Photo
by Charisse Kenion on Unsplash
Help Your Small Business Succeed
with These Free Services
It’s pretty common for a small business to run
on razor-thin margins, which is why many entrepreneurs run their businesses out
of their homes (in some cases, doing so only eats $50
out of their startup costs, after all!). But just because your company is
operating on a shoestring budget doesn’t mean you can’t optimize the way your
business runs. There are plenty of free services and resources that help small
business owners improve customer satisfaction, increase online engagement, and streamline
processes. Whatever your business goals are, check out these useful
tools to see if any can help you reach them.
Google
Alerts
Your company’s online reputation is its first impression for
hundreds — even thousands — of potential customers each and every day. However,
as a small business owner, you don’t always have the time to scour reviews to
find negative feedback that could affect how people perceive you. Google Alerts
can tell you when your business has been mentioned so you can quickly address
complaints or boost positive news via your social media channels. You can also create
Google Alerts for industry topics, employees, competitors, or any other search
term you may want to keep your eye on. Setting up Google Alerts is a free and
easy way to receive notifications any time your business gains a new mention
online.
To create Google Alerts:
●
Go to http://www.google.com/alerts/
●
If you have a Gmail account, sign in. If not, you can have
alerts sent to another email address.
●
Enter the search terms you want
the Google Alert to track. You can add multiple alerts by separating them with
comments.
●
Choose the type of results you
want Google Alerts to find: news, blogs, video, discussions, books, or all.
●
Establish how frequently you want
to receive Google Alerts (once a day, twice a week, every other month, etc.).
●
Hit the “Create Alert” button, and
you’re done!
Canva
Your business’s social media presence connects
you with customers in a personal and fun way. While you want to maintain an
easy and conversational tone in your copy, you still want your visuals to look
professional. Canva is a free online tool that helps you
create social media and marketing graphics quickly and easily with little
money. The program comes with numerous templates that help even the most
design-averse people create eye-catching media that your customers will love,
and its drag-and-drop interface is simple enough for the tech illiterate. You
can even save your company’s logo and other images in your Canva account so you
have quick and easy access when you need to create a cohesive look.
Trello
Trello is the ultimate online tool for organizing your business’s operations.
The task management app allows you to create boards, lists, and cards where you
can save vital information for others in your business to access with ease.
Save files, including PDFs, JPGs, and DOCs, in one place without using your
machine’s memory. Synchronize with your Google Drive account to backup
important media. You can even make important to-do lists and share them with employees as a
way to stay on top of daily tasks.
It can take a while before you’re fully used
to Trello and make the most of the app’s capabilities. However, Trello makes it
easy to move cards to other boards should you need to re-organize. The longer
you work with Trello, the more intuitive it becomes.
Small businesses have to make the most with
the little they have. If you own a small business, you can always improve your
operations even if you don’t have a lot of resources available. Tools like
Google Alerts help you stay on top of your company’s online reputation and
interact with customers via social media, blogs, and review sites. Even if you
aren’t a graphic designer, online tools like Canva help business owners create
professional-looking images for promotion purposes. And if your business could use
some help with organization, task management apps like Trello help you list and
execute your operations successfully.