track your sales in a simple and powerful interface.


PRICE: 2.75% for credit card swipe transactions, 3.5%+15ยข for manually entered credit cards. Free card reader, app, and analytics.



mailchimp.com


Every one has an email and that is great news! E-mail campaigns are a powerful and low cost way to reconnect with your customers and build lasting relationships.  Mailchimp is a very simple to use website for building and sending beautiful emails, plus tracking the open/click rates.  This tool is great for all businesses to excite, connect, and entertain their customers.


PRICE: Free for up to 2000 person list.  Additional prices vary depending on the size of mailing list.


  

                     

Facebook.com   -    Twitter.com

Social Networking:  Your customers are on social media, and to stay relevant your business needs to be there too.  Social media offers powerful tools for connecting, pushing out information, and providing a trusted communication channel for your customers.

-Facebook: Facebook could be considered the new YellowPages.  Potential customers are participating and looking for you and if they don't find you they will find your competition.  

-Twitter: Stay on top of your industry with the latest news/content.  Use it to constantly connect with potential customers, and build a brand.


PRICE: Both are Free!

Quickbooksonline.com

A simple accounting software that is completely on the cloud and perfect for small business which need the flexibility of cloud based softwares. Other small business software should integrate nicely, and also your accountant will thank you.


PRICE: 5 different plans from $12.95 - $63.16 per month


Ocoos.com

Ocoos offers a powerful and simple consumer facing platform, simplifying the internet and business operations under one roof. Quickly build a modern web presence, and gain access to the tools to run a smarter and more efficient business on the cloud. Ocoos integrates all the best small business tools so you can better manage your social media, gather customer information, build email marketing campaigns, and track your sales. All these capabilities are combined with an easy to manage web presence with blogging and SEO technology. 


PRICE: Free with optional 8% eCommerce fee  or Upgrade to $25 for complete access to cloud tools and 4.99% eCommerce fee


Honorable Mentions:

  1. GoogleApps.com: Google apps is a cloud-based productivity suite that helps you and your team connect and get work done from anywhere on any device.  It's simple to setup and use so you can work smarter and focus on what really matters. Set up company emails, share documents on the cloud, and much more.

  2. Bitly.com: Create short links for everything you share, and save it to your account.  Bitly mainly provides you the ability to track where your links are going, the number of clicks, and what is driving activity so you can allocate your digital marketing time to the most active platforms.

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