Building a business online can be every bit as challenging as opening a new storefront. Thankfully, the internet is filled to the brim with useful tools and apps to help you grow your idea into a successful enterprise. However, you really only need a few key tools to make everything work in your favor.
The right tools are essential time and money savers for any business owner. Whether you need a more flexible host or a way to track employees, consider these outstanding options.
- Use Hostgator For Your Domain
It isn’t uncommon to hear about a hosting service taking down a website once it goes over its storage quota. This death sentence for online businesses becomes a reality for all too many who are just starting to stretch their legs. Hostgator expects your business to grow and gives you a set of valuable site building tools.
Switching over from your current host is a breeze with Hostgator’s exceptional customer service. They offer plans for small, medium, and larger sized online business but you can start small and upgrade at any time. You can even set up a business email through Google, sync with WordPress, and add plenty of interesting widgets.
- Dharma Merchant Services
No business is complete without the ability to accept payments. While many businesses are just starting to make good use of PayPal, those expecting to grow need something easier to manage. The merchant card services provided by Dharma Merchant Services utilize the safest and most effective software on the market for processing transactions.
It’s easy to use and the customer service is out of this world. Their business model eliminates confusing language and hidden fees in favor of a very straightforward approach. Plus, expanding online or to a storefront is made simple with a variety of options that cater to any business.
- Use Hootsuite For Social Media
It’s no secret that social media marketing is the most effective way to grow any business, but keeping track of multiple accounts across multiple platforms can be a daunting task. Simplify your life with Hootsuit.
You can manage all of your social media accounts, set up columns for keyword searches, and track mentions of your page’s name to make responding simple. You can even sort out all of your direct messages. There is a free plan as well as pro account to choose from.
- Clockspot
Online businesses often have remote employees, which can make managing their paid time difficult. Aside from simplifying your payroll and timesheets to only a few minutes long process, Clockspot also allows you to track your employees with GPS, voice, and device recognition.
You can see who is working and who isn’t via webcam, and make sure your employees are actually working when they say they are. Their support staff makes adapting to the software an effortless process but it shouldn’t be too hard to pick up on on your own since Clockspot is incredibly easy to use.
- MailChimp
Newsletters are one of the most effective marketing tools available, and have been for quite some time. MailChimp makes creating unique emails for your sign-up list fun and easy but the best part is that it remains free until your subscriber list increases past the threshold, which is huge.
Everything can be set up automatically from weekly newsletters to welcome emails, and the level of customization is incredible. All it takes is a little typing, dragging and dropping what pictures you want included, and a few clicks of the mouse to set up full fleshed emails complete with social media buttons and more.
