28 Free Marketing Tools I Couldn’t Live Without - Part I
January 10th, 2008If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. You can also sign up for my extremely popular FREE newsletter by clicking HERE. Thanks for visiting!
One of the most popular questions that was put to me in the Ask Me a Question post was ‘what tools do you use each and ever day to run your business?’
I actually get asked this question a lot over at Standing Start Profits too, and so I thought it would be a nice idea to share with you the 28 top free marketing tools that I use daily to help me make money online.
Below you’ll find a list of internet marketing tools that can be used to take your business forward, and I personally use every tool weekly. In fact, my $20,000 month simply wouldn’t have been possible without the tools listed below.
And the best part of all is that each and every tool is 100% FREE too!
If you’re not currently using RSS to keep up to date with the best content on the web, then you really need to start today. Almost all blogs publish an RSS feed, and that means that if you use an RSS feed reader, you can have the content of that site delivered to you as soon as it happens.
You’ll never have to go looking for your favourite sites again, and once you start subscribing to your preferred RSS feeds, you’ll discover that you save a ton of time which you can now use to grow your business in other ways.
There are lots of different RSS readers out there, but my personal favourite by far is Google Reader which you can use by clicking here. It’s completely free, very easy to use, and it will save you loads of time.
Once you’ve signed up, get started by subscribing to my blog feed by clicking the subscribe in a reader link to the right of this post as shown below.
You’ll then be asked which reader you’d like to receive this content in, and here you should click Google reader. Once you’re subscribed you’ll have all my future blog posts delivered into your reader directly, meaning you’ll never miss a useful post again!
Do this now as I jave plenty of top notch free content coming over the next few weeks and I’d hate for you to miss even a drop of it!
If you want to earn more, and work less, then you really need to download Roboform today. Out of all of the different marketing tools that I’ve used, this one saves me the most time by far.
If you’re anything like me then you’ll have dozens of usernames and passwords for loads of different sites. I have so many passwords that remembering them would be impossible, so I once tried saving them in a spreadsheet, but found that really didn’t save me much time at all.
Roboform makes the whole process much easier, as it saves all of your different login details inside a toolbar that sits at the top of your browser. To visit any site you just select it from the drop down menu and then Roboform takes you to the relevant page and logs you in.
This is a real timesaver, and if you have more than a couple of different logins then I’d urge you to download this today by clicking here.
If you want more traffic (and don’t we all), then you need to download the Stumbleupon Toolbar today. As you surf the net you simply hit a little thumbs up icon on the toolbar, and this then gets added to your profile as a site that you like.
Each stumble brings a nice little burst of traffic to any site, but the real beauty happens when you build a network of friends and others start stumbling your sites on a regular basis.
Like all the social networking sites, the traffic isn’t of a brilliant quality, but if you’re going to use one social networking site to drive traffic then make it Stumbleupon.
I previously used a secret pen name when using Stumbleupon, but have recently discovered the power of using my real name to drive traffic by participating more.
You can join for free by clicking here, and then make sure you add me as a contact by clicking here. I like to send lots of stumbles to my contacts, provided you produce nice posts, so make sure you add me right after you’ve joined.
And if you’re looking for a page to stumble to get you started then I think this article would be as good a choice as any. 
Zamzar is a fantastic free online tool that allows you to convert files from one format to another, without the need to download bulky software.
It supports a huge variety of different formats, and its perfect for those times when you need to convert something to a PDF fast, or when you need to turn a gif into a jpeg.
They have upgrade options available but I’ve always been more than happy with their free service.
Good Keywords is a cool little downloadable program that helps you with your keyword research. It has loads of features, and is pretty fast at what it does too.
The only problem is that it’s based on slightly out of date information, but it’s still a fantastic starting point for your online keyword research.
Google Alerts is another fantastic timesaver that is completely free, and which really helps me save lots of time during the day. You simply tell Google what keyword you’d like to monitor, and then when that keyword appears in Google, you get a nice little email telling you all about it.
This saves you having to spend time looking for new content on different topics, and instead you can let Google notify you as soon as anything relevant hits the net.
Google Alerts is a potent marketing tool too, and let me give you an example of you might use it to drive more traffic to your sites. This blog post is on free marketing tools, and so I might set up an alert to notify me whenever anything about marketing tools is discussed online.
Let’s say there was a discussion in an online forum about which were the best marketing tools to use. I would get an email alerting me to this, and if I wanted I could join the conversation and tell them about this post!
I’d be careful not to spam of course, but I think you get the idea about how this powerful tool can be used to get your business message out there into cyberspace.
Social bookmarking is huge right now, and it’s a brilliant way to drive a ton of traffic for free. If you’re not currently using social bookmarking as a way of driving traffic to your sites, then start today and enjoy the traffic that it sends you.
One of the problems with bookmarking is that the whole process of submitting your site across multiple different services is time consuming and tedious, but this is a problem that Onlywire fixes for you.
It’s a 100% free service which allows you to bookmark your sites aross loads of different services with one quick and easy click. Getting setup is a bit of a pain as you have to first register with lots of different services, but once you’re up and running you can bookmark each site you like on lots of different services with just one click of the nice shiny button on your toolbar.
If you want backlinks and traffic then you need to start using this free tool today!
Go and give it a shot now, and you’ll be surprised by how simple the service is to use. And if you want to practice bookmarking some different pages then don’t be afraid of showing this blog some traffic love too.
And that’s pretty much it!
Above you can see 7 of the best free tools that I use to help me run my business, and hopefully they can help you save time and grow your business too.
Part II will be coming tomorrow so make sure that you tune in for the next 7 free marketing tools that have helped me quit my job and become a full time marketer in less than six months.
I promise it will be worth it!
Did you enjoy the post? Have anything to add? Any free tools you’d like to suggest?
Either way, I’d love to hear from you so post your thought in the comments below…
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By Joe Lavery on Jan 10, 2008 | Reply
Hey Lee,
I like your content.
It’s funny… you’d be surprised how many of I my new customers don’t know about Robo Form.
It’s one of the first things I teach people is to focus and save time with roboform and using the windows media player’s “Play Speed Settings” to speed listen to marketing audios.
It’s insane - I wouldn’t survive without Roboform - I’m way too ADD if you know what I mean.
Anyway…
Take it easy.
Joe
By Oliver Antosch on Jan 10, 2008 | Reply
Funny you posted this. I just recently started to use the Google RSS Reader and I think its fantastic. For managing passwords I use “Any Password Pro”. By the way do you have a post about which webhost(s) you use? I’m a bit tired of my old one. At the moment I’m testing Kiosk.ws
By Deji on Jan 10, 2008 | Reply
Hi Lee,nice and informative post you’ve got here.Been an internt marketer myself,I use most of the tools you’ve listed above.I’ll like to know the next 7 you’ll be posting.To Oliver,I recommend you use third sphere hosting.You can check the out at www.thirdsphere.com or www.thirdspherehosting.com.Cheers.
By Mike on Jan 10, 2008 | Reply
I always enjoy and learn from your info Lee.
I am a newbie and still do Not understand all that I should about Blogs and how they work.
This RSS thing seems to be the way to go and the assortment of services are exploding.
I am not sure how it works on both the Blog end and on my end receiving yet, but am learning.
Keep up the great work.
Mike
By Tom Parker on Jan 10, 2008 | Reply
Hi Lee,
Great post. I’ve known about Social Bookmarking for a while but only recently actually decided to check it out and I’ve got to agree with everything you say. It is quite tedious but it is free and does bring the traffic.
I just have one question regarding Good Keywords. I’ve been using it for a few months now but in the last month or two everytime I’ve conducted a search “Lookup Failed” has appeared. Because of this I’ve started to use http://www.selfseo.com/keyword_suggestion_tool.php, another free keyword suggestion tool. Have you (or anyone else) experienced similar problems? If so does anyone know of any reasons why this might be happening?
Tom
By Keith on Jan 10, 2008 | Reply
Lee,
I have to tell you this; You Blow me Away!!! Over deliver doesn’t even come close… Now don’t get me wrong I am not complaining and I’m surely not trying to get you to change your ways (I’m not a IM Guru, YET)
I just want to say thank you.
I have just begun my journey into IM in the last 2 or 3 months, I get a number of newsletters and offers every day some are good and some are going to be unsubscribed. Yours are great! You can take the unsubscribe script off mine.
Oh and BTW keep sending the offers, I don’t act on all but the towers have made a few bucks from me..
Thanks again and keep up the good work!
Keith
By Franck Silvestre on Jan 10, 2008 | Reply
Great resources Lee, I didn’t know about ZamZar. This is really great, because I have a sotware to resize images, but unfortunately, it only accepts jpg pictures.
With ZamZar it’s not a problem anymore.
I signed up to Google Alert recently, and it’s great. I know where my articles are published and a lot of other stuff. I used it to get alert about me… Hmm a little bit weird.
By Michaela Cernescu on Jan 11, 2008 | Reply
Thanks a lot Lee. You are informative and easy to read and follow. From the 7 tools I use only 3, but I’ll use soon the rest of it.
Keep up the good work
Regards
Michey
By Al Nelson on Jan 11, 2008 | Reply
Thank you once again, ole’ Mentor.
Between you and everyone at the Standing Start Profits forum….I can not and will not fail to succeed..
Thanks again Lee,
Al PaPaGrizz Nelson
By Lee McIntyre on Jan 11, 2008 | Reply
Hi Joe
I’ve never before heard that tip about speed listening! Are you serious? I can’t decide if you’re pulling my leg or not, but if you’re serious then it’s a great tip!
Hi Oliver
I’m not overly thrilled with the hosting of this site (too boring to go into and I don’t want them getting angry and pulling the plug!!), but I’ve heard excellent things about Liquidweb.com.
Hi Deji
Thanks for the comments, and for the helpful tip too.
Hi Mike
Thanks for the compliments!
Have a play with Google Feeder and you’ll love it. At the end of the day I spend 10 mins catching up with news from the blogsphere, but if I had to find the pages manually it would take twice as long.
Hi Tom
You’re right about bookmarking being tedious but effective.
I’ve been playing around with it, then documenting and passing to others to do.
This is great as it allows me to grow my business while others do the work that brings people to my sites.
Thanks Keith!
Okay, two offers a day for the next 14 days it is then!
In all seriousness, I enjoy giving away the good stuff, and it just makes good business sense too.
As I always say at Standing Start Profits, the more I give away, the more I get back!
Hi Franck
Yes, Zamzar is a nifty tool with loads of different uses. It can be a bit tempermental, but it certainly comes in useful from time to time.
Hi Michaela
Glad to be of service and make sure you check back tomorrow as I have another bunch of great tools up my sleeve.
Hi Al
You will not fail because I will not allow you to fail!
Thanks for stopping by now get back to work.
Thanks everyone for the comments and keep them coming.
The next batch will be live tomorrow and I think you’ll love them!
Lee McIntyre
By Alan Petersen on Jan 11, 2008 | Reply
Hi Lee,
Great tools. I would be lost without Roboform. Comes handy for traveling. When I was in London in October I exported all my logins into PDF via Roboform (password protected) and just like that I had all my passwords and login info on the road. I tested Zamzar-pretty neat, thanks. And I signed up for SU - I’ve heard good things.
In the spirit of sharing-here are a few tools I use a lot for free:
Google Notebook is a free service offered by Google. Provides an easy way to save and organize clips of information when conducting research online. Great for building a copywiting swipe file.
http://google.com/notebook
Pic Resize - resize pics online on the fly. Very handy for a simple quick job.
http://www.picresize
Image Shack - online pic hosting. Very handy when posting images on forums, etc.
http://www.imageshack.us
Later,
Alan
By gourmet coffee snob on Jan 11, 2008 | Reply
Hey Lee,
Great post.
One thing that you haven’t listed as another tool, which by the way is partly what I think your post is also about, and in part a reason for your online success is what I call…’pay it forward’.
Pay it forward is the idea and practice of giving, helping and doing for others without any expectation of return…it’s sorta like a universal law…ya gotta give to get…and you certainly do give…
Thanx for your good karma Lee.
By Garry Woods on Jan 14, 2008 | Reply
Dear Lee can you please help me as i am now trying to start a blog, i know people say its easy to set up but i am setting up Wordpress blogs but i’m having trouble getting it set up to run can you offer me some help please HELP .
regards Garry
By Lee McIntyre on Jan 14, 2008 | Reply
Hi Alan
Thanks for the great post and tips. You stole one of my ideas for post 2 though, and that’s not the sort of thing I can forget in a hurry.
I’m not sure why but I’ve never actually used Google Noteback. I’ll have to give that a try.
Hi Garry
How far have you got so far? What I might advise is to start with a free blogger.com account while you learn the ropes.
Then when you feel comfortable enough you can always move your blogger blog to your new Wordpress account.
I remember how hard I found setting up a wordpress blog for the first time, so I just went and created a free account at blogger until I had some more skills.
I really hope this helps - I know exactly how frustrating these things can be.
Lee McIntyre
By Frank Morgan on Jan 17, 2008 | Reply
Lee,
I first saw your name while browsing through Warrior Forum. You have done a remarkable job in a short period of time. Good for you!
This is a great example of you giving away valuable information, something I truly respect.
After studying internet marketing for some time, I am ready to take the plunge, and modeling after some of the things you do can only be successful.
Thanks for being there.
By Rodney on Feb 7, 2008 | Reply
Thanks for the info on Roboform. I’ve been thinking about getting that one but haven’t. And since Alan Peterson in a comment above noted that it helped him when traveling I think I’ve definitely got to get that today. Last time I traveled I forgot some important passwords and couldn’t answer some customer inquires because I couldn’t access the necessary info. Thanks.
By Lee McIntyre on Feb 10, 2008 | Reply
Hi Rodney
Roboform is a great timesaver, and one tool I really wouldn’t want to work without.
I have the mobile edition which I run from a portable hard drive. I then lug the hard drive around with me when travelling, and this works really well for me.
Let me know how you get on with it!
Lee McIntyre
By yap on Feb 22, 2008 | Reply
Hai Lee,
How nice of you to provide those info of all the useful tools.
Will try them out as a newbie.