My Favorite Internet Marketing Tools (and some others too!)

Fax Zero (.com)

I don’t have a fax machine anymore so when I need to fax something from my computer, and it isn’t often thanks to EMAIL attachments, I pop over to Fax Zero. You can fax up to three pages for free. It works great. http://www.faxzero.com

Blogging (Advanced Users)

AutoBlogged is a powerful autoblogging plugin for WordPress that automatically creates blog posts from any RSS or Atom feed. While it is NOT (repeat NOT) an alternative to actively posting at your blog, it is a great way to supplement your content generation.

Search Marketing Standard (magazine)

This is one magazine that I look forward to getting. I wish they published it more than 4 times a year! Save $15.00 through 12/31/2010 using discount code: BC2010. http://www.searchmarketingstandard.com

Link Shortner

Takes long links and makes them short. Helpful tool for use with email, Facebook, and Twitter. With a registered account it also provides tracking. http://bit.ly/

Twitter/Tweet Management

Hootsuite. I was using Tweetdeck but got rather tired of it not synching properly. Hootsuite is web-based v. software/PC based. I really love this program. http://www.hootsuite.com

Online News Aggregator

Breitbart is my start-up page when I launch a Firefox browser. http://www.breitbart.com

DropBox

Automatically keeps your most important documents and files updated across different computers - and free. How cool is that? http://www.dropbox.com

Large Monitor (great value)

I love my Acer H233H monitor and I can keep two windows open, sometimes three, at the same time. I got mine at Staples online. Be sure to find and use a coupon! http://www.staples.com

Favorite Coupon Site (one of them)

Fat Wallet is a highly reliable source of valid coupons for just about everything. http://www.fatwallet.com. Another one I use is Retail Me Not at http://www.retailmenot.com.

Phone Call Management/Voice Mail System

Grasshopper (http://www.grasshopper.com) gives me a very flexible call follow-me, voice mail, call notification to email, and call-attendant with multiple extensions. It also gives me a toll free number. It also pre-screens calls (callers announce themeselves and their call is announced to me with their name). Be aware of how you are charged for inbound calls, other than that - this product is a home run. About $50.00/month.

Autoresponder

AWeber (http://www.aweber.com) is what I use for inbound lead management from web forms and auto-responder follow-ups. It also allows me to send unlimited broadcasts to my lists. It has complete automatic subscribe and unsubscribe and is pretty easy to configure and use. About $19.95/month.

Google Sitemap Creator

GSiteCrawler (http://www.gsitecrawler.com) is what I use to create Google Sitemaps, which need to be part of your overall search engine optimization strategy. Cost: Free!

HTML Validator

Clean code is one of the variables in a comprehensive search engine optimization strategy. This free HTML validator is easy to use and will give you a great amount of insight into your web page code. http://www.freehtmlvalidator.com

Constant Contact

I use Constant Contact (http://www.constantcontact.com) for my weekly Marketing to Brides Online newsletter. I like the reporting and I like the simplicity of creating a newsletter while sitting in a coffee shop or at the airport. There’s a lot more to email newsletter marketing than just sitting in an airport and writing newsletters, but this is a great tool and you get a solid bang-for-your-buck. Like many email marketing solutions it offers auto-subscribe, unsubscribe, list segmentation, and GREAT reporting (you can actually see WHO clicked on WHAT links in your email message!). Under $50.00/month.

Anti-Virus/Malware

AVG (http://free.avg.com) is the best and I actually removed Symantec/Norton Internet Security from my computer. It took too many system resources and at times brought my computer to it’s knees. Cost: Free.

Malwarebytes (http://www.malwarebytes.org) is another tool I have and run almost daily. I usually run it when I go out for lunch or hit the gym. Cost: Free.

HiJack (at http://download.cnet.com) is a tool that shows you what loads when your computer starts. If you have a malware or spyware problem you’ll find it pretty quickly with this. HiJack is for the more technically inclined, but certainly not rocket-science. Cost: Free.

The three of these tools together give me the protection and peace-of-mind I’m looking for and can realistically expect. Nothing is 100%, but combined I get as close to it as possible.

Postcards (Direct Mail)

I love postcards. They are an effective, inexpensive, marketing and advertising strategy that should be used to promote your business and website. Here are three companies I’ve used and would recommend.

Postcard Mania - http://www.postcardmania.com

* mention my name and I think they will give you better price, I’ve been a customer there for a long time!)

PSPrint - http://www.psprint.com

Modern Postcard - http://www.modernpostcard.com

Conference Calling

I use Basement Ventures (http://www.thebasementventures.com) for conference calling. It’s a silly name but a very good conference call management solution. I’ve used it for over a year and only had problems with it twice. Cost: Free.

Webinar/Screen Sharing

I use Glance (http://www.glance.net) for webinars and shared screen sessions with my clients. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles that WebEx has, but I don’t need them at this point. $25.00/month

Online Chat

I use two tools. Skype Chat and video conferencing (http://www.skype.com) and Provide Support (http://www.providesupport.com). Provide support I primarily use to track visitors, real-time, and where they came from, at the different websites I publish or manage.

Online Shopping Cart - http://www.1shoppingcart.com

Web Page Design/Editing

Dreamweaver - http://www.adobe.com

Graphics Management

Photoshop - http://www.adobe.com

EMAIL

GMAIL - http://www.gmail.com

Website Hosting

Verio - http://www.verio.com

Blogging Tools

Wordpress (http://www.wordpress.com) when I want to create and manage a blog on my own hosting server. Wordpress gives you more flexibility when it comes to design and more advanced blog management. It is probably the best “long-term” blogging solution or the tool to use if you are a serious blogger.

Blogger (http://www.blogger.com) is Google’s free blogging tool. It’s easy to set-up, easy-to-use, and free.

Yapta (http://www.yapta.com) is a silly name but pretty valuable website when it comes to getting the best prices on airfare. Works for hotels too.

—————
Chris Jaeger
Marketing to Brides Online
(866) 652-7791 x701

 

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