This week, rather than write my usual blog post, I’m going to share with you 7 powerful free online resources guaranteed to save you time and help you make more money in your promotional products business.
1. Free social media time saver: Hoot Suite. If you do social media postings, like I do, Hoot Suite is a real time saver. It allows you to post to all your social networks at one time. Just write it once and Hoot Suite sends it out for you. You can also time your postings to go out a when you want during the day.
2. Free customer survey tool: Survey Monkey. The best and most successful companies understand what’s most important to their customers and are always looking for ways to improve their service. That’s what keeps them successful. Want to find out what’s most important to your customers? Send a short survey and give them a reward for answering (Hint: a promotional product.) Survey Monkey is a free online survey tool that makes getting to know your customers easy.
3. Free tool to process credit cards: Square. I found this neat little tool about six months ago. It enables you to accept credit cards using your Smart Phone or iPad from anywhere. I love its portability and the one flat fee feature. It’s helped me easily sell my programs and products at trade shows. Great for when you travel to see a client and want to take a credit card transaction on the spot. It’s free and amazingly easy to set up.
4. Free PDF editing tool: PDF to Word. I’ve created hundreds of PDF documents over the years and occasionally have lost the original Word document it’s created from. This handy and free online service allows you to have a PDF you created changed back to a Word document. It’s great for updating and editing.
5. Free virtual samples from suppliers. The more samples you provide, especially with the client’s logo, the better chance you have closing the sale. Here are a few of my favorite suppliers that have unique and free sample programs: Fields Manufacturing offers free samples and free shipping, the Platform Group Gallery offers free virtual and actual samples of many of the products in their eco friendly packaging line, and Admints & Zagabor has a top notch art department for rendering free virtual samples. Check with your favorite suppliers to see what free sample programs they have to help you increase your sales.
6. Free product research. If you’re reading this you most likely already know about the free product research tool at www.promomarketing.com—but are you using it? Instantly search for thousands of products and supplier information with the click of a mouse.
7. Free Promo Biz Sales-Boost. Last, but not least, download my free Promo Biz Sales-Boost Kit. It has a free special report: 10 Big Mistakes Promotional Products Professionals Make and How to Avoid Them and Double Your Sales, plus a FREE Skyrocket Your Sales audio download with dozens of sales tips from top-rated suppliers guaranteed to motivate you and jump-start your sales.
These 7 free online tools are just the tip of the iceberg. There are a plethora of free online tools available. Let’s keep the conversation going. I’d like to hear from you. What are your favorite free online resources? Please comment below.
