5 Free Email Marketing Tools to Help You Grow Your Business

• Why Use Email Marketing
• Should You Use An Email Marketing Service?
  • Case for Using An Email Marketing Service:
• Use of A Hybrid Marketing Approach:
  • So why might you want to use an SMPT relay service?
• A Comparison of 5 Email Marketing Services
  • About Free Plans
  • MailChimp
  • Benchmark
  • AWeber
  • iContact
  • HubSpot
• SMTP Relays
  • MailGun
  • SendGrid
• Conclusion

_{(We independently select these products — if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission.)}

If you’re looking for ways to grow your small business, email marketing is a great place to give attention. With the free email marketing tools we will highlight in this blog, you can create beautiful newsletters, schedule automated emails, and track conversions. But first, let’s discuss the question of why use email marketing.

Why Use Email Marketing

If you are not currently using email marketing with your home business, take a minute to read further and consider or re-consider adding it to the arsenal of marketing tools for cultivating active customers. You may have already considered using email marketing and rejected it in favor of social media or another venue. Allow me to suggest that you may not be properly framing the use of email versus another approach. The argument should not be one of either/or. It is not email versus social media or some other form, but email AND social media or another format. The two are not competing marketing methods but complementary techniques.

Social media and SEO strategies are methods for driving traffic to your business site or page, but they are not necessarily the best methods for making customers of those who show up at your site or on your page. That is where email marketing can contribute. Campaign Monitor published data comparing email with social media. According to their statistics, the average click-through rate on social media is roughly 2.5%. Meaning that out of every 100 visitors to your content, 2-3 people will click on the item you are pitching to them. Even then, they are not yet customers. So far they have just decided to check further. They have not yet decided to buy or do whatever you’re asking them to do.

Email, on the other hand, has an open rate of between 15-25%. In other words, 6-10 times greater than the response rate of social media. This is not such a head-scratcher when you consider that the email is going to people who have chosen to receive your emails. They already have a positive impression of your product or content. You have at least a slight relationship with them and none with most of those coming to your site. The longer someone remains on your email list and receives contact from you, the greater your relationship. So they are already predisposed to open a link in your email.

Another interesting data from Campaign Monitor is that email generates $38 for every $1 spent on it. An amazing 3800% ROI. So maybe it is worth rethinking your use of email marketing.

As you consider using email, your challenge will be determining how to glean those potential emails from people who appear at your site or page. Consider this. Your advertising dollars on Facebook or Twitter will only benefit you if you continue paying them. Whatever activity you generate with an ad campaign will not be repetitious once the campaign is finished. At least, for the most part. Another ad campaign will be required to get another uptick in activity that is similar. But you can send emails regularly with little cost and gain 6-10 times the results of your ad campaign. Might the wise thing be to put some or even most of your advertising money into building your email list without spending nearly as much overall on advertising?

I would say that email marketing is an essential consideration for any business. It’s the best way to keep in touch with your customers and tell them about new products, services, or discounts. But it’s more than just sending out mass emails. With the services described below, you can personalize your messages, making them more relevant for each email list segment.

Email campaigns allow you to:

• Target a specific audience
• Reach a large number of people
• Spend less to produce and send
• Customize them to fit the needs of each recipient

Should You Use An Email Marketing Service?

So if it is a good idea to use email marketing to enhance customer relations, is it also a good idea to use an email marketing service to manage your email marketing? My answer to this is yes. Here are some reasons why I think it to be a good idea. But after reading the reasons, I believe it to be a good idea; I will also suggest a hybrid approach in which you might use a combination. In other words, combine the use of a marketing service with the help of an SMTP relay service.

Case for Using An Email Marketing Service:

Arguably the best reason to use a marketing service is to comply with the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003. This was an act of congress attempting to cut down on the onslaught of spam emails. The act established compliance standards for authentic bulk email practices instead of SPAM emails. By using a service, there is the assurance of complying with these standards. All of the services operate in strict compliance since their business relies on them.

Another side to this issue is working with standards established by email and internet service providers to avoid spam filters. Working with marketing services will give confidence that your emails will make their way to your recipients’ inboxes. Besides knowing how to navigate the filters set up by these providers, the providers also recognize reputable marketing services. They are less likely to mark emails coming through as spam.

Other advantages –

• Templates – Each service has pre-designed templates and drag-and-drop design tools to edit the templates. This provides a simple but quality email design that complies with CAN-SPAM and Email & Internet Service Provider standards. The designs are also aimed at higher open rates. Just as important is that these templates will work with all email clients and software. You can be assured it will work in Outlook, Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo, or any other client.
• List Management – Another great reason to use a marketing service is that you don’t have to give thought to managing your email list, regardless of its size. Connect your website opt-in forms to the service, and each new address is added automatically. And if a person chooses to be removed from the list, it goes through the service, and you receive a notice.
• Analytics – A third important reason to use a marketing service is analytics. All the essential information you need is available. Who opened that last email? Who clicked on the links, and which links did they choose? While you can pay little attention to list management, leaving it all up to the service, you will want to pay close attention to analytics. Using this information you will know better what works and what doesn’t.

Use of A Hybrid Marketing Approach:

By hybrid marketing approach, I’m referring primarily to a combination between a marketing service and an SMPT relay service. First I need to explain what an SMPT relay is.

SMTP stands for “Simple Mail Transfer Protocol.”Email servers use these protocols to transfer e-mail messages and attachments over the internet. Whether using your private email server or a public one such as Gmail, SMTP is a secure connection between that server and the internet. While you can set up your server, you will not be able to send emails securely without SMTP. 

It is possible to send email from a private server using the SMTP settings of a personal email account you may have with Gmail or another email provider, but there will be restrictions. Only a certain number of emails can be sent per hour or per day. If you try to send more emails than the number permitted, your account will be blocked.

Using your email server to send a secure email to thousands of recipients is impossible. And if you attempt to send an unsecured email, bypassing SMTP, recipients will block it, and your domain will likely be blacklisted. This is where SMTP relays come in. You can use your email server to send to thousands of recipients by using the SMTP settings of the relay. And the cost will be less than that of the marketing services. But neither are you getting all the features of the marketing service.

  Using a relay is not for everyone. For many, the technical requirements of setting up a personal email server by coding your server would be too great. And even if you use a software package ready to go out of the box, too much time and effort are required. Additionally, unless you have an email list of more than 2,000, it just doesn’t make sense. The free marketing services will adequately meet your needs.

So why might you want to use an SMPT relay service?

There are savings with an SMPT relay service, but you will not have campaign management tools essential to carry out a marketing campaign. But these campaign tools are not as necessary with your highly engaged recipients as with those less engaged. More engaged recipients could be routed through an SMTP relay, while those needing more encouragement could be assigned to the campaign management service.

Using this approach, you are saving with those who are more engaged and paying for the more expensive management tools to reach the less involved. Again, this makes the most sense when you have large numbers in your email list. For example, using a relay service such as Sendgrid, for $19.95, you can send up to 50,000 emails per month. This could be one mailing to 50,000 recipients, five mailings to 10,000 recipients, or another combination that equals 50,000 for the month.

By comparison, MailChimp charges are based on the number of contacts in your mailing list. With 10,000 contacts, the lowest cost plan would charge $87 per month and allow ten mailings. While this provides 100,000 emails per month, the cost is the same even if you send only one mailing. So a list of 10,000 contacts costs $87 per month with MailChimp and $19.95 per month with Sendgrid.

A Comparison of 5 Email Marketing Services

About Free Plans

All five email marketing services listed in this blog have a free plan with additional plans available to accommodate more extensive, more extensive lists and more advanced features. This is an excellent approach for small home businesses allowing them to start free in the early days when their mailing lists are small and progress to paid plans as they grow.  When your business has grown to need a paid plan, you know whether that service is a good fit for your business.

As you read through each service below, be on the lookout for those that offer full features in their free plans. Thus, the main difference between free and paid will be the number of emails you send.

MailChimp

MailChimp is an easy-to-use email marketing service that allows you to easily manage your contacts, build campaigns, and automate your business processes. It also offers a variety of features that make it easier than ever to design and deliver high-quality emails.  Business News Daily has chosen MailChimp as the best email marketing software for beginners. 

Mailchimp’s free plan includes:

• Up to 500 contacts, with 10,000 sends per month
• A daily limit of 2,000.
• 1-step automation – This feature allows you to place sign-up forms on your website that are automatically stored in your Mailchimp account and tagged as you indicate.
• Marketing CRM – Customer relationship management (CRM) helps to create stronger connections with your customers. An audience dashboard enables you to learn the individual preferences of those in your list, making it possible to address specific preferences in subsequent mailings.
• Landing Pages – The free account includes free website and landing page hosting. In addition, free landing page templates are provided, allowing a tight integration for CRM.
• Social posting – Enables posting on your social accounts.
• Facebook & Instagram ads – An ad tool for Facebook & Instagram to help design and optimize ads.
• Postcards – Allows sending physical postcards

With a list of 500 contacts, you could send 20 emails per month to your list. You are also limited to one audience, meaning one contact list. This will place some limitations on personalizing your emails. But since you can add tags to those in your list, you still have some segmentation options.

Design Tools include:

• Creative Assistant
• Content Studio
• Basic email templates

MailChimp Integrations:

• WordPress
• QuickBooks
• Shopify
• Stripe
• Zendesk Activity
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Formstack
• SurveyMonkey
• Many more

Benchmark

Business News Daily designated Benchmark as the best email marketing software for “Ease of Use.” It, too, has a free plan that:

Benchmark’s free plan includes:

• Up to 500 contacts
• 3,500 emails per month
• Basic Email Marketing
• Lite Marketing Automation
• Simple Lead Generation
• Basic Reporting

Email Marketing:

• Drag & Drop Email Builder
• Responsive Email Templates
• Smart Content
• RSS Email Campaigns
• List Management
• Basic Segmentation
• Responsive Templates
• Signup Forms
• Basic Drip Campaigns

Additional Features:

• Email Delivery Management
• Basic Drip Campaigns
• Sign-Up Forms
• Polls & Surveys
• Live Engagement Reports
• Opens by Hour Reports

Given the limited number of contacts and monthly emails, Benchmark’s free plan is definitely for the small business just getting started. Should these limitations be too restrictive, the first step into a paid plan costs $13 per month for 500 contacts, but an unlimited number of emails sent p

If the size of your contact list and the number of emails allowed each month is your primary concern, MailChimp will be the obvious choice compared to Benchmark. If not, your concerns will lie more with the marketing, design, or other features offered. I have listed most of those features here for both services, but you will want to go to the sites to get more into the details.

Another feature you may be interested in is the integrations with services outside Benchmark. Here are just a few of the Benchmark integrations, but there are many more:

• WordPress
• Google
• Facebook
• Flickr
• Zapier
• PayPal
• Shopify
• ZOHO
• many more

AWeber

AWeber’s free plan is similar to MailChimp and Benchmark. It allows up to 500 contacts and 3,000 emails per month. AWeber has only two plans, Free and Pro. The Pro plan gives all features the service has to offer and starts at $16.15 per month with a limit of 500 contacts or subscribers. Once you subscribe to the Pro plan, you are on a sliding scale based on the number of subscribers. Everything else remains the same. This includes an unlimited number of emails each month. When the number of subscribers exceeds 500, you begin paying $26.15 per month for up to 2,500 subscribers.

With the focus of this blog on free plans, I will list only those features that come with the free plan:

Usage:

• Subscriber limit – 500
• Email sends – 3,000/mo
• List profiles – 1

Email:

• Create and send newsletters
• Email automation
• RSS to email
• Drag-and-drop email builder
• 100s of email templates
• HTML emails
• Dynamic content
• AMP emails
• Hosted broadcast archive
• Thousands of professional images

Landing Pages:

• Sell Products and Services with AWeber Ecommerce
• Unlimited landing pages
• Beautiful landing page templates for a variety of goals
• Thousands of professional images
• Video landing pages
• Buy and connect domains
• Google Analytics

List Building:

• Sign up forms
• WordPress plugin

Segmentation:

• Tagging subscribers
• Send to basic segments

Reporting:

• Simple subscriber and message analytics

AWeber Ecommerce:

• Sell products and services
• Subscriptions and payment plans
• Sales tracking
• Purchase tagging

Integrations:

• Facebook
• PayPal
• WordPress
• Shopify
• WooCommerce
• Hundreds more integrations

iContact

Again, I will start with the number of contacts and emails with the free plan. iContact looks very similar to the previous services:

• Up to 500 Contacts
• Up to 2,000 Sends per month

iContact has only one other plan beyond the free plan,, the Advanced one. As with aWeber services, once you are in this Advanced plan, you receive every feature the service offers and pay based on the number of contacts in your list. So when your list exceeds 500, you move into the advanced plan, starting with a limit of 1,500 contacts and unlimited emails. At this level, the plan costs $23 per month.

Features included in the free plan include:

Email Marketing:

• Drag & Drop Editor
• HTML Editor
• Template Library
• Stock Image Library
• In-line Photo Editing
• A/B Split Testing

Automation:

• Automation Editor
• Targeted Automation Follow Ups

Landing pages:

• Landing Page Creation & Hosting – 1 Page

Real-time Campaign Reporting:

• Email Reporting
• Automation Reporting
• Landing Page Reporting

Contact Management:

• Sign-up Forms
• List Segmentation – 1 Segment

Integrations:

• Custom API
• Integrations Directory

HubSpot

HubSpot is difficult to compare to the other email marketing services listed here. Business News Daily tagged HubSpot as the best “Bundled Marketing Solution.” This is an apt description – a bundled marketing solution. But this refers to only one Hub of HubSpot. The Marketing Hub. There is also a Sales Hub, a Service Hub, a CMS Hub, and an Operations Hub. But we will concentrate only on the Marketing Hub.

Registering for a HubSpot free account gives you lifetime access to a whole array of free features. These features are promoted as “scalable for scaling companies.” So with the free account, you can access the lite version of the software bundle. As your business grows and needs more advanced features, it scales up in paid plans.

The table below lists many of the features included in the free account and shows what is allowed with each.

Feature	Allowed	Feature	Allowed
Forms	Limited	HubSpot mobile app	yes
Email marketing	2,000 email sends per calendar month, with branding marketing	Marketing events object	yes
Ad management	All available ad typesSimple website audiences only	Email reply tracking	yes
Landing pages	Limited features	Email health reporting	Limited features
Shared inbox	Limited to 1 inbox	Ad retargeting	All available ad types2 audiences
List segmentation	5 active lists1,000 static listsAdditional limits	User management	yes
Team email	yes	Custom user permissions	yes
Live chat	Includes HubSpot branding	Email automation	1 automated action
Basic bots	Limited features	Form automation	1 automated email per form
Mobile optimization	Content limited to email only	SEO recommendations & optimizations	Basic recommendations
Reporting dashboard	Up to 3 dashboards, each with 10 reports per dashboard	Blog	1 blogIncludes HubSpot branding
Facebook Messenger integration	Send and receive simple messages and quick replies.	Standard SSL certificate	yes
Custom properties	10 custom properties in total.	Website traffic analytics	Standard web analytics dashboard

As you can see, HubSpot supports a much fuller array of tools to enhance your email marketing. For many home businesses, it may be overkill, but for others, it can embed a strong marketing foundation upon which to build a growing business.

The free plan will allow for 1,000 contacts and 2,000 emails per month, similar to the other services described in this blog. The difference will be in the marketing tools available to offer faster growth.

SMTP Relays

Earlier in this blog, I wrote about possibly using a hybrid approach that included the use of SMTP relays along with an email marketing service. Here are two examples of SMTP relays along with the features they offer.

MailGun

Mailgun is an email delivery and deliverability service that empowers businesses to send emails from their applications easily. It is built on a robust, cloud-based infrastructure that scales gracefully, so you don’t have to deal with the complexity or hassle of maintaining your servers!

Mailgun has two different endpoints, one for SMTP and another which provides an HTTP API. The former is recommended if you’re building a standalone application as it is easy to set up but less reliable at scale than other options; however, they do or both alternatives so that users can choose what works best with their needs!

The Trial plan is excellent for those who want to test drive the service. For your first month on the trial, you’ll get 5K emails at no cost! After that period expires, you’re now transitioning into membership with all its features, including 24/7 phone support, comprehensive documentation available any day of the week, and rich data access if needed to improve email performance.

The Trial plan includes these features:

• Email APIs, SMTP Relay, and Webhooks
• Suppression Management
• Email Tracking and Analytics
• 99.99% Guaranteed Uptime SL
• 5 days of log retention
• Detailed documentation
• 24/7 ticket support
• Drag-and-Drop Template Builder

You may have noticed no mention of the number of emails allowed with the trial plan, but no comment on the number of contacts. This is because with an SMTP relay you manage your contacts. The relay is simply to send emails. While many of the features are in an email marketing service, the relay still reports on bounced emails, links clicked, and other data related to your email delivery.

MailGun does not truly have a free plan. Only a one-month trial feature. Once the trial ends, the Foundation plan begins at $35 per month with an allowance of 50,000 emails per month. The next plan is the Growth plan at $80/month and 100,000 emails/month. Finally, the Scale plan keeps scaling the monthly emails from 100,000 to 2.5 million. Anything beyond that is negotiable.

SendGrid

SendGrid states “we’re committed to offering startups the means to grow and scale globally. We offer the resources and support needed to truly take off.” In keeping with this, SendGrid offers a free plan which allows for 100 emails per day. Or, stated differently, it amounts to 3,000 emails per month.

If you go to the SendGrid website, you will notice Email API Plans and Marketing Campaigns Plans. The Marketing Campaigns Plans are comparable to the marketing services listed earlier in this blog. It is the Email API Plans that fit this SMTP Relay discussion. Here are features available in the free plan.

Free Plan Features:

• APIs, SMTP Relay, and Webhooks
• Delivery Optimization Tools
• Dynamic Template Editor
• Insightful Analytics
• Ticket Support
• Deliverability Insights

Included in the deliverability insights are:

• Delivered
• Opened
• Clicked
• Bounces
• Spam Reports
• Reputation

Once a business has grown beyond 3,000 emails per month, the Essentials plan takes the number up to 50,000 emails for $19.95 per month.

Conclusion

Overall, these five email marketing tools are great options for those looking to grow their business. Each offers a free plan with enough features to get started, and they all have paid plans that scale as your business grows. With so many options available, there’s sure to be a tool that’s perfect for your needs! Thanks for reading!

If you have a comment or question or maybe even a topic related to your home business you would like us to address, please leave a comment!

_{(We independently select these products — if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission.)}

3 Best Free Invoicing Apps for Sole Proprietors in 2022

• Why An Invoicing App
• Wave
• Zoho
• Zipbooks
• Which App Is Best
• Small Business Financial Tips
  • Tips for Getting Paid On Time With An Invoice
  • Why tracking income is essential for sole proprietors
• Conclusion

Why An Invoicing App

If you’re a sole proprietor, chances are you’re always on the go, and your time is precious. An invoicing app can help save you time and make sure you’re paid promptly by automating the invoicing process. With an invoicing app, you can create and send invoices directly from your phone or computer. In addition, many invoicing apps allow you to track payments so you can see at a glance who owes you money and when the payments are due. This can significantly help you stay organized and on top of your finances. Another significant advantage of using an invoicing app is that it allows you to get paid via credit card or PayPal, which can be a big plus if your clients prefer those payment methods. So if you’re looking for a way to streamline your billing process and get paid faster, an invoicing app is worth considering.

Finding a FREE invoicing app is even better. Getting the help of an invoicing app doesn’t need to break your budget. You don’t need all the features of a more significant business, so why pay for them? This blog will recommend three of the best free invoicing apps for your home business.

Wave

Wave is a free invoicing app that allows you to create and send clean, professional-looking documents for no cost whatsoever. It also includes handy features like tracking payments or managing expenses, so your finances stay on top! Choose Wave for invoicing and add needed features such as accounting and banking. They are all 100% free.

Wave makes money when you choose to use its financial services. For instance, you can use Wave invoicing for free. The service costs you nothing if a client pays the invoice through their own channels. However, you can have Wave send the invoice, and the client can choose to pay the invoice using Wave payment services, and Wave receives a percentage of the transaction. The same principle is true of their other services.

Here is how it breaks down:

• Need to receive payments? It is 2.9% + $.60 per transaction.
• Need payroll services? The cost of $35 per month.

In addition to these services, Wave offers consultation for a fee:

• Need a bookkeeping advisor? The cost is $149 per month.
• You can have an accounting and payroll coach for a one-time fee of $329.

A benefit of taking advantage of these paid services is that it leaves the heavy lifting to Wave. Need to refund a customer? No problem. Wave will take care of it and keep track. Wave’s slogan is “Everything you need. Nothing you don’t.” And that is the approach to their services.

Wave has recently added a banking feature to which I referred above. As with the other services, banking is free. The service tracks business and personal expenses and keeps them separate to simplify tax season. Wave debit card purchases automatically get logged and categorized in the accounting software. Transactions can be tracked with their mobile app.

Zoho

Zoho is another excellent choice for the sole proprietor. By comparison with Wave, Zoho is a scalable, full-featured accounting app. While it has a free plan, there are limitations to the number of customers or invoices included with the plan. Since we are focusing on free plans, I will compare the Zoho free plan with Wave.

The Zoho free plan includes these features:

• Hosted payment pages
• Multi-currency support
• Integrated with Stripe
• Offline payments
• Client self-service portal

As you move into the paid plans, more features are included. As you scale upward to the more advanced plans, Zoho becomes one of the market’s best invoicing and accounting apps. Zoho’s free plan cannot compete with Wave as a free app. On the other hand, Wave cannot quite make it with Zoho as an advanced accounting app.

With Wave, there is no paid plan for invoicing and accounting. Therefore, there are no limits to the number of customers or features between various plans. There is only one plan, and it is free!

Zoho is a good choice for a small or mid-size business with more complex accounting needs.

Zipbooks

ZipBooks is also designed for the sole proprietor or small business. As a free invoicing and accounting option for the sole proprietor, it fits in a category between Wave and Zoho. Wave is completely free. There are no paid options for invoicing and accounting. On the other hand, I would not rate Zoho as an authentically free choice. Yes, there is a free plan, but there are restrictions. It will accommodate only 20 customers. It limits the free service to very small businesses and calculates small using a metric based on the number of customers.

Wave also targets small businesses but uses a different metric for small. Rather than measuring by the number of customers, it calculates based on the complexity of the business accounting needs.

So what about ZipBooks? Its free plan includes:

• Sending unlimited invoices
• Managing unlimited vendors & customers
• Accepting digital payments (Square or PayPal)
• Viewing Basic Reports
• Connecting one bank account

This is a similar approach to Wave. Again, the metric is based on accounting features rather than customers. The ZipBook philosophy is, “From accepting your first transaction to operating a high-revenue operation, we have a plan that covers you (yes, it starts at free)!” So as a new business, you start free. As your business grows, upgrade to the plan that best fits your needs. But since the features offered in the free plan are unlimited, nothing is added to these features in the paid plans. With the paid plans, you will have included things like automation, the number of bank accounts, and the number of team members. For instance, check this list of features included in the Smarter Plan:

• Schedule recurring invoices with auto-bill
• Automate reminders
• Save invoice line items
• Connect multiple bank accounts
• Receive account notifications
• Track time
• Add 5 team members

Which App Is Best

The plan that is best for you is just that – the plan that is best for you. Saying one app is better than another can only be judged based on whether it best suits your needs, regardless of how many great features it has. I have already given a clue to an approach to deciding which invoicing app to choose. Now I will go into it in more detail.

Greatest Need — Is your greatest need invoicing, bookkeeping, payroll, or something else? If your business sells products, bookkeeping may be the most significant need rather than invoicing or payroll. If, on the other hand, you provide client services, invoicing is probably your greatest need. So start there. If invoicing is your greatest need, then the number of customers or clients you have is also essential. You don’t want an app that restricts your number of customers.

If customers and invoicing are not your most significant concern, pick those issues that are of greatest concern. Maybe you need more complex accounting or want to accept payments on your website? Whatever it is, laser focus on your most significant concern or need. Having found the plan that best addresses that concern, now consider some more minor concerns. Does the app that best addresses your most significant concern also address this minor concern? If not, is that a game changer? If so, your next option is to accept a compromise with your more significant concern issue. Or, it may be that none of these three apps best addresses your need.

While your business may be small, your financial concerns may be mid-size business issues. You may need to go looking for apps better suited for the mid-size business.

Small Business Financial Tips

I hope this blog has helped you decide on a free invoice app for your business. Here are a couple of additional tips to help keep up with your business financials.

Tips for Getting Paid On Time With An Invoice

Tips for getting paid on time with an invoice
Invoicing can be frustrating, such as sending out countless payment reminder emails, making numerous phone calls, and still not getting paid on time. Fortunately, you can do a few things to increase your chances of getting paid promptly. First, be clear about your payment terms from the start. Make sure you discuss payment options and timelines with your client before starting work. Second, use an invoicing system that allows you to track payments and automatically send reminders. Finally, follow up with a phone call or email a week after your invoice is due. By taking these simple steps, you can decrease the chances of getting stiffed on a bill.

Why tracking income is essential for sole proprietors

Tracking your income is not an activity you can take lightly. It is what keeps you in business. Besides helping you stay organized and on top of your finances, you will know how much money you bring in each month. With this information, you can better budget and keep up with your cash flow. This will also be incredibly helpful in deciding how to grow your business. Plus, it will help you spot potential problems before they become too serious.

Conclusion

So, there you have it. Our list of three best free invoicing apps and tips on ensuring you get paid for all that hard work. Whether you use one of the apps we’ve mentioned or choose a different option, remember to keep your invoices clear and concise, follow up if needed, and always be professional. With a little organization and a solid payment system, you can focus on what you do best—running your business!

Elementor vs. NicePage: Which Is Better for WordPress Websites?

WordPress has two excellent drag-and-drop page builders in Elementor and Nicepage. Both have several fantastic features. Both are great picks for creating WordPress sites. So, which one should you use?

As a user of both WordPress builders, I must inform you that I have already decided. That said, I'll go through both objectively and share some reasons why I chose Nicepage. To level the playing field, I will also disclose that I am an affiliate for both Elementor and Nicepage.

So, with disclosures out of the way, we will start by looking at some objective features of both Elementor and Nicepage.

Page Builder VS Theme Designer:

One of the benefits I liked about Nicepage is that it's not only a page builder but also a theme creator. However, on the Elementor website, you'll discover a theme builder feature. So are they able to create WordPress themes as well? The answer is yes, albeit in two very different manners.

Installing a desktop program on either a Windows or Mac computer or an online builder is where Nicepage begins. These are independent applications that aren't connected to your WordPress site. You start by creating your theme using a variety of templates and styles in these apps. Templates are full-page layouts on which you may build your theme's design. The designs inspire the page's block arrangement. Once you have designed a theme, you export it from the program and install it in WordPress, just like any other theme. A plugin is included in the archive file that must also be downloaded and installed in WordPress.

Elementor does everything from within WordPress. Once the plug-in is installed in WordPress, you can build a theme. If you are using a free version, you will need to install the "Hello" theme and use the theme builder tool from within the page builder to modify theme elements, such as the header and footer. A template feature is installed for building a theme if you are using a pro version of Elementor.

Elementor gives this description regarding its theme builder:
"'Builder' might be a confusing word in this case, but historically, it has become a standard part of the design vocabulary. Just as page builders are page designers that work in conjunction with your theme, the Elementor Theme Builder is a tool for building a new design framework that changes the look of those areas of your theme that have traditionally been off-limits to page builders."

Website Designs:

Another advantage of Nicepage is that it is more than a WordPress theme designer and page builder. The themes created with its desktop or online applications may not only be exported as WordPress themes but also as Joomla templates. Furthermore, they can be exported as an HTML5 website.

Comparison of Features:

Now let's focus on page building and compare features between Nicepage and Elementor.

Responsive & Mobile Designs

Elementor and Nicepage are both responsive and mobile-friendly. In other words, their designs adapt to any screen size - including mobile displays - and respond quickly. Both provide Desktop, Laptop, Tablet views, and Mobile screens in portrait and landscape mode. Once you've created a desktop version of a page, you may switch to any other screen sizes to see how it appears and make any needed changes. The majority of the time, all that is required is a few modifications to this view, such as repositioning page headers on the page or centering images. Elementor and Nicepage are equally capable in this area.

​Organize it all with Todoist

Drag & Drop Editor

Both offer drag-and-drop design capabilities, which is another common feature between them. Find the feature you want from a list in the left column of your design page and drop it on the page layout in either program. You may then freely position and resize the element as desired. In addition, you may easily customize the colors, backgrounds, and other properties to your liking.

(We independently select these products — if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission.)

Video Demonstration

Here are two short videos demonstrating their features to give a feel for the differences between the two builders.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iHl--K4XPs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43j6h3oCm0U

If you view both videos, you'll find that the technologies employed are pretty similar. Regarding page creation through drag and drop, both products work similarly. The different ways elements may be positioned and modified within the page blocks influenced my decision to use Nicepage. Elementor's manual handling of position, sizing, and modification tools in the left column can be time-consuming. At the same time, Nicepage's mouse use for all these functions on the design page is more efficient. While this distinction might seem minor, it significantly impacts how quickly you can achieve your desired look and do so without spending hours in front of your computer.

Elements

Nicepage claims over 300-page elements, and while Elementor does not give a number, a browse through available features appears to be very similar. Elements might be broken down into:

• Design elements - These include such elements as Headings, elements for layout, images, text editor, buttons, texts, colors, fonts, etc
• Function elements include forms, menus, sliders, social media integration, etc.

Nicepage

Elementor

Pricing

Both offer a free edition. As you might expect, these free editions have certain restrictions. The limitations affect the number of websites on which you may use your license and specific features. So let's look at them side by side:

Elementor:

• Free Plan - The free version is limited to one website, 50 editor widgets, and no theme building. A few other limitations exist, such as no eCommerce or form builders.
• Essential Plan - For most of those reading along, this version or the free version will be the only version in which you will have any interest. You are not designing multiple websites. Only the one you need for your business. This plan is $49 per year and allows for one website. It comes with 100+ editor widgets as well as the theme builder. It also has more website kits and designer themes available. Plus, it has eCommerce, a popup builder, and a form builder.
• There is also the Expert Plan, the Studio Plan, and the Agency Plan. While there are a few more differences than this, the primary difference is the number of websites with which they can be used.

Nicepage:

• Free Plan- The free starter pack allows you to create the site, export it, and test most options. The number of grids, blocks, colors, etc., is limited in the free version. There is no limit to how long the free version is available.
• Personal Plan - The cost of this plan is $59 per year. This plan gives free updates, five sites, 10,000+ Page and Block designs, 200 block layouts, 25 Grid styles, and 1 Modal Popup.
• Other plans include the Business plan for $129 annually, the Pro plan for $199 a year, and the Ultimate for $349 a year. Each of these plans will increase the number of sites, page & block designs, grid styles, and modal popups. Again, the Personal Plan is sufficient if you are only interested in designing your business site. Should you need more than one site for your business, the Personal Plan will allow this.

Conclusion:

Both plugins offer similar functionality, so choosing between them depends on your needs and preferences. If you’re looking for a simple page builder with fewer options, then Elementor might be better for you. However, if you’re looking to build complex pages with many different elements, then NicePage will likely be a better choice. It will excel in giving you:

• The ability to try out your ideas on the fly.
• Allow you to modify elements in minutes.
• web design 3.0 features
• 1,000s of designer web templates
• A responsive design that looks great on any device

Check them out:

Nicepage

Elementor

(We independently select these products — if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission.)

5 Recommended Cloud Storage Services For The Small Business (SOHO) in 2022

You can't afford to ignore data storage and backup as a small office or home-based company (SOHO). Small businesses require the security of data storage and backup services in the cloud. This blog will look at why having a backup is essential and 5 recommended cloud storage services.

Why A Backup Plan?

One of the essential digital resources in a home-based company office is backup or synchronization services for office documents. However, it's similar to having flood insurance. We don't seriously consider it until the water rises inside the house.

It's intimidating to start a home business, and most people find themselves going from one time-consuming activity to the next with little time to consider some crucial but non-urgent tasks. Providing cloud storage for our computer files frequently falls into this category.

If my description matches your situation, I'm guessing you've never experienced a computer failure or a loss of your computer to fire, water damage or any other calamity. Otherwise, the devastation of losing essential data, much of which might be irreplaceable, would convert you into a believer. You'd already have some sort of backup or cloud storage in place. 

The Convenience of A Backup Provision

It's more than simply a good idea to have a backup strategy. It's also convenient. Whether you suffer from a computer system collapse or lose your data, sooner or later, you'll need to purchase new hardware or upgrade your computers. To restore your data to the new computer with an easy-to-restore solution is a life-saver.

I've had everything from a computer crash to a hard drive replacement, as well as purchasing a second computer. In each instance, I could move all of my data in one easy step to the new machine or hard drive.

What Is Cloud Storage and Why Have It?

Cloud storage is a form of data storage in which data is kept on remote servers over the internet. Due to their superior attributes when compared to traditional on-site data storage solutions, cloud storage services are becoming increasingly popular.

One of the most significant benefits of cloud storage is that it allows users to store and access files from nearly any place on earth. You only need an internet connection, and you can quickly and simply access your data. Cloud backup also eliminates the need for hard drives for backup, which are less dependable and susceptible to physical catastrophes such as fires or floods.

The third significant advantage of cloud storage is that it is far more scalable than on-site data storage. You may quickly increase or decrease the storage space you use with cloud storage. This is ideal for companies with seasonal increases and decreases in data storage requirements.

As seen in the list of advantages to cloud storage, I recommend using cloud storage rather than onsite storage.

Backup VS Syncing?

When you look at cloud storage, you will find services that only back up your files and others that synchronize the contents of your computer with those in the cloud. So, what is the distinction?

• Backup - With your documents backed up, a distinct operation is required to upload them to the cloud storage and then restore them to your computer. The backup procedure may be set up to run automatically or manually started. But restoration will require manual activation.

• Syncing - If you choose to sync your files in the cloud, backup happens as you work within the file. The cloud storage is a replica of your hard drive files that have been selected for syncing. As you make changes within the files on your computer, those changes are automatically made within the files stored in the cloud. You don't have to even think about backup. It takes place as you work. The only caution you have to consider with file syncing is if you are also syncing those duplicate files on a second computer. For instance, after working with a file on your desktop, you can later pull up that same file on your laptop, which will be up-to-date with the one on your desktop. But here is where the caution arises. When you start working on your laptop, you need to allow time for it to sync with your cloud storage before starting to work on your synced files. This syncing process happens automatically once your computer connects to the WiFi. But you will need to give it a minute or two for the update to occur.

(We independently select these products — if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission.)

My Recommendations:

So, my first advice was for cloud storage as opposed to local storage. My second recommendation is for file syncing instead of file backup. As you can see from the description of synchronizing, it is a simple and automatic operation. This isn't to suggest that there won't be times when backing up rather than synchronizing is required. But these will be rare occasions.

Explanation of Recommendations --

•  All of the five suggestions below allow for synchronization. To be clear, syncing your data is equivalent to backing it up. In other words, you have multiple copies in the cloud that may be reloaded onto your computer if you suffer a data loss or need to transfer all your information onto a new hard drive.
•  I'm not suggesting that these five are the best cloud storage services. That being said, they're all trustworthy and dependable services. You could discover features with services not included in the list that aren't available with those listed here. But for most home business offices, these five should suffice. 

Why these five?

•  The first three (Google Drive, Onedrive, and Dropbox) should work well with your existing system.- As far as Google Drive is concerned, you probably already have a Google account. If this is the case, whether or not you're currently using Google Drive, you already have access to it.

•  Onedrive is already included with Windows for PC users. If this is the case, whether you are using it or not, you already have the service.

•  Many individuals may already be using Dropbox in a limited way. If so, all you have to do now is expand your usage of it and sync all or most of your office documents.

•  If you want features that aren't available through Google Drive, Onedrive, or Dropbox, IDrive or PCloud are good alternatives. We will get into their differences below.

Recommendations:

1. Google Drive

If you already have a Google account, Google Drive is a natural choice for your cloud storage and data syncing. Suppose your Google account is your personal account, and you are the only employee in your home business. In that case, a personal account will be a sufficient alternative for a cloud storage service. 15 GB comes with a free account, but you can increase the storage limit at reasonable rates. Here is the rate schedule:

•  2 TB will cost $99.99 per year or under $1 per month.
•  5 TB is $24.99 per month or $249.99 per year, which is a 17% savings.
•  10 TB costs $49.99 per month.
•  20 TB comes at $99.99 per month.

A Google Drive app is available for Windows and Mac users. When you install the app on your computer, a G Drive is created to store your synced files. Simply move all files for which you want syncing in the cloud to the G Drive. All files in the G Drive will be uploaded to the Google Drive cloud storage and automatically synced as you make changes to these files.

Should you experience a crash or loss of your computer, simply install the Google Drive app on a new computer, and all the files in the cloud will be downloaded to the G Drive on your computer.

File & Folder Sharing - Do you need to share documents with someone else? You have two options:

•  Create a shared folder - Create a folder and then share it with others. Give them editing privilege or just viewing privilege. Then move all documents to the folder you wish to share. Those with whom you are sharing will have access to all documents in the shared folder.
•  Create a shared document - Select any document in your Google Drive and share it with others. Again, choose to give editing privilege or just viewing privilege.  Then share the link with those you want to have access.

Office Apps

Google offers three office apps with Google Drive; Unlike Microsoft office apps, Google apps do not run independently on your computer. You must either be working within documents in the cloud or install a browser extension. If you wish to use one of these apps offline, you need to set a document for offline editing while you are logged into your Google account. Once you are offline, you will use the browser extension for editing.

• Google Docs - This is the Google word processor.
• Google Sheets - Google's spreadsheet app.
• Google Slides - Google's answer to PowerPoint.

Google One

When you upgrade your Google Drive storage from a free account to a paid version, you become a member of Google One. Additional benefits come with this membership.

Pro Session - Schedule a personal online session with a Google expert to learn about improving your account security.

Extra Google Photos editing - Access to Google Photos editing features for Android and iOS.

VPN protection on your device - With a VPN on your device, you can:

• Browse, stream, and download content with a secure and private connection
• Shield against hackers on unsecured networks (like public Wi-Fi)
• Reduce online tracking by hiding your IP address
  

Google Play & Google Store Points
Google Personal VS Google Workspace

To this point, we have been discussing a personal Google account. But if you are a home business person, you may want to consider Google Workspace, the business account.

So why should you use Workspace?  

Here are a couple of reasons you may want to consider Workspace:

Branding - If you are the only employee of your home business, there is no reason you could not simply use your personal Google account. If you need additional cloud storage, simply upgrade your subscription. But your personal account will not project a very professional image. This is particularly true if you are using Gmail as your email service. In this case, your email address will be like this -  businessperson@gmail.com. It is more professional if you can use an email account with an address like this - businessperson@mybusiness.com. With Workspace, Google will interact with your domain name to use it with your email address.

Sharing - A Workspace account allows users to be added to the account and assigns all the same features and tools to each user. This provides a unified calendar; all email addresses will use the business domain name. Further, the workspace owner has access to all cloud storage drives of other users, maintaining the ownership of all documents.

Cost - The cost of Workspace is $6 per user per month. This comes with 30 GB per user.

NOTE: Consider the discussion about Google Drive file syncing and sharing common to the other cloud storage services. Though these features may not be mentioned with the other services, assume them to be true for each unless otherwise noted.

2. Microsoft OneDrive

Microsoft Onedrive is most attractive to those who are already users of Microsoft Office apps, such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. The use of these apps comes with a subscription to Microsoft 365. A personal account costs $6.99 monthly and comes with 1 TB of storage. However, you can sign up for Onedrive storage without the apps at $1.99 per month for 100 GB. Then there is the Microsoft 365 Family Plan which is a real bargain. For $9.99 per month, you can have up to 6 users with 6 TB of storage.

Onedrive VS Google Drive

If comparing only the file-syncing capabilities of Onedrive and Google Drive, the two will run neck-and-neck. The critical difference between them is the office apps they are designed to work with. For Onedrive, it is Microsoft Office Suite; for Google Drive, it is the Google Suite.  And a significant difference between these two suites is their operating environment. For Google apps, the working environment is the browser. For Microsoft apps, the environment is your computer desktop.

Hybrid user

Based on these two comparisons, I might be considered a hybrid user. For my cloud storage service, I have chosen Google Drive. My choice was based on convenience. I already had a Google Account and slowly began using Google Drive incrementally. When Google developed the Google Drive app that installs on my computer and automatically syncs my computer files with files in the cloud, I jumped all in.

But I seldom use Google's suite of apps or office apps from my browser. Even though I work primarily on my computer desktop, neither am I a Microsoft Office apps user. I use the Corel Office Suite and, as I say, work directly on my desktop. But as I do, my files are automatically synced with those stored on Google Drive. If I used Microsoft Office apps, I would probably use OneDrive instead of Google. The deciding factor between the two seems to hinge much on the productivity apps.

All that has been said here goes equally for Mac users as for Windows users.

3. Dropbox

We have demonstrated so far through Google Drive and OneDrive that one's work style and need play a significant role in choosing a cloud storage service. The distinguishing feature between Google Drive and OneDrive is the productivity apps used. Dropbox brings yet another perspective. A significant focus for Dropbox is team collaboration. Team collaboration is indeed a feature in OneDrive and Google Drive, but with limited work tools. Dropbox has a large toolbox full of apps with which it integrates for team collaboration.

Dropbox Paper: 
https://youtu.be/fmsq1uKOa08

Paper is Dropbox's signature feature that is a collaborative document-editing service. A free Dropbox service helps teams create and share early ideas. Within Paper, you can work with almost anything, from video and images, to code and sound. Paper is the place teams use to coordinate their work and keep projects moving. Building on Paper, teams can integrate their work using an arsenal of apps such as Trello, Slack, Dropbox for G Suite, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Teams, and many more.

So integration is a prominent feature with Dropbox. It is through the integration of many apps and services that team collaboration takes place. Through these partner integrations, Dropbox claims to . . .

•  Bring Magic to your creative workflows.
•  Provide High impact marketing and a speedier sales process
•  Keep your teams connected and keep projects moving
•  Bring it all together with the DBX Platform

Cloud Storage:

DBX Platform is the Dropbox platform. Through their platform, Dropbox reverses the focus. Rather than bringing your apps to their platform, Dropbox's focus is to bring their platform to your apps. So, as they say, "DBX Platform lets you add Dropbox features to your apps, such as file storage, sharing, previews, and search."

Pricing

(Click on images to enlarge)

4. iDrive

As noted above, all the services listed have similar file syncing and sharing features. But IDrive approaches it differently. This is because there is no focus on the apps that will be working with their service. IDrive concentrates on backup and syncing. The features offered by IDrive reflect this concentration:

Multiple Device Backup:

Backup unlimited PCs, Macs, iPhones, iPads, and Android devices into a single account. In addition, data from external hard drives can also be backed up.

Online File Sync:

Files and folders will be synced in real-time across all devices you link using IDrive. Sync storage does not impact your backup storage and matches your backup storage limit.

IDrive Express:

Quick backup and data retrieval in less than a week via physical storage shipment, ensuring no bandwidth usage.

Snapshots and Versioning:

Snapshots provide a historical view of data for point-in-time recovery and help protect against ransomware; IDrive retains up to 30 previous versions of all files backed up to your account.

Manage Computers: 

Web-based console helps manage data backups, restores, application settings, and more, on remote computers.

Clone/Computer Backup: 

Perform sector-level backup or file-level backup to secure your entire computer, and restore the same to its initial state in the event of a disaster.  NOTE: This goes beyond data backup to whole-computer backup - including the operating system.

https://digitalchowder.com/5-recommended-cloud-storage-services-for-the-small-business-soho-in-2022/

The Best Scanner For The Home Office In 2022

Finding The Best Scanner for Your Home Office

A scanner is an important piece of equipment for any home office. Not only do they make it easy to scan documents and photos, but they are also useful for creative projects or to keep track of your finances. If you’re in the market for a scanner, there are a few things you should keep in mind. In this blog post, we will discuss the key features to look for when buying a scanner.

FEATURES TO CONSIDER:

Document Types

• Size – In selecting a scanner, the document type is the first step. And the first thing to consider when it comes to document type is size. Will they be letter or legal size? If so, an A4 printer will be your pick. But if you want to scan larger items, you will need an A3 scanner.
• Black & White or Color – Another feature that goes back to the document type will be color. Most scanners you find can scan in either format, color, or black & white. But if color is a necessity, you will want to check for sure when selecting a scanner that it can process in color.
• Resolution – A further feature related to document type is resolution. This is an important consideration if you will be scanning photos and need good quality scans. In this case, a scanner with a DPI of 400-600 will be preferable.
• Simplex or Duplex – Duplexing is a feature that allows the scanning of both sides of a document in one procedure. The main question related to duplexing is whether you will be working with two-sided documents. Only feeder scanners are capable of duplexing so if you will need duplexing, you will also need a feeder. This is not a problem unless you have the need to scan bound documents.

Scan Features

• Scanning Volume – Next, you want to consider how much scanning you’ll be doing. The following two features are particularly significant for higher volume scanning:
• Feeder or Flatbed – A feeder scanner, which feeds the pages you are scanning, can be helpful if you do a lot of scanning or if your scanning involves multiple-page papers. A feeder is distinct from a flatbed scanner because it can automatically feed pages for scanning. A feeder also gives you the choice of duplex scanning. Unfortunately, if the multiple-page documents you need to scan are bound, such as with a book, you will need a flatbed scanner.
• Speed – The speed of a scanner is crucial if you will be doing a lot of scanning. You measure speed in pages per minute (ppm). Normal scanner speeds range from 20 ppm to 200 ppm. The lower ranges will be enough for the average home office. If you are doing a high volume of scans, you will need a higher ppm scanner.
• Software -A final consideration when choosing a scanner is the driver or software that comes with it. The terms driver and software are interchangeable. They make the scanner work. The software creates the documents that come from the scans. You will want to check and see what types of documents the software can make. The default document output that most scanners produce is a PDF. But you may need to create DOCX or RTF documents with your scanner. And if you are scanning photos, you will need TIFF, JPEG, or similar file types.

ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS:

If you have worked through the previous section, you are almost ready to select a scanner. But here are a few more technical considerations:

All-In-One

An all-in-one machine can do three or four things. It can print, scan, and copy. Sometimes it can also fax. The all-in-one is a good choice for your home office. Instead of three or four pieces of equipment, there is only one taking up office space. If you are considering an all-in-one, my blog “How to choose the right printer for your home business: A Guide” will be a good read for you. This is a partner blog to this one, helping you to make a good choice with both printer and scanner.

Specialized Scanners and Accessories

A final consideration is whether you need a specialized scanner. This will be the case if you need:

• Large format/high precision scanning
• Specialized book scanning
• Mobile scanning
• Networked scanning
• Check scanners /MICR readers

High Capacity

This would be higher capacity than what we discussed above about volume. I mention these specialized requirements to call attention to the need to check scanner capabilities. You want to make sure the scanner of your choice can meet your needs in these areas. I won’t go into detail about these needs in this blog, but you should be aware of them.

Compatibility

You will want to ensure that the scanner you choose is compatible with the other equipment in your office. For example, is it compatible with your operating system? Does it need more processing or memory than what your computer has? Although there is usually no conflict, it is a good idea not to take compatibility for granted.

SELECTING THE SCANNER:

_{(We independently select these products — if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission.)}

Now that you have all the selection details out of the way, it is time to look at some scanners. Here are a few possibilities for you in four different categories.

Flatbed Scanners

Feeder & Duplex Scanners

High Capacity Scanners

All-In-One Printer/Scanner

_{(We independently select these products — if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission.)}

Conclusion:

Choosing the best scanner for your home office can be a daunting task. There are many factors to consider, such as how much scanning you’ll be doing, the type of documents you need to create, and compatibility with other devices. But with these considerations in mind, you’re sure to find the perfect scanner for your needs.

Questions? Do you have any questions about choosing a scanner for your home office? Leave a comment below and I’ll do my best to answer them!

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How to Choose The Right Printer For Your Home Business

If you have a home business, then you know that having a reliable printer are both essential tools. But with all the different options on the market, it can be tough to decide which one is right for your business. In this blog post, we’ll give you some tips on how to choose the right printer for your business. Tips on choosing the right scanner we will address in a later blog.

There are a few things to keep in mind when choosing the right printer for your business. The type of business you have will dictate the type of printer you need.

Considerations

• The volume of printing you need to do: If you only need to print on occasion, you can get away with a less expensive printer. Yet, if you do a lot of printing, you will need a more robust printer that can handle the volume. 20 ppm for moderate print output will work for most home office settings. If your printing is heavier than that, 30-40 ppm may be necessary. Over 40 ppm is getting into heavy-duty usage and under 20 ppm will be rather slow.

• The type of documents you need to print: If you only need to print simple documents, you can get away with a basic printer. But, if you need to print more complex documents, you will need a more advanced printer.
  • Simple – Letter size, single-sided, black & white
  • Complex – Legal or Ledger size, double-sided, color
  • Special – Banner or poster
• The quality of the prints: A third consideration is the quality of printing you will be doing. Will it be high-quality documents or photos? When we turn to quality in printing the focus is on DPI, or dots per inch. The higher the number of dots per inch, the higher the quality of printing. As a general rule this guide you can follow this guide:
  • For a letter or business document with graphics, 300 dpi will look fine.
  • A higher-quality document such as a  handout for the board of directors will call for 600 dpi.
  • For the average photographer, 1200 dpi is excellent for photos.

Type of Printer

Inkjet Printer

An inkjet printer will meet all the requirements above, but not at a commercial volume. Inkjets create a clean, sharp image that is suitable for both high-quality paperwork and photo printing. When it comes to big-volume production, but, it falls short. It is slower than laser printers and more expensive to run. They only print about 220 pages for each standard ink cartridge. This can add up to considerable expense. Though inkjet printers have a lower purchase price than laser printers, they close the gap with the cost of ink with a higher printing volume.

Laser Printer

A laser printer may meet both the higher volume printing and high-quality printing needs. You’ll pay a higher upfront cost for a laser printer, but the lower cost of printing will make up for it. A regular high yield ink cartridge that costs $41 will print 600 pages on average. Yet, a high yield laser print cartridge that costs $45 will print about 1,800 pages. This is $.07 per page for the inkjet compared to $.025 per page for the laser. What about the cost of the printer? You can buy a low-end inkjet color printer for less than $100. Compare this to a low-end laser black & white printer for about $120. A color laser printer will start at around $180. In either case, you can have a wireless printer for these prices. With either an inkjet or laser printer, you don’t have to pay more to get better print quality. Most of the time, you’ll get more features (like automatic duplexing) if you pay more, with no change in print quality. An example of this is the HP DeskJet 4155e, with a purchase price of $124.99 on Amazon. The print quality for this printer, or DPI, is 1200 X 1200. You will pay $100 more for a printer such as the HP Envy Inspire 7955e, to get a DPI of 4800 x 1200. The price is $219.89.

SuperTank Printer

Supertank printers are inkjet printers with a tube system instead of individual ink cartridges. The printers drawn ink through tubes from high-capacity ink tanks. These tanks are filled from high-capacity ink bottles. Replacement ink bottles include enough ink to print thousands of pages and cost under $20.Cost of SuperTank printers start at around $190.

Conclusion

To summarize, the best printer for a business depends on:

• The nature of printing
• The quantity of printing
• The budget

An inkjet printer is an excellent choice for high-quality documents and photographs. A laser printer is a better option when producing larger quantities of material. But the SuperTank printers can step up to the task of volume printing as it brings down the cost per page.

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What To Look For In A Reliable Internet Connection

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A strong foundation is necessary for your home business’s success. And a part of this foundation is your internet connection. Yet, how do you choose a dependable internet connection?

This post will discuss the speed, dependability, and availability of four types of internet connections. We’ll then direct you to the best providers for these internet connections.

Connection Types:

1. DSL Connection:

Description – DSL, or Digital Subscriber Line, is an internet connection that works from telephone lines. It is a feature of telephone services such as AT&T.

Speed – Speed is the greatest drawback for DSL. With a top speed of 100 Mbps, it comes in last among the four types of internet connections.

Reliability – In general, DSL and cable are equally dependable. But, the service provider will determine how reliable and fast the connection is.

Availability – Availability will be dependent on your location. AT&T, once a primary provider of DSL, has phased it out. But it is still widely available where other providers offer it.

Recommendations – DSL would not be my recommendation for the home business unless it is the only alternative. While it may be a good choice for individual use, it is too slow for the demands of a business.

2. Cable Connection:

Description – You get a cable connection from the same service that provides your cable television service. If you already have cable TV, you will only need to add internet service to your plan. If you do not have cable TV, you can order only the internet service from your local cable provider.

Speed – Cable internet can deliver up to 1,000 Mbps. This makes it ten times faster than the maximum speed for DSL.

Reliability – Both cable and DSL are equally reliable. 

Availability – when it comes to availability, cable wins over fiber, but fiber is catching up. Depending on your location, you may only have cable as an option. If you choose cable, you may have only one cable provider available for your area.

Recommendations – For business use, I am not recommending DSL. This leaves cable, fiber, or mobile hotspot.

A recommendation is meaningless unless there is a selection. But, you may not have a choice. If you have the option of one or the other, the expense will come next on your list. Fiber might be more expensive by way of comparison. Is it worth paying extra money for faster speeds?

3. Fiber Optic:

Description -Fiber optic is a method of sending data signals over long distances with little loss of strength. Both DSL and cable connections use wires that have many points along the route to your modem, which can reduce their strength.

Speed – Fiber can reach top speeds of 10,000 Mbps, making it 10 times faster than cable. As with DSL and cable, the actual speed will depend on your service plan.

Reliability – Fiber optic cabling is more dependable and secure than cable or DSL. This is due to the fact that data is transmitted via light on fiber. The type of cable used in fiber has no signal deterioration issues.

Availability – Availability can be an issue. Even if your location is in a metropolitan area, there is no guarantee that fiber service will have made it to your neighborhood yet.

Recommendations -If there is a suitable alternative, and the price difference isn’t huge, fiber is my clear choice. I’m paying $5-10 more per month for twice the speed of cable via AT&T Fiber. For me, this difference is worth the speed increase.

4. Mobile Hotspot:

Description – A mobile hotspot is a technology that allows you to use your phone’s cellular data connection to establish a Wi-Fi network. This may be useful for home businesses that require a stable internet connection but do not have access to cable or DSL.

You may be able to setup a mobile hotspot using your current phone depending on the plan you have with your provider. Most providers offer a mobile hotspot option that allows you to utilize the internet by connecting your PC to your mobile hotspot. Please note, though, that even if your phone plan has unlimited data, your hotspot allowance will likely have a limited to the amount of data used by the hotspot at full speed. Beyond that limit, it may have unlimited data at a slower speed.

You can also buy a hotspot device to connect to your plan and provide WiFi for multiple device users even when your phone is not present.

An advantage of a mobile hotspot is that you can have an internet connection for your computer anywhere mobile phone service is available.

Other Hotspot Considerations

Speed – The mobile hotspot will have slower internet connections than the connection types. For example, if you’re using a phone with 4G support to connect to the hotspot, you’ll get maximum speeds of around 25–30 Mbps. Depending on location and signal strength, 5G phones can provide speeds up to 1,000 Mbps. If you can get 5G with 1,000 Mbps, you will be on par with a cable connection.

Reliability – A mobile hotspot will be as dependable as your phone connection. However, if your phone cannot connect, neither will the hotspot. This is somewhat self-evident, but sometimes we can overlook the obvious.

Availability – Mobile hotspot connections will benefit from having more alternatives. Even in locations where cable or fiber isn’t available, mobile phones will be accessible. The trick is to get a plan that includes a mobile hotspot with your phone service. Or, you can buy a hotspot device.

Recommendations – Mobile hotspot is becoming more and more a viable option for a home business. While fiber remains the fastest connection, it is possible to have a hotspot equal in speed to cable. As you will find in the next section on providers, cost for hotspots are not out of reason. The biggest factor to consider is the amount of data you will need. You will have limits on data usage and will pay more to get more.

To me, the greatest advantage with a mobile hotspot is flexibility. Depending on your data usage, it is possible to use a hotspot for your office internet connection and also take it on the road with you to use wherever you are.

Internet Providers

We’re now ready to look at internet service providers. To do so, I’ll use data

from  highspeedinternet.com as a reference point. Drawing on an article titled, “2021’s Best Internet Providers in Customer Satisfaction,” by Bison Messink. I’ll give a brief rundown of key facts from the article. If you want to get down into the gritty details, here is a link you may use:

• https://www.highspeedinternet.com/resources/customer-satisfaction-survey

High-speed Internet Review

Highspeedinternet.com did a survey of 12 internet providers rating them on customer satisfaction in five areas:

• Overall satisfaction
• Internet speed
• Reliability
• Price
• Customer Service

I will list the top three providers in each of these five categories. If none of the top three providers in these categories are available in your area, go to this link to find other providers that ranked well.

Overall satisfaction: In terms of overall customer satisfaction, the top three internet suppliers are:

1. Earthlink
2. AT&T
3. Verizon

Internet speed: The top three recipients for internet speed customer satisfaction were:

1. Earthlink
2. Verizon
3. Cox

Reliability: Top customer satisfaction for reliability went to:

1. Earthlink
2. Verizon
3. AT&T

Price: Customer satisfaction for price recipients was:

1. Earthlink
2. Verizon
3. AT&T

Customer Service: Finally, the top three for customer service were:

1. Earthlink
2. Cox
3. Verizon

Providers of Cable and Fiber Internet

I will again reference a report from highspeedinternet.com by Rebecca Lee Armstrong and Kevin Parrish, titled, “Fiber vs. Cable Internet: Compare Options and Providers.”  You can access the report using this link. This information is current as of April 15, 2022.

The Best Cable Internet Providers

1. Xfinity
50–1,200 Mbps
$25.00–$79.99/mo.

2. Spectrum
200–1,000 Mbps
$49.99–$89.99/mo. for 12 mo.

3. Cox
25–Up to 1,000 Mbps
$29.99–$109.99/mo.

4. Optimum
100–940 Mbps
$29.99–$49.99/mo.

5. WOW!
100–1,000 Mbps
$19.99–$64.99/mo.

6. Astound Broadband
Up to 50–Up to 940 Mbps
$19.99–$49.99/mo.

The Best Fiber Internet Providers

1. Google Fiber
1,000–2,000 Mbps
$70.00–$100.00/mo.

2. AT&T
100–5,000 Mbps
$55.00–$180.00/mo.

3. Verizon
300–940 Mbps
$39.99–$89.99/mo.

4. CenturyLink
200–940 Mbps
$65.00/mo.§

5. Frontier
500–2,000 Mbps
$49.99–$149.99/mo.

Mobile Hotspot Providers

PC Magazine labels the following hotspot providers as “The Best Mobile Hotspots for 2022.” The list below is not their full list, but is the top three. This link will take you to the article.

1. T-Mobile Hotspot
   • Hotspot device – $299.99 (at Amazon)
   • $50 per month for 100GB
   • 5G
2. AT&T Hotspot
   • Hotspot device – $499.00 (at Amazon)
   • $50 per month for 40GB
   • 4G
3. Verizon 5G Hotspot
   • $399.99 (at Verizon)
   • $60 per month for 100GBunlimited lower-speed data
   • 5G

Conclusion

It can be intimidating to figure out what the best internet service is for your needs. There are numerous variables to consider, including price, speed, dependability, and customer support. We hope that we have been able to assist you in your search for a trustworthy internet connection! 

_{(We independently select these products — if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission.)}

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Mobile Hotspot – Amazonxxx