As a home business owner, you need access to the best digital tools and resources. From marketing and accounting to all other facets of your business can all be run more efficiently with the right Digital resources for the home business. Here are ten essential digital resources every home business owner needs to consider.
1 – A dependable internet connection
If you want to run a successful home business, having a dependable internet connection is essential. It’s hard to imagine any business these days without access to the internet. But it’s not enough to have access – it needs to be reliable and fast.
Speed, dependability, and availability should be at the top of your list when considering what type of internet connection you will use. Provider selection will also play into this decision-making process. If you want a fuller understanding of the subject, please read my blog post “What To Look For In A Reliable Internet Connection.”
2 – A computer
A computer is not only a vital piece of office equipment but also a crucial digital resource that a home office can’t live without. But which type of computer will be the most useful for your company? I address that in my blog, “Finding the Right Computer for Your Home Business.” I’ll walk you through a series of questions to help you determine what aspects of your office and job should influence your decision on the best computer alternatives.
3 – A printer
A printer is an essential partner to your home business computer, even though there are several ways of sharing documents from your computer over the internet. Choosing the right printer for your business can be difficult with all the different options on the market, but my blog, “How to Choose The Right Printer For Your Home Business,” will give tips that can ease the decision-making process.
4 – A scanner
A scanner is another important consideration as you equip your home office. You’ll need to scan documents and photos more often than you might think. A scanner can also replace a fax or copy machine, so choosing wisely is essential. Read my blog “Finding The Best Scanner For Your Home Office” for help choosing the right one for your needs.
5 – A secure online backup solution
In the days of paper files, preserving crucial documents was a huge problem since any fire, or catastrophic event could result in loss. Back then, finding a storage solution was difficult and often impossible. Even though we have digital media now, which makes document storage simpler, the threat of losing them is just as significant, if not more. Nowadays, however, every business can easily find an affordable backup solution.
Home businesses run by solopreneurs need tools to manage tasks usually given to employees. Invoicing is one of those tasks, and it’s something you can’t ignore if you want your business to stay financially afloat. An invoicing app will save you time and help you keep track of your outstanding invoices. This includes:
Easily send invoices from your phone or computer
Automate the process and make sure you’re paid promptly
Track payments so you can see at a glance who owes you money and when the payments are due
Email marketing can be a great asset to your other marketing strategies for your small business. Developing customer relationships is key to success, and email allows you to do that at a fraction of the cost of many approaches. Check out my blog, “5 Free Email Marketing Tools to Help You Grow Your Business,” for more information about some excellent email marketing apps.
8 – A social media management tool
Being up-to-date on all your media channels and other marketing methods can be an intimidating task for solopreneurs. Yet, staying connected with your community is essential. That’s where social media management apps come into play.
In my blog, “5 Social Media Manager Apps for Small Businesses,” I have compiled a list of five social media management applications that you may count on to keep you engaged and linked with your community.
9 – A customer relationship management (CRM) System
A CRM system is an excellent way to organize your customers and their contact information in one accessible place. This allows you to follow up with customers, send marketing materials, or easily plan sales automation because you can see the big picture of all customer relationships. Automated emails are also a fantastic perk that many people overlook – based on specific actions taken (or not taken). Contacts receive automated email responses without any additional effort from you!
Being a solopreneur is challenging enough without constantly worrying about all the projects and tasks you have overloaded in your mind with no solution in sight. Luckily, there are ways to get organized and apply solutions so that you don’t feel overwhelmed all the time. A good project management app can help deliver you from being stressed and overloaded without a handle on your job.
In my blog, “2 Great Project Management Apps for Struggling Solopreneurs,” I will highlight how important it is to have project management tools in your arsenal. I will also offer tips on getting the most out of these apps. Lastly, I will recommend two solid options for you to consider.
Conclusion
Running a home business might be challenging but feasible with the proper tools and resources. We’ve compiled a list of some of the most important digital tools and resources for home business owners. Then we’ve linked you to articles going into more detail about each resource. You’ll be well on your way to establishing a successful home business if you use these technologies.
If you know of any other great resources, please share them in the comments below or email me at wayne@digitalchowder.com.
Project and task management software can help you keep track of all your tasks and projects to stay organized and focused. Here are 2 Great Project Management Apps for Struggling Solopreneurs.
But these are only tools that are no better than how you use them. Alongside these tools is the need for self-management. And only you can make this work, especially for the Solopreneur. No supervisor or team member holds you accountable for the tasks and projects required to succeed. You are the boss!
In this article, I want to highlight the importance of including project management tools in your tool belt and offer practical personal tips to help you use them best. No matter how good the tool is, it is only as good as the user.
Quit Getting Overwhelmed
Have you ever awakened in the night and couldn’t get back to sleep because of an idea or undone task that took over your thoughts? As you may have found, a simple solution can be to make a note of that idea or task. Once the note is made, your mind is released from the thought, and you can get back to sleep. A daytime version of this is when we become overwhelmed or stressed from feeling there is more to do than we can accomplish.
The problem is that all the undone tasks and big projects are rolling around in our minds with no way to get a handle on them. There is no plan or organization—just loose thoughts running rampant through our heads. The same simple solution that helped you get back to sleep can also reduce stress and keep the overwhelmed feelings at bay. Organize those thoughts and make notes of a plan. With a written plan, you can get the ideas out of your head and tackle the tasks and projects one chunk at a time without being overwhelmed and stressed. The trick is to have a written plan. Until you do, your mind is not released. It is full of random thoughts.
But making a written plan for your tasks and projects is not the first step. It is the second step. The first step is to create a plan to plan.
The tyranny of the urgent: Are you familiar with the phrase “the tyranny of the urgent”? It refers to being tyrannized by urgent tasks that may not be all that important. But they are urgent, so we set aside everything else to do them. While it is true that we do not have control over some of these pressing matters, we can control many. How? By having a plan for our tasks and projects. Often what has become urgent is a task that we kept pushing back until there was hardly enough time to get it done. At that point, it has become critical.
The more we allow tasks and projects to go undone, the more urgency we will have. And the more we will be overwhelmed and stressed. Stop allowing less important tasks and projects to become urgent and take you hostage! When this happens, what is the first task to go undone? Planning!
Set Aside 60 Minutes
So, set aside 60 minutes, get away from interruptions, and make a plan. If you truly devote the 60 minutes to planning and remove all interruptions, I guarantee you will emerge from this time feeling like you had a mini-vacation.
So, how are you going to use these 60 minutes? What plans are you going to make? Here are some suggestions:
Plan when & how you will plan. For your first 60-minutes session, you may need to spend more time on this than in subsequent sessions. When will you have another of these sessions? How frequently will you have them? Get some dates on the calendar. If you don’t, this may be your last session.
Identify the three most important tasks/projects you face over the next three months. Determine the time frame in which each needs to be accomplished. Then go backward from those dates and schedule when you will lay out a plan for each task/project.
Start planning for the top priority task/project on your list. As time allows in this session, start planning for the first item on your priority list.
Each of these 60-minute sessions will vary, but I strongly encourage you not to exit a session without a date on your calendar for your next session. I suggest one of these 60-minute planning retreats at least quarterly. You may find it necessary to do so more frequently. Then, revisit your plans weekly. Each week, whether on Friday for the next week or on Monday for the current week, review your project and note what needs to be accomplished during the week ahead. If necessary, make adjustments to the plan and your schedule for that week to do what is most important. Not just what is most urgent.
What Is The Difference Between Projects and Tasks?
I have mentioned both projects and tasks. Is there a difference, or are the terms interchangeable? This is an important question. As you explore the subject online, you will find that the words are often used interchangeably. But this is not truly the case, nor do I use the terms interchangeably. A project is a big event or a significant element of making your business successful. Projects refer to all involved in carrying out that event or essential business element. On the other hand, tasks are the individual items that must be accomplished to complete the project. For instance, a project might be to have a booth for my company at a trade fair. That project involves many actions: register the booth with the fair administrators, decide what the booth will comprise, construct the booth, enlist people to man the booth throughout the fair, etc. Each action is a task, but the project is to have the booth for the fair.
Do I need both a project management app and a task management app?
This is another excellent question. A good project management app will include task management. Without task management, a project will never get off the ground. But will this cover all my needs in operating my business? My answer to this question is ‘No.’ Many will disagree with me, but our differences are less about what is accurate or best and more about how we prefer to work. From my perspective, a project management app is about managing projects but not managing all aspects of my business or my daily activities. I may have 2-3 projects at a given time, but I have many tasks to deal with during each day unrelated to any of these projects. I prefer a separate task manager into which I fold jobs both related and unrelated to my projects.
So, having determined that we need to have a regular time to plan and that it could be helpful to have both a project management app and a task management app., let’s move on. We will proceed to discuss possible solutions for both of these needs. First, we will address a project management app.
Click Up Project Management App
As an example of project management tools, I will use ClickUp. In the interest of full disclosure, as an affiliate marketer, I may receive credit should you sign up for the app.
So out of all the choices out there, why have I chosen ClickUp? First, I should explain that in recommending this app to you, I have shopped the project management market, chosen this app, registered an account, and used it as my tool. So let me explain why I chose it.
It is well suited for the solopreneur. Many of the apps I explored assumed larger businesses with multiple teams. I found them difficult to fit my planning process and implementation. Frankly, I found many to be confusing.
It has a logical, structured approach. This is a feature that makes the app easy to understand and use.
It has all the tools I need in one place. While I choose to go elsewhere for a task manager, I don’t have to. ClickUp has it and sends a daily email listing incomplete tasks.
It has all the features I need free forever. Since this article is aimed primarily at solopreneurs, it is good to point out that the free forever plan allows an unlimited number of members or team members.
Here is a list of features that come with the free forever plan:
100MB Storage
Unlimited Tasks
Unlimited Free Plan Members
Two-Factor Authentication
Collaborative Docs
Whiteboards
Real-Time Chat
Email in ClickUp
Kanban Boards
Sprint Management
Native Time Tracking
In-App Video Recording
ClickUp Overview
Now let’s give an idea of how project management might work and, in the process, provide an overview of ClickUp. Of course, managing a project using a different app will have some differences, but the basics will be the same.
ClickUp hierarchies: ClickUp is built as a series of hierarchies. The first tier 0f this hierarchy is the workspace. A workspace represents your business or company and so will contain everything related to the company. Within your company or workspace are spaces. These are your projects. You can have an unlimited number of spaces (projects) in your workspace (company). Within a space (project), lists are created. Each list contains any number of tasks related to certain aspects of the project. So, for each project, you end up with several lists necessary to accomplish that project, with several related tasks in each list.
Building a project: When preparing for a project, I start by creating a space within my company workspace. Let’s say I plan to have a booth at a trade fair.
The first stage will be to plan the project working within the space I created for the project. Within the project space, several tools help with planning and monitoring the project’s progress. Here are some of the tools:
Board on which I can view all lists and tasks on one screen.Calendar to reference the overall time frame and when tasks need to be completed.
Gantt chart to display a timeline of starting & stopping dates for assignments.
Box, which gives an overview of all pieces of the project.
Mind Map to visualize your Workspace Hierarchy or create your own free-form Mind Map for planning and organizing projects and ideas. As ideas are added, they are each mapped to other elements of the project, allowing a visual of how the project ties together.
Workload allows you to see your team’s capacity if you are working with a team. You can see who is over or under-assigned and reassign tasks accordingly.
Whiteboard: Collaborate, brainstorm ideas, solve problems and get work done quickly.
For this first stage, I will start with the whiteboard to brainstorm ideas for the project. With several ideas, I will outline a plan. Then I will move on to the second stage of the process.
Second Stage: In the first stage, I brainstormed to form the nature of my project and outlined how it would operate and what it would accomplish. In stage two, I want to bring the project to life. This is where I break down each piece of the project into actions. First, I break it down into sections. For my fair booth, the sections could be:
Determine the message & graphics
Identify vendors & contractors to provide materials and labor
Design & construct the booth
Move the booth onsite & set it up,
Make accommodations for the booth operators
Etc.
Around each of these sections, I will create a list and the tasks necessary to accomplish that section within each list. I will also assign these tasks to a timeline for when each should be started and completed.
Third Stage: The third stage is the implementation of the project. As a solopreneur, this is all on me. If I have been realistic in the second stage, I have not assumed more responsibility for myself than is reasonable. Without a team, I will have to contract out what I can, leaving my role primarily to that of project manager. That in itself will be plenty. So as project manager, I will set aside time daily to monitor the project pieces using the tools made available by ClickUp. What tasks have been checked off? What tasks are currently underway, and what is their progress? Will upcoming tasks be able to start on time? If not, what is needed to get them going? These are some of the questions I need to raise daily to keep the project on track.
This project is just one example of using a project management app and of the ClickUp project manager. There are many other project management apps out there. If ClickUp is not for you, find one that fits how you work and the nature of your company.
ClickUp User Plans:
Free Forever: This plan is said to be for personal use, but solopreneurs should be well-served using this plan. While there are a few differences between this and the paid plans, the allowed storage space is a big difference.
Unlimited: ($5 per member / mon) This is said to be best for small teams.
Business ($12 per member /mon) Best for mid-sized teams
Business Plus ($19 per member /mon) Best for multiple teams
The word to notice in these plans is the word ‘teams.’ If you are a solopreneur, there are no teams, again emphasizing the sufficiency of the Free Forever plan.
Next, we will consider a task management app.
Todoist Task Management App
Todoist promotes itself as “The world’s #1 task manager and to-do list app.” And PC Mag contributes to that image with the pronouncement, “Todoist is the number one to-do list app.” The app’s excellence in managing tasks led me to choose it for personal and business use. While emphasizing its excellence at managing tasks, its business plan is geared for teams and has project management features. If you find a project management app such as ClickUp to be overkill for what you need to do, Todoist Business might be what you need. It will provide shared lists for teams allowing collaboration on projects which may be the primary feature you are looking for. At $6 per user per month, it is affordable for a small business.
Todoist User Plans:
Free: For starters
Pro: ($4 /mon) For power users
Business: ($6 per user /mon) For teams
So why would I choose ClickUp for project management instead of Todoist? The same features Todoist lacks in project management are the main features I want. That is project envisioning and planning. If tracking all the tasks related to a project is all I’m looking for, Todoist does an excellent job and would be my choice. But I want more. And I can get it for free from ClickUp.
At this point, I may have you confused about why I even use Todoist. I have used Todoist for years and have been pleased with its functionality. But more recently, I began to feel the need to better plan and stay on top of my projects. I started looking for a project management app and selected ClickUp. But unless I also use Todoist, I find a gap in keeping up with my tasks. Though ClickUp does a great job of keeping me on top of my project-related tasks, I have many other non-project-related tasks. I still need to stay on top of these. So I find it works well for me to blend the two. As I review my project tasks for the week in ClickUp, I include those I need to do each day in Todoist alongside other non-project tasks. Then I have them all together and can prioritize the whole list each day.
How do you choose?
As you weigh the pros and cons of these two apps, ask yourself the questions: do I need both or just one, and if one, which one? As you consider these questions, here are a couple more questions to help. Am I in more need of managing projects or tasks? If you find that you need project management more, you might consider whether using a task manager would also be beneficial.
Regularly review Your Projects and Tasks
If you haven’t already guessed, I am inclined toward being organized. I don’t like being tyrannized by a constant urgency of tasks. That doesn’t mean I enjoy planning. I don’t. But I enjoy it more than I enjoy being stressed.
If you are a solopreneur, as I am, you don’t have a team around you to cover the areas in which you are not strong. So if planning is not your forte, you will likely have to step up and do something you don’t enjoy or feel capable of doing. For this reason, I have offered some of my practices in planning in hopes of being helpful. But even if you find my methods unhelpful, I believe you will find help with a Project Management App to give you direction and structure for your planning.
To that end, I invite you to check out one or both of these apps. Here are links you can use for that purpose:
Having the right digital resources for the home business can be critical. That is why we have compiled a list of 10 digital resources you need to know about.
Do you find yourself overwhelmed regularly with the many tasks you are juggling? Do you have trouble keeping track of tasks and projects? Here are 2 Great Project Management Apps for Struggling Solopreneurs
You Can Easily Manage All Customer Relationships from One Place.
With HubSpot CRM, you can easily manage all your customer relationships from one place. This means you can keep up with what’s going on with each contact, whether it’s a lead, a prospect, or a current client. You can even send automated emails to your contacts based on their actions within the system.
Do You Have A CRM System?
Is a CRM System (Customer Relations Management) a component of your small business? If not, should it be? If it is, how is it contributing to the growth of your business? I would love to hear how CRM is benefiting your business. Please use the comment box below to share. Or, you can contribute through our contact form. I acknowledge that there may be businesses that will not benefit from CRM significant enough to be worth the setup time and learning curve. But I also contend that in many instances, an assumption that CRM will not benefit may be unfounded.
Should You Have A CRM System?
To explore the benefit of a CRM app, Let’s use my business as an example. I am an affiliate marketer. SEO is a big deal to me and my business. I’m continually looking for ways to improve it to bring more traffic to my site. Given my efforts to improve SEO and my obsession with analytics, putting all my eggs in that basket is tempting. If I can grow my traffic to enough visitors, I will attain the financial return I’m after, so it would seem. If this is my entire strategy, I’m playing a numbers game. I’m betting that a certain percentage of those who come to my content will make a purchase. The more I increase the traffic; the higher my income will be. While this can be true, I’m overlooking many contributing factors that could increase the percentage of my return, better known as ROI.
I’m overlooking an important factor in why people come to my site. I need them to click on an affiliate link and make a purchase. But is that why they came to my site? No. It is unlikely that anyone will come to my website to buy something.
In most cases, they came for information. It is possible that while they are reading, they will see an ad for a product they were considering purchasing or that has an incredible price. So on impulse, they click on the link to check out the product and may make a purchase. That scenario has considerably decreased the percentage of a visitor making a purchase. So if I relied on a broad statistic that says that a certain percentage of those who visit a site make a purchase, I might discover that the percentage is much lower for my scenario.
(We independently select these products — if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission.)
What If I Could Change the Scenario?
So what if I could change that scenario? What if, for instance, I began to acquire an email list of those who read my blogs? And then, I used a CRM system to store and manage that list. And what if I keep track of the habits and behaviors of those on the list? Blogs they read and activity on the website? Now I have a means of building relationships with people who know what I offer. They are no longer strangers who happened by my website but followers or at least repeat users of my services. For these people, the scenario has changed. When they come to my website now, they are already open to taking advantage of what I offer. I have increased the ROI for those on my list. And the more I can grow that list, the greater my return will be.
Let me give a personal example of how this might work. A few months ago, I came across a reference to a blog written by Lisa Sicard, posted on her website, inspiretothrive.com. After reading her blog and exploring her website, I decided I was interested in her ideas and services and wanted her as a resource. So I subscribed to her email list. Now I receive her weekly newsletter with references to her blogs and other resources. When she recommends a product or an action that might help, I check it out because I consider her a competent resource. By signing up for her email list, I transitioned from a visitor to a follower, and when I read her blogs or go to her website, I am already receptive to what she might recommend.
Convinced that I need to pursue growing an email list, I will need help. I need a CRM system to help manage this effort.
HubSpot CRM
As a user of HubSpot CRM, I want to walk you through some of its features to acquaint you with ways the CRM can benefit your business. From the list of CRM systems below, you will notice that PCMag editors Gadjo Sevilla & Neil McAllister, in their article, “The Best CRM Software for 2022,” rated HubSpot as the “Best for Easy to Use CRM for SMBs.” They also gave it a 3.5 Good rating, which is not the highest rating provided for CRM choices for small businesses. So HubSpot may not be your pick. My purpose is to reveal some features, pointing out how they might benefit your business.
First, one of the reasons I chose HubSpot was the free features with no time limit on the free access. There are a few limitations on some of these free features, such as having HubSpot branding or no form or email automation. The free account allows 1,000 contacts and 2,000 emails per month. The startup business has the free tools it needs to grow and can phase into additional features as it is ready for them and more capable of paying.
As I move on to highlight some of the features in HubSpot, I want to emphasize that this is not a review of HubSpot. I do not intend to cover all segments of its features. This blog only introduces CRM software and how it can benefit your business. I will use HubSpot and its marketing features to outline a CRM marketing plan using an email list.
Introduction To A CRM System
Once I have set up my HubSpot free account, I have the choice of registering for tools in five different categories: Marketing, Sales, Service, Operations, and CMS. All are free. While I could sign up for tools in more than one of these hubs, I have only chosen Marketing.
I begin by importing a pre-existing contact list to get started with my marketing tools. I also have the option of manually creating new contacts. The importing process is simple. I exported a contact list I already had with another email service to a CSV file. I then imported the file into my HubSpot account. The free HubSpot account will allow me to store up to 1 million contacts in as many as five active lists and 1,000 static lists. The limit on emails sent each month is 2,000.
With contacts stored in my account, I will also connect my website to HubSpot through the HubSpot WordPress plugin. Through this connection, I can track the contacts’ activity on my website by email, phone calls, and chat. The HubSpot plugin connection allows me to establish a chat feature on my website for interaction with website visitors. From my dashboard, I can turn the chat feature on or off depending on my availability to respond. With these tools engaged and the ability to track user activity, I can begin to interact with my contacts based on their interests. In other words, I can build relationships with them. Once I start sending targeted emails and newsletters, I will have additional information to help develop those relationships.
Capturing New Leads
Now that I have access to a free marketing account and a list of contacts added to it, I am ready to begin adding new leads to my CRM. I will use the following tools to achieve that goal:
Landing Page Builder – I can create a landing page for a new promotion. For greater integration, I will use the HubSpot service to host it for free rather than including it along with my website. I could design a complete website with the CMS tools on HubSpot if I choose. I already have a website, so I will use only the landing page tools to channel results from my new promotion.
Forms – This tool will add a form to my landing page to capture new leads.
Ads – Using the ad tools, I can integrate with Facebook ads, creating and tracking an advertisement for my new promotion. Ad campaign activity will go into the contact records.
Marketing Email – Now, I am ready to send a marketing email or newsletter to target the various interests of both my new and existing leads. Tools for this are in my free marketing account.
Why Not Use Only An Email Marketing Service?
You may wonder why you need a CRM system if you already use an email marketing service such as MailChimp or Constant Contact. One of the strengths of HubSpot and other CRM systems are their integrations. HubSpot, for example, has integration with MailChimp, enabling you to continue using your account there while importing the activity of your email blasts to your CRM in HubSpot. When I am ready to send a marketing email or newsletter, if I choose, I can integrate with MailChimp or another service to send the newsletter. My CRM system will receive the contact activity from that mailing to provide insights on my contacts. This information will help me segment my contacts and inform me of their needs and interests.
It is not necessary, though, to use MailChimp because HubSpot has all that is necessary for the task of mailing. Whether using an integration or working within HubSpot, your move to a CRM system will transition you from merely using analytics to having a comprehensive view of your contacts.
Video Overview
For another perspective on using a CRM system for marketing, this video will give an overview of inbound marketing at HubSpot.
Taking The Plunge
Whether you’re ready to dip your toe in the CRM pool or take the plunge, here are some resources to help.
HubSpot
HubSpot is my choice and the system I have used to demonstrate the advantages of using a CRM system. If you want to check it out further, here is a link you can use for that purpose – HubSpot. The extensive array of free resources will help you get up and running before having any financial outlay. To be clear, as an affiliate, I may benefit if you choose HubSpot.
Choosing A CRM System
There are many options when choosing a CRM system. HubSpot is not the only option and may not be your best choice. As you browse through the list below, a good starting point is to match a system to the size and needs of your business. You will find systems designed for larger and smaller companies, along with other options.
This list is available from PCMag editors Gadjo Sevilla & Neil McAllister, in their article, “The Best CRM Software for 2022,” which reviewed 13 of the best CRM software. Here is their summary:
Zoho CRM 4.5 Outstanding | Best for Zoho Platform Customers
HubSpot CRM 3.5 Good | Best for Easy to Use CRM for SMBs
HubSpot CRM is a good choice for small businesses that want an easy-to-use system with many free features. But there are many CRM systems available, and the best one for your business will depend on the size of your company and your specific needs. Use the resources above to help choose the best CRM system for your business.
If you are already using a CRM, you might want to make a recommendation describing the benefits of your system that you like best. Please do so in the comments box below or through our contact form.
(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.)
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!
