Don’t do a Hoover!
There is a plethora of software available for businesses for all manner of things. Often, these software programs are expensive, but essential, nonetheless.
However, you may find that you need a quick fix solution for using a program as you only need once. Or maybe you just like to keep your pennies in your pocket. Either way; you’ll be surprised at the amount of free alternatives that can be found for your business.
We have compiled together our favourite free essential programs that can be downloaded straight onto your computer or used online. Take a look and have a go.
*CRM.
This is an essential function for almost every business, as it’s a way to store your contacts in an easy-to-reach and secure format as well as leads. Although you are best to buy or pay monthly for CRM to utilise all the features that are available out there, there are free alternatives that you can get if you don’t require all the bells and whistles.
Insightly is an online CRM tool. They offer their system free for up to 3 users. On this program, you can also hold up to 2,500 records, make use of 200 megabytes of storage and have ten custom fields. However, one of the best things about this particular program is that there’s full product support for free! As with almost any free CRM tool, there are paid-for upgrades available for when the free version isn’t enough.
Other examples of free CRM that you can try out are FreeCRM, Really Simple Systems, Suite CRM and Capsule CRM. Do some research to find the best solution for your business; it’ll pay off.
*Blogging.
It is becoming a more and more essential part of your SEO as search engines continue to look for organic growth, interest and activity. Without a blog, there is often no activity or changes taking place on business website. Blogging, from a basic view-point, is often a way to value yourself above your competitors. By giving away useful information for free, you are demonstrating that the value of your paid-for services is much higher than that of others.
WordPress is a great free tool that you can use to make blogs. There are hundreds of other plugins that you can use with your WordPress blog, too.
*Document creating.
The obvious option for office-type programs comes from Microsoft. They have built and developed their programs to perfectly suit businesses over the years and are relied on by most businesses. However, with a relatively large price tag, it’s not always the best option for businesses if money is tight.
Open Office is a set of programs that operate and serve a purpose very similar to Microsoft. Here, you can word-process, create spreadsheets and perform basic functions that you’re able to on Microsoft Office programs. Although the functions are very basic and there are more features to take advantage of through Microsoft Office, free alternatives will have no problem performing to your basic needs.
Other free office-type programs available include Office Libre, Free Office, and Kingston Office Free.
You may find that some programs suit you more than others based on your operating system, as well as your needs for document-creating. Online document-generating software is also becoming more popular as it allows a cloud-type use. You can update your documents from anywhere at any time as long as you have access to the internet. This type of document-generation could be a better idea for you if you work from a number of devices to edit one document.
*Project Management.
This is also a necessity for businesses especially when there is a range of employees that operate in different buildings on a particular project. There are different project management programs that you can purchase that will do the job perfectly.
However, if you’re looking to save the pennies, then there are free alternatives that are available and can do the job, too. Droptask is an online project management tool that can display your projects in a range of easy-to-understand layouts. There are a range of free project management tools that are used widely in the business world. One of the most popular ones is Freedcamp. Go and check them out.
Although we would suggest, for best results, paying for the programs that you use in order to get the most out of them that you can; there is a sea of easy, useful and free programs out there that are worth a look at if you operate on a small scale or would like to try a program out before buying it. Go and have a look for yourself.
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