My 5 favourite free tech tools

I love to try out new tech tools. In fact, I do it so much, some of my friends make fun of me when I tell them I’ve discovered yet another one!

Most of the ones I try, I don’t find much use for.  But, every year, I do stumble across a few that are keepers.

So in today’s article, I want to share 5 of my favourites with you. These are tools that I use regularly— ones that have made a positive difference in my business. They may save me time, help me do something better, or help me do something I wasn’t able to before.

Calendly

·         What it is: An online tool that lets your clients book appointments with you

This is a great little tool that I use on a daily basis. It’s how my clients (and prospects and business associates) book appointments with me.

All they have to do is visit my Calendly page, pick a time, enter their name and phone number, click a button, and they’re booked.

From my end, what I see is a calendar with appointments filled in. I just have to call the client at the time indicated in my calendar.

I have found this tool to be a very easy way for clients to schedule time with me, and I don’t need an admin assistant, a VA (virtual assistant) or any other help…I don’t even have to enter the data myself!

It’s a great time saver, and a great way to organize my appointments.

·         Ease of use and learning curve:  very easy to learn and use

Tiny jpg/Tiny url

·         What it is: An online tool that shrinks an image’s file size (how many KBs the file is)

This is a graphic design tool that, in all honesty, is a must. That’s because image file size has a direct impact on how fast (or slow) a website loads. And when people encounter a website that’s slow to load, they usually leave.

And that’s not what you want for your own website. Instead, you want it to load quickly to increase the chances a visitor will stick around long enough to actually read what you have put there.

Now, just to be clear, we are talking about the image’s file size, not its dimensions. An image may take up 4" x 5" on your computer screen, but those are the dimensions (usually measured in pixels, e.g. 1044 x 784). On the other hand, the amount of storage space the file takes up is the file size, and that’s what we’re talking about here.

In order to ensure your website loads quickly, you want each image file to be no larger than 100 KB.
But you can’t just shrink the dimensions to achieve this, because the image quality will suffer. Instead, you want to do what is called compress the file. That’s a process whereby small dots of color are removed throughout the image, in places where the eye cannot detect that they are missing. The end result looks the same to you and me, but the file size is much smaller.

TinyJPG and TinyPNG are two versions of the same tool. One compresses jpg files, the other compresses png files. All you have to do is upload your image, wait a few seconds while it resizes, and then download the end result.

·         Ease of use and learning curve:        very easy to learn and use

Mural

·         What it is: A web-based collaborative whiteboard

This is a new tool I discovered this year. It’s an online whiteboard that allows real-time collaboration and brainstorming. It’s meant for online meetings, and allows any attendee to write a comment, draw an image, or ad a sticky note. Mural comes loaded up with dozens of basic templates that you can adjust to your own needs.

I use this tool for a number of different services that have group collaboration and facilitation components. Recently I conducted a series of virtual brainstorming sessions with about 15 participants and Mural allowed us to quickly collect and categorize all the input, saving me hours of documentation when compared to conducting an in-person (IRL) session.

·         Ease of use and learning curve: fairly intuitive, requires some playing around to get full appreciation for what it can do and how to use it effectively

Screencast-o-matic

·         What it is:         A computer screen recorder

If you have to make any kind of video for your business, then I suggest you check this tool out. It allows you to film whatever happens on your computer screen. I use it all the time to record my PowerPoint presentations. You can also use it to record computer how-to videos (e.g. how to do something in Word, or Excel.)

When you are ready to start, all you have to do is click the record button. When you are done, you click the stop button, then save the video. Videos are saved in MP4 format, which is the format many video editor programs use, so it’s easy to import your video into one of those software programs if you want to edit it afterward.

·         Ease of use: very easy to learn and use

JotForm

·         What it is:         A tool that allows you to create online forms that people can fill out.  

This is another new tool that I discovered this year, and I love it. It’s more complex than the other four tools I mention in today’s article, but that’s because it does several things.

First, it allows you to create an online form for clients or potential clients to complete. This could be a survey, questionnaire, self-assessment, etc. Second, it automatically sends out the answers or feedback to anyone who completes the form. Third, it records everyone’s answers and their email in a spreadsheet which you can download.

I have used this software to create lead magnets (freebies that I give away in exchange for the user’s email address). But you can also use it to give value to your existing clients, or collect information, such as which new products they may be interested in.

This tool does have a learning curve, but once you’ve got the basics down, you can do some pretty sophisticated things with it.

·         Ease of use and learning curve:        somewhat difficult to learn, somewhat easy to use once you’ve mastered it.

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So those are my current 5 favourite and free tech tools. Give them a try—one of them might end up being your own new favourite!