Cool Tools

Check out these wonders of our age - free and low-cost tools for doing the work we do. Many that are free also offer upgraded services for small fees.

Our innovation hub members learn about many more of these tools.

99Designs - Inexpensive graphic design help with logos, brochures and other custom artwork

Amazon Web Services - Everything from cloud backups to website maintenance and security tools

AngelList - Free matchmaking to find angel investors and employees

Box - Free file-sharing and cloud storage service

Canva - Professional-level tools for creating your own graphic design projects

Cool Tools - Free podcast at iTunes about guests' favorite business tools

Doodle - Free online scheduler for meetings with colleagues

DropBox - Securely share your large files with a list of colleagues you control via the cloud

Evernote - Free organizer of your ideas and information

Expensify - Create free expense reports

Fiverr - Marketplace for finding freelance help

Flickr - Free stock photos

FreeConferenceCall.com - Free means of having a small-group conference call everyone dials into at an appointed time

FreeImages - Free stock photos

Fundera - One-stop marketplace for business loans

Gmail - Free email addresses

GoDaddy - Inexpensive website domain names and platform to build and host a site

Google Alerts - Email-delivered notifications about any phrases you choose any time they appear on a Google-indexed webpage

Google Analytics - Free means to measure and track your webpages' traffic

Google Docs - Freely create and edit documents online

Google Drive - Free cloud storage of documents and file sharing with colleagues

Google Hangouts - Free digital platform for small group meet-ups

HARO (Help a Reporter Out) - Daily email lists of story ideas large and small media outlets are seeking experts to interview for. A terrific source of free PR opportunities no matter what your topic of expertise

Hatch Apps - For a tiny fraction of a developer’s cost, create apps for phones and laptops

Hootsuite - Free, easy-to-use dashboard for tracking your social media activity

Legal Zoom - Inexpensive legal forms and advice from American attorneys

LinkedIn - Free means of tracking friends and colleagues, finding experts and recruiting possible employees

MailChimp - Free and easy email newsletters to go out to your list of followers

PalPal - Inexpensive, quick and simple means of accepting and sending payment worldwide

Pixabay - Free stock photos

Prezi - Inexpensive slide deck creation for beautiful, interactive presentations

Skype - Free international phone calls via laptop or tablet with or without video; also small group phone calls

Slack - Inexpensive platform for team conversations and documents across devices

SlideShare - Free sharing of expertise via slideshows and presentations

SurveyGizmo - Inexpensive professional online surveys

SurveyMonkey - Free webpage surveys to collect opinions or info

Trademarkia - Site for searching registered logos, names and slogans of other businesses and registering trademarks

Unroll.me - A free app to get off email lists quickly and with a single stroke

Unsplash - Free stock photos

UpWork - Find the perfect freelance help in 100 fields

WhenIWork - Free tracker of shift worker availability and broadcasts schedule changes among the team

Wikipedia - Free online resource about millions of topics

Wix.com - Inexpensive website development platform and tools for professional-looking sites (no coding required)

WordPress websites - Easily editable good-looking webpages and blogs (as easy as writing an email) supported by a library of thousands of plugins that add various functionalities as well as thousands of free and low-cost webpage templates

YouCanBook.me - Free, quick and easy online client scheduling for bill-per-hour services

Zoom - Free video and web conferencing platform