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The Top 17 Internet Business Tools You Should Be Using

Naeem

Want to run a successful online business but not sure which internet business tools are the best to use? Discover the same resources that I and many successful online entrepreneurs use to run their businesses. And the best part is, most of them are absolutely free!

1. Email

The best free email service is Gmail by Google. You can set up a free account quickly and easily and even forward emails from your Gmail account to another email account.

Because of the amount of spam email that plagues the internet, it is best to offer a Gmail email account when you subscribe to a service. That way you won't clog up the email space provided by your internet service provider.

2. Social Networking Sites

There are 2 main social sites that I use to network and communicate with people:

Facebook

Twitter

Both these sites are hot. Set up a free account right now and start inviting your friends, colleagues, etc to join you. You can end up developing networks of thousands of people and keep them up to date with the click of a button. Best of all, its free.

3. Roboform

This handy little password tool saves you heaps of time. There is a free version (holds up to about 10 passwords) and a paid version (unlimited passwords). It installs on your PC and creates a new toolbar on your web browser.

Whenever you go to a site that you need to enter a username and password, Roboform will automatically enter the details for you with the click of a button! I couldn't imagine life without it.

4. Domain Name Registration

I use Namecheap to register my domain names. As the name suggests, the prices are competitive. Also, they have an easy-to-use domain management interface.

5. Web Hosting

While Namecheap do offer web hosting services, instead I use Kiosk.ws.

The main reason I use Kiosk is their understanding of internet marketing businesses. If I was to have a few complaints about spam, etc, Kiosk won't shut down my domain and seize possession of it - as other hosting companies have done and will do.

Another reason I choose Kiosk is their excellent support services. I live in Australia and my hours are after-hours in North America but I know I can get live 24 hour support with Kiosk - and I have.

Also, they have a generous referral compensation program which you can use to your benefit as you recommend them to your friends and associates.

6. FTP Software

Once you have your own domain and a hosting account set up, you will need FTP software to easily upload/download content for your website.

I use Filezilla, a free open source solution that is the most widely-used FTP software available today.

Note: Make sure you download the "client" version.

7. Content Management System (CMS)

Wordpress is the best (and it's totally free) content management system for your website. Wordpress is easy to install and is very user-friendly.

Wordpress makes it easy for you to write and maintain content for your website. Also, it is extremely search engine friendly which means that you'll have greater presence in Google and Yahoo! and, therefore, more free visitors to your site!

You can install Wordpress from within Cpanel (in your web hosting account) under the "Fantastico Deluxe" section; this is the easiest way to install Wordpress, or you can download it directly from Wordpress.org and follow their setup instructions.

8. Webpage Design (HTML Editor)

Because I own Microsoft Office I use FrontPage for my basic webpage designs, such as landing pages. There is a free, widely-used alternative called Nvu. Nvu allows you to create and edit your own web pages.

You don't need any programming skills so don't be concerned if you're totally new to this.

9. Autoresponder

If you want to build a subscriber list for a newsletter or otherwise, I highly recommend AWeber.

AWeber is easy to use, highly customizable, and has a high delivery rate. It is considered the industry standard and is used by most of the biggest players in internet marketing.

Tech support is superb. My requests have always been responded to within 24 hours and they even have a live support chat feature.

10. Keyword Tools

Keyword research is so important to building an online business. There are 3 main keyword tools that I use:

i) Google Keywords Tool

This is an awesome, free tool provided by those who know keywords best; Google. With this tool you can find out how many people are searching a particular keyword and how competitive a keyword is with advertisers. The Google Keyword Tool is the best keyword tool.

ii) Keyword Elite

Great tool if you want to easily generate keywords lists of hundreds or thousands of keywords (the Google Keyword Tool will only give you back a maximum of 150 results per search).

With one click of a button, Keyword Elite will search Google, Yahoo, Ask, FreeKeywords, Meta Tags, misspelled words, Wordtracker and Keyword Discovery.

Also, you can easily filter keywords based on positive or negative keywords.

iii) Keyword Spy

Keyword Spy is a weapon that I've only recently discovered and added to my arsenal. With Keyword Spy you can search any website or affiliate offer and find out exactly who is promoting it and what the keywords are they are bidding on. Very powerful tool.

11. Payment Processors

Clickbank makes payment processing easy if you have a digital product you want to sell.

Clickbank take care of everything; they handle credit card payments and also refunds. Also, they handle affiliate commissions.

To set up a merchant account with Clickbank, sign up as a vendor.

PayPal is a great free alternative for payment processing.

12. Office Software

For my word processing, spreadsheets and databases I use Microsoft Office mainly but there are a couple of free solutions that are just as good:

i) Open Office

ii) Google Docs

Open Office works just like Microsoft Office and is even compatible with it. You can exchange and modify documents with other Microsoft Office users.

Google Docs is awesome. You can use an online word processor, spreadsheet and calendar just like you would use Microsoft Office. The one major advantage with Google Docs is that you can access the program and all your documents from anywhere in the world as long as you have an internet connection. Also, you can assign anyone permissions to view and/or modify one, any or all of your documents!

13. PDF Creator

If you create reports, such as this one, you will need to have a PDF printer to convert your word documents to PDFs. There is a free one that I use called PDF995.

There are a few free PDF converters out there but I like PDF995 because you can download free add-ons that allow you to create customized hyperlinks within your PDF document.

14. Paint Program

Editing images can be a big part of creating an online presence. An excellent free image editing program is called Paint.NET.

15. Screen Capture

Capturing screenshots is a great resource, especially when you are preparing a how-to guide. ScreenHunter is a free program that is easy to install and use.

16. Video Creation

Creating videos is a must these days. We all know how to create videos with our video cameras but creating screen recording videos is extremely useful.

The most widely-used screen recording video software is Camtasia Studio. It is not cheap but it is a great product. I have a copy and used it to create a video ecourse and other projects.

There is a free alternative but I haven't used it myself so I can't comment from personal experience. It is called CamStudio and it comes highly recommended by those that do use it.

Creating screen recordings is a great way to teach others how to do something. You can then use that knowledge to drive traffic to your site by posting your videos online. Which brings us to the next resource I use...

17. Video Hosting

The most popular video hosting service on the net today is YouTube. YouTube membership is free and it also costs you nothing to upload as many videos as you want. The only limitation is that the video length can be no more than 10 minutes (unless you are willing to pay for a different plan).

YouTube is a great source of free traffic. Videos are so popular and they will only continue to attract more and more visitors in the years to come.

Even better than hosting your video just on YouTube is to get it on 20+ sites, all with the push of one button... how do you do this? With an awesome free service called TubeMogul.

John Lagoudakis has been earning a full-time income online since January 2008 and is passionate about helping others to do the same.

Learn how to make a full-time income online within just 6 months... sign up for John's free report and video ecourse at http://MakeMoneyOnlineWithJohn.com

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