Okay, I admit it, the hidden geek inside me experiences pure joy at the discovery of a new online tool or app with the potential to simplify and enhance my business processes. Here are five of my recent favorites:
BUFFERAPP
This is a scaled back version of Hootsuite for those who simply want the ease of scheduling posts for several social media networks along with straightforward analytics without all the bells and whistles. Several plugins allow you to post a link to virtually any web page from your laptop, pc, mac or mobile phone. It’s extremely user friendly and has the potential to dramatically increase your social media presence without all the hassle. www.bufferapp.com
SHORT STACK
Create custom Facebook tabs and forms in a snap! This brilliant little service also provides the ability to create and manage contests right on your page to increase fan interaction. You can create unique content visible only to your fans and even create a video tab that updates from YouTube or Vimeo automatically! You’ll be amazed at the flexibility this tool provides! www.shortstack.com
NUTSHELL MAIL
This little known tool by Constant Contact provides consolidated reporting on all of your social media accounts in one concise daily email, saving you time and increasing the efficiency of your marketing efforts. It presently includes updates for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Yelp, FourSquare and City Search. Hopes are that they will include Google+ and Pinterest soon as well. www.nutshellmail.com
FREE DIGITAL PHOTOS
Whether you’re searching for an image to accompany your latest blog post or need to enhance your website with several new descriptive photos, this site will not disappoint. There are hundreds of images in a wide variety of categories Every image is free, with an option to buy high resolution images at very reasonable prices. No registration is necessary and all that’s required is to include a contributor credit on the page where the image will appear. www.freedigitalphotos.net
FACEBOOK DEBUGGER
Have you ever posted a link to your facebook status, and even though the web page has multiple images, not photo appears with the link? Here’s a solution that couldn’t be simpler. Copy and paste the url into the box and it magically (or so it seems) repairs the image problem so you can once again post a beautifully graphic link to your facebook status. https://developers.facebook.com/tools/debug
Online marketing is invaluable for any small business today. But managing several different accounts can be hugely time consuming. Luckily, there are a wide variety of free tools like those listed above to help track and simplify the process. Use the comments below to let me know if you’ve used these tools and to suggest others that you use for your business as well.
BUFFERAPP
This is a scaled back version of Hootsuite for those who simply want the ease of scheduling posts for several social media networks along with straightforward analytics without all the bells and whistles. Several plugins allow you to post a link to virtually any web page from your laptop, pc, mac or mobile phone. It’s extremely user friendly and has the potential to dramatically increase your social media presence without all the hassle. www.bufferapp.com
SHORT STACK
Create custom Facebook tabs and forms in a snap! This brilliant little service also provides the ability to create and manage contests right on your page to increase fan interaction. You can create unique content visible only to your fans and even create a video tab that updates from YouTube or Vimeo automatically! You’ll be amazed at the flexibility this tool provides! www.shortstack.com
NUTSHELL MAIL
This little known tool by Constant Contact provides consolidated reporting on all of your social media accounts in one concise daily email, saving you time and increasing the efficiency of your marketing efforts. It presently includes updates for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Yelp, FourSquare and City Search. Hopes are that they will include Google+ and Pinterest soon as well. www.nutshellmail.com
FREE DIGITAL PHOTOS
Whether you’re searching for an image to accompany your latest blog post or need to enhance your website with several new descriptive photos, this site will not disappoint. There are hundreds of images in a wide variety of categories Every image is free, with an option to buy high resolution images at very reasonable prices. No registration is necessary and all that’s required is to include a contributor credit on the page where the image will appear. www.freedigitalphotos.net
FACEBOOK DEBUGGER
Have you ever posted a link to your facebook status, and even though the web page has multiple images, not photo appears with the link? Here’s a solution that couldn’t be simpler. Copy and paste the url into the box and it magically (or so it seems) repairs the image problem so you can once again post a beautifully graphic link to your facebook status. https://developers.facebook.com/tools/debug
Online marketing is invaluable for any small business today. But managing several different accounts can be hugely time consuming. Luckily, there are a wide variety of free tools like those listed above to help track and simplify the process. Use the comments below to let me know if you’ve used these tools and to suggest others that you use for your business as well.