If you’re running an online business, and probably even if you aren’t, there are some online tools that you need to know about. Not all of these tools are a necessity for every business, but no matter what you’re in, there are sure to be tools below that you know you should be using.

The applications on this list didn’t get here because they look pretty. They got here because millions of freelancers have tried, tested, and swear by them. Do your business a favor and make sure you know about the applications listed here.

1. Wordpress

Every online business should have a blog and Wordpress is, by far, the most powerful blogging tool on the web today.

Alternative Resources:

Movable Type

Type Pad

2. Google Analytics

Using a good analytics system is a must have for any online business. Spend some time learning how to read your site metrics and what they mean.

Alternative Resources:

Mint

Clicky

3. Basecamp

Having a central place to organize and keep track of all your projects and notes goes a long way in making your life less stressful.

Alternative Resources:

Lighthouse

No Kahuna

4. Freshbooks

Because many freelancers are service oriented, it is essential to have some sort of invoicing system in place.

Alternative Resources:

Blink Sale

Ronin

5. Twitter

Having a Twitter account is almost as important as having a blog these days. Twitter is easy to use and free to setup. Why wouldn’t you use it?

Alternative Resources:

Facebook

Friendfeed

6. Crowd Science

This is a cool tool that will randomly ask your visitors to take a poll to help you gather demographics about your visitors. It never hurts to learn more about your sites visitors.

Alternative Resources:

Get Satisfaction

7. Mozy

Its is never a bad idea to have some sort of backup in place. Mozy, makes backing up your files affordable and painless.

Alternative Resources:

iDrive

Carbonite

8. Google Webmaster Tools

There are an amazing amount of tools here than can help you track your sites ROI, test designs, and much more.

9. E-Junkie

E-Junkie can be used for more than just selling products through affiliates, you can also use it to offer a reward system to your clients.

Alternative Resources:

iDev Affiliate

All Affiliate Pro

10. Netvibes

It is easy to be overloaded with RSS feeds. Having a tool that lets you easily organize that information will make it easier for you to digest.

Alternative Resources:

iGoogle

Page Flakes

11. WuFoo Form Builder

A good form builder app is always good to have an account with. You never know when you may want a new form, quiz, poll, etc.

Alternative Resources:

Form Site

Form Spring

12. Mail Chimp

Email campaign apps make it easier for you to send bulk emails to past clients, setup news letters, and send important notices to customers.

Alternative Resources:

iContact

Constant Contact

13. Skype

Skype is the ultimate communication tool, especially if you have clients all over the world. It is the default IM/Phone choice for freelancers who work abroad.

Alternative Resources:

Sight Speed

Google Talk

14. Alert Thingy

Alert Thingy allows you to manage and update most of your social media networks like Twitter, Facebook, Basecamp, and more; all in one spot.

Alternative Resources:

Event Box

Friend Feed

15. Are My Sites Up

If you have a website, then there is no reason you shouldn’t sign up for this service. Its free and lets you know if your sites crash via emails and text messages.

What Are Your Essential Apps?

Do you have a few applications that your online business couldn’t live without? List your favorites in the comments.

Potential customers who want to contact your company are likely to turn to your Web site for a phone number or e-mail address. If that contact information is difficult to find, you could not only lose a sale, but your reputation could suffer as well. According to a study by MaCorr Research, 70 percent of consumers have a negative opinion of companies that don’t give them the opportunity to get in touch directly. Fortunately, it’s easy to make your contact information accessible on your Web site. Here are a few tips to help.

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Today we’re covering Part 4 of our Budgeting 2009 Web Strategy Series - Social Media.

Social Media

Cost: Free - Completely variable depending on scope

Time: An hour a day - at least

As a preface - I am not a social media expert. If you want expert analysis, see the resources below.

Social Media is all about community and conversations. You cannot simply sign up for Twitter and Facebook and consider it social media marketing. The biggest part of a social media budget, at least for us at 48Web, is time. It takes time to build community - and community is one of the most powerful facets of a an effective web strategy. There are three steps to using social media as a marketing tool - listen, join the conversation, and engage discussions. (If you think there are more or less, please share them with us in the comments).

Listening is easy and can be automated. This is the simplest step to get into social media - start listening. Subscribe to Twitter and Google Blog Searches to get started. Set up Google Blog Alerts for your company. All these listening tools are free. And if you want to really start researching - start using Trackur or FiltrBox. Setting up this research environment is easy and takes little time - but has a HUGE ROI. Joining the conversation is often the hardest part because social media is very adverse to traditional marketing messages. In fact - I’d just start joining discussions without any marketing broadcasts. Next up - engage conversations.. Start discussions and gear them towards your brand. Again - I am not a social media expert, but these methods do work. If you have other recommendations, please leave them in the comments.

Social media is a low budget (time and cost), high ROI method of marketing - It’s a must-do internet marketing tactic for an effective web strategy. If you are looking to get started in Social Media, check out Zane’s simple Social Media Starter Kit… Or, check out the Social Media Cheat Sheet. Or, see the resources below.

Tools and Services

There are dozens of tools and services to help you embrace social media and this is a very short list of those. Please let us know any additional tools or services you use in the comments.

• Conversations: Twitter, FriendFeed
• Research: Google Blog Search, Google Alerts, Twitter Search, Trackur

Resources

• Need Help? Ask us!
• Get ahold of Lava Row or Dosovo
• Follow on Twitter: Nathan, Jeremiah, Louis Gray, Danzarella, Mike Templeton, Todd Defren
• Blogs: Social Media AllTop, Christopher Penn, Lava Row, ConverStations, Louis Gray, Chris Brogan, GrowMap
• Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day(book)
• Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies(book)
• Have other resources for us? Leave them in the comments…

Budgeting 2009 Web Strategy

• Part 1: Hosting
• Part 2: Analytics
• Part 3: SEM/SEO
• Part 4: Social Media (you are here)

Featuring: Ask Andy I’ve done the research, so you don’t have to.

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