As many small businesses continue to adapt to changing circumstances, online tools are stepping in to help. Here’s a list of free tools to make it easier to operate your business right now.
E-Commerce
For the next three months, eBay is waiving it’s selling fees for new businesses. Take advantage of this offer and get your product in front of millions of online shoppers for free!
Etsy is a major e-commerce platform for those in retail or creative industries. They make it easy to open up your own online shop, and the only thing you pay is a $0.20 listing and transaction fee.
Through Kabbage Payments, any business can sign up to sell gift cards online, and anyone can purchase them to support small businesses. Kabbage isn’t charging for this service, although there is a 2.5% processing charge per gift certificate purchase to the business.
If you want to move your retail business online, Shopify is offering an extended 90-day free trial for all new customers. They’re also making physical and digital gift cards available for all new Shopify plans, as well as offering $200 million in small business loans.
Whether you need a website, want to integrate payments into your site, or work with eCommerce platforms, Square makes it easy to sell online in a variety of ways. They are waiving all software subscription fees for existing customers in the month of April.
Need a website? Weebly offers a free plan that allows you to build a customizable website on their platform.
Learning
Creative Live is expanding its range of free online courses during this time. This includes courses on topics ranging from wellness to photography. They’ll also be hosting free virtual conferences and book tours in collaboration with publishers.
Google has released a multitude of online classes designed specifically to help people learn the fundamentals of digital marketing. These short videos, classes, and tutorials are designed to help any business improve its online advertising presence.
For the next two months Moz Academy is making available all of its online courses. Learn about SEO fundamentals, keyword search, client on-boarding, and so much more – for free!
Marketing
Google Ads is giving away $340 million in ad credits to small businesses through 2020. In order to be eligible for these credits, you must have been advertising with Google Ads since the beginning of 2019. Google will notify you when you can potentially redeem these credits.
MailChimp is offering free Standard accounts to eligible groups sending critical public health information about COVID-19 through June 30, 2020. This is in addition to their Free plan, which allows you to send marketing emails to up to 2000 contacts.
Here at Ripl we believe that it is critical to stay connected to your loyal customers and to promote your business on social media right now. In light of this, we are unlocking a special offer for new customers.
If you need free images for marketing right now, Shutterstock is offering a free image pack to help businesses that are under added pressure.
Create a professional-looking logo in 3 steps for your business with this free tool. When done right, logos can positively reflect the brand's voice, identify you, and increase brand recall.
Restaurants
Want to move your restaurant to online ordering? To support restaurants affected by COVID-19, Ecwid is giving access to their online ordering tools for free through 2020.
Since delivery and take-out acting are the main way customers can support restaurants, Grubhub is helping small businesses by waiving its commission fees. Additionally, they are providing $10 off every new order to entice more people to order food.
Rally for Restaurants is an online directory where customers can find local restaurants to order takeout from or to buy gift cards from. You can add your restaurant to the directory and support this grassroots initiative to give restaurants a fighting chance amidst the COVID-19 health crisis.
Working from home
Evernote is a free note-taking app that allows you to digitize your thoughts. You can access Evernote on any mobile or desktop device. All your notes are stored in cloud storage, which keeps your information protected and private.
Google is rolling out free access to its advanced video-conferencing software until July 1st. This includes hosting larger meetings up to 250 participants per call, live streaming for up to 100,000 viewers, and being able to record and save meetings to Google Drive.
Hello Alice is operating an online resource center where you can find information on how to operate remotely, create an online presence, and receive mental health support. Additionally, they are offering $10,000 in emergency grants to small business owners impacted by the virus.
Do you need help to work remotely with your team? Slack is a messaging service that allows you to message one other and to share files. Depending on your messaging volume, Slack is free for an unlimited period of time.
Wave provides free plans for their accounting, invoicing, and receipt scanning software. If you are looking to move your financial transactions online this is a great product to get you started.
You can use Zoom to host free video calls for up to 100 participants. For certain organizations like schools, Zoom has even lifted their 40-minute cap on group video calls.
Know about any other free tools for businesses? Reach out to us at feedback@ripl.com and let us know!
By connecting with other small businesses, we can learn how to navigate the changing world and support each other. We invite you to share your story with us here!
If you are looking to find more resources check out what our partners at American Express are doing by clicking here. Also, take a look at some of our other blog posts to find additional ways you can support your business:
