In this multi-part series, I'm going to cover various applications that I've personally used and can recommend to anyone starting a web-based business.
For those of you just reading for this site for the first time, take note that Web Business Freedom has been online since early September 2008. So it's a mere babe in the woods compared to many sites. And right now, the site is primarily a blog used to share information as I establish an online presence and credibility (both for you, kind reader, as well as the soul-less bots from Google and other machines that creep and crawl through the site regularly, finding nothing of substance in a rambling sentence like this).
The point is, I'm not using any software for e-commerce or other really advanced activities (yet). Nevertheless, I'm using some smart stuff behind the scenes. Here is the first round of my must-have apps:
Wordpress
I'm already written extensively about how to set up a website using Wordpress. Wordpress is the bedrock software for this site and hundreds of thousands of other web startups. It is open source goodness at its best, and it only going to get better with their next big release (coming soon!).
Read the previous posts (Part 1 and Part 2) to decide which version of Wordpress is right for you, Wordpress.com or Wordpress.org.
Google Apps
Cost: $50 per user account per year
Most people obviously know Google as the Big Kahuna of search, as well as a bunch of other amazing free software. But did you know you can get your own customized company email address, calendar and more from Google?
With Google Apps, you will gain enterprise-level functionality for your domain right off the bat, for free (ad-supported) or for the extremely affordable price of $50 per user account per year. See the comparison between the free and paid Google Apps versions.
At first glance, this might look like a trivial suite of services. But consider the combined power of the applications Google offers. It's a tremendous value for startups, not to mention that all the information is readily available wherever you can get on the Internet.
The setup is a fairly simple process. After registering the Web Business Freedom URL (see previous article on registering a domain name, I headed over to Google Apps and signed up for the Premium Edition. It includes a 99.9% uptime guarantee for my Gmail account, 25 GB of email storage, a variety of integration APIs (which I haven't used), and telephone support for critical issues (also haven't used this, as the service has worked as advertised).
If you have a domain already, you're a step ahead; if not, Google can help register one for you, although I can't vouch for how this works.
Once the plumbing is in place, you get your own company start page on Google, where you (or others using your domain) can preview your calendar and emails. You can also customize the page with news, weather and other widgets. Personally, I don't use this start page, opting to go straight into my Web Business Freedom Gmail account.
Your own branded Gmail alone is well worth the price of admission to Google Apps. It's just like the incredible personal Gmail account you might already have, but with your email address at your domain name instead of @gmail.com. It comes with the plenty of storage, the ability to search all your emails instantaneously, and built-in instant messaging with your contacts.
Gmail also integrates with Google Calendar, which you can use to set up both personal and business calendars that you selectively share with co-workers, friends, vendors and others. Again, this is a "company" version of your calendar when you use Google Apps. I also consider Google Calendar an essential application to keep track of all your commitments and get things done. I even set up a separate "calendar" to log calls to make (with notes added for completed calls). That way, both appointments and calls are both accessible with Google Calendar.
Finally, you get Google Docs and Spreadsheets. You can use Docs and Spreadsheets much like an online version of Microsoft Office. Create or import documents, edit them in your browser and share with others to collaborate in real time.
Google Docs is a real boon to keeping lots of information online and being able to share and edit files with others. Along with mindmaps I use in Mindmeister, I spend a great deal of time keeping track of the business in Google Docs.
FreshBooks
Cost: $14 per month (that's for the plan I'm using, aka "Shuttle Bus")
Every real business has to keep tabs on where the money's coming from, and where it's going. At this early point in my new business life, I just wasn't ready to commit the time to install and learn QuickBooks, which is certainly a great product for small businesses and widely used by CPAs, including mine. However, it's pricey and frankly a little complicated in my opinion. (And the same issues apply to their web-based version, which I've heard is not as good as the desktop version.)
So instead of QuickBooks, I went with a more user-friendly solution, the web-based software FreshBooks. It allows me to quickly set up clients and jobs, enter time and bill clients by email. There are also more advanced options to take payments online.
I've found the site to be pretty easy to use (especially compared to my experience with Quickbooks in the past), with just a few quirky things. I especially like how easy it is to send professional looking invoices by email.
The main dilemma at this point is exporting the right information out of FreshBooks for my accountant (who will of course import it into QuickBooks!). There are ways to do it, but not quite as intuitive as I'd hoped they would be. Still, all in all, it's a simple, easy and cost-effective solution.
GoBootstrap
Cost: Currently free (the site is in Beta), though they "do plan to charge for certain features in the future."
I was also lucky to have found another solution for logging expenses, just prior to signing up for Freshbooks, called GoBootstrap. Not only is it free (for now), the even better news is that it integrates directly with Freshbooks. With GoBootstrap, you simply enter any expenses you incur and assign them to the appropriate IRS tax category. GoBootstrap does a great job of calculating your estimated quarterly tax payments. And since it now connects to Freshbooks, the calculation includes income along with the expenses.
That's it for this first round of vital apps I use. Stay tuned for more in part two.
If you'd like to suggest any essential applications for web-based companies, feel free to leave a comment below.
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/flattop341
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