FREE! Everybody likes FREE and frankly I love to share. So once a month I am going to share a listing of great free tools and resources with you – Free For All. Below is a sampling of the kinds of tools and resources we will share.
If you would like to share the gems we come across
Let’s get started.
Webconferencing & webinars:
My vote goes to AnyMeeting fka Freebinar. This service allows you to host up to 200 participants for FREE. In exchange for providing the platform, small, unobtrusive ads will run during the webinar. If you need to practice giving webinars or aren’t sure of the size of your audience, this is a great way to get started without any cost.
Among the features of this advertiser supported webconferencing/webinar service are: (1) invitation and registration tools, (2) screen sharing, (3) surveys, (4) recording/video, (5) conference calling and (6) information collection for follow up.
Site/blog speed:
Loading time of your blog makes a difference to your visitors. In fact, if it takes too long to load, many will leave and never even read your great content.
Here is a listing of 10 FREE online tools which test loading speeds and tell you how to create faster pages. Depending on what you want to check, is which service you will want to use. With Webwait I found it interesting to note the first loading time and then the subsequent loading times.
Photo shrinking:
Photos are key to a great looking blog, however, some simply take too long to load causing your potential visitor to leave. This free service allows you to compress PN, JPEG and GIF images.
Keyword rank checker:
SEO—love it or hate it; it’s a fact of blog life. This FREE keyword rank checker is designed to check keyword positions and track keyword on multiple search engines. It allows you to keep a detailed history on the different search engines and to generate keyword position reports in multiple formats.
Real time analytics:
Google Analytics gives you a wealth of information, however, for many it is an overwheleming and confusing amount of data. What I like about GetClicky is that it monitors, analyzes, and reacts to visitor traffic in real time.
That’s the wrap for April. If you use any of the above tools, please do let me know in the comments below.
Also, if you know of any other great FREE tools, please do list them in your comment below so that others who read will be able to see them. During the course of the month, should you discover another FREE tool, please do send it my way for next month’s wrap of FREE. And, of course, I will give a shout out to you as the person who told me about it.
P.S. If you haven’t yet heard about it, you will want to check out EmpireAvenue the Social Media Exchange. With this new game you can “buy and sell” friends and business associates as well as become a millionaire. And, of course, it’s FREE to get started.
janet@janetcallaway.com
The Natural Networker Newsletter FREE Personal Development, Business & Health Tips.
Advice which may not appear in my posts.
Thank you! I especially like the photo shrinking tool. Now I won’t look like a “blockhead” in some of my avatar pics!!
Keyuri Joshi recently posted..an announcement…
Thx heavens, Keyuri, because you are definitely not a blockhead!
Enjoy a wonderful Sunday. Aloha. Janet
Hi Janet,
Who doesn’t love FREE? Thanks for putting up the great resources. The only one I am already using is Cuterank and yes it is awesome for being free.
I am so much excited that you are going to do this on a monthly basis, so I can be assured to get introduced to awesome free stuff regularly. Of course if I come across any, I will let you know.
Cheers,
Jane.
Jane | Blogging Tips recently posted..Are You A Procrastinator You Can Survive- Don’t Worry
Jane, aloha. Thx so much for letting me know you like this idea. Knowing you your talent with SEO, it is not surprising that you are already using Cuterank. Your endorsement lets people know they should check it out for themselves.
Best wishes for a terrific week. Aloha. Janet
I didn’t think that I would like Empire Ave but it has been kind of fun.
Jack recently posted..A Father’s Burden
Jack, aloha. Interesting that you said the because I felt that way too. Games are not my “thing,” however, people who know their way around social media kept saying it was fun. Even though I have not finished filling out all my info, I have had someone “buy” shares of me. Will have to spend some time with it.
Generally speaking, do you enjoy playing games or cards? Aloha. Janet
I prefer games to cards.
Jack recently posted..A Father’s Burden
Thx, Jack. Please do keep me posted on your progress. Because I am taking an unexpected trip this week, I will not have much time to “play” with anything. During my flight to the mainland no doubt I will have plenty of time–unless someone chatty sits next to me.
Janet,
I never heard of Empire Avenue but the way you described it definitely got my attention for the novelty of it.
GetClicky has been getting a lot of attention lately but I have yet to use it. Real-time analytics, I mean c’mon, does it get any cooler?
Oh and the image shrinker that’s fantastic. There have been a few of those services around and I’ve tried them. What I wound up doing is getting Photoshop and if I’m feeling lazy with that I use something called PIXresizer. It’s a free program you download to your computer and it’s extremely easy to use.
Open it. Upload image. Save it after you click which dimension settings you want (or no change at all, simply save smaller).
How did I miss your Free For All Online Resources feature??
Jon
Jon recently posted..Smart Online Business Strategy- Driving Traffic via Twitter
Jon, aloha. Even though I have not completed the sign up/profile process for Empire Avenue, I have already had someone I don’t know “buy” me and ask me to buy them. Several other friends have told me that they love it; they’re hooked. Though this is a hectic week for me, I definitely am going to have to check it out so I can respond to people properly.
Dahlia is the one who first told me about GetClicky and it is amazing to see the results immediately as a result of an action you take. In your business, Jon, I would think it would come in quite handy.
This is my first Free for All post because I decided to check to see if people wanted/liked this type of information. What’s interesting, Jon, is different people responded to different items in the post.
Best wishes for a terrific week, Jon. Look forward to visiting with you in the blogosphere. Aloha. Janet
The responses we receive are never quite what we’d expect
Who could have expected that response?!
Janet, wow you sure are a hard worker. I think we all are in the CM community. I cannot believe these great tools. I think I have one or two up my sleeve.
I currently use clicky… love it.
I am bookmarking this site to come back to.
here is a terrific post written by Stacy a short while ago, I thought you might select a couple or more from this wonderful list of hers.
http://growwithstacy.com/2011/02/28/phenomenal-free-online-tools-build-blog-brand/
Obviously Stacy has done the groundwork on this but incase you did not see it, I thought you might add it to your arsenal.
Thanks for the generosity and your wealth of knowledge. It truly is a pleasure every time I read your site Janet. I can just sense your personality and kindness!
Jayne
Jayne Kopp recently posted..Affiliate Marketing & Two Terrific Online Marketing Courses
Jayne, aloha. Thx so much for your kind words. Actually, Stacy wrote that post before I knew her so I truly appreciate you letting me know about it. Know how thorough she is, I know it will be an asset.
Those who use clicky, love it.
I had fun playing with webwait and watching the loading time change. “They” the great “they” that know everything, always talk about how your blog/site/page better load in a couple of seconds or your visitors will leave. In addition to testing my own blog, I ran the blogs of several heavy hitter bloggers. Apparently they missed the memo because their blogs took about 6 second on the average to load. You will have fun playing with some of them, Jayne.
Thx again, Jayne, for your kinds words which are much appreciated. Best wishes for a terrific week. Aloha. Janet
Hi Janet,
yes, the magical power of the word ‘free’. Some get fired up at this, others think that there must be a catch. The catch is sometimes to believe that there are people in the world who are willing to share the knowledge without any catch, like you. Awesome job putting this together, thank you.
Take care
Oliver
Oliver Tausend recently posted..Oliver Tausend’s Blog – Thanks To Top Commentators In April
Thx so much, Oliver. Best wishes for a terrific week. Aloha. Janet
Aloha Janet,
Great idea!!
I have a collection of free and low cost on-line marketing tools which I share with my list periodically. I will certainly send you one or two of these every month.
I have used a couple of the free tools you have listed in this post and especially like the keyword rank checker.
Although I have heard of Get Clicky I have never used it. By the way it seems as if your link for this is pointing at the previous link.
I am not sure whether people have much use for a basic HTML editor but I have used this one regularly for a long time and it works very well.
http://www.createafreewebsite.net/wiz/html-editor.html
Thanks for your generosity Janet. Have a wonderful week.
~Marcus
Marcus Baker recently posted..This Blog’s Top Supporters for April
Marcus, aloha. Look forward to sharing the great tools you come across this next month.
Thx for letting me know that GetClicky is pointing to CuteRank; will change it right away.
Thx for the html editor; will save it for a future post.
Best wishes for a terrific week, Marcus. Aloha. Janet
Wonderful post Janet!
You’re right, we all love free.
I’m going to check out that keyword ranking tool you mentioned. I haven’t used it before but it sounds interesting.
Thanks for all the recommendations!
Susanna
You’re most welcome, Susanna. People who have used it, are absolutely hooked on cuterank. Have fun.
Best wishes for a great week. Aloha. Janet
Aloha Janet,
Not only do I love free tools but I love free quality tools so thank you for sharing. This is great for anyone building their business on a budget.
If it’s all right I’d like to share 2 others with you and your readers. One is join.me, an impromptu online meeting space that happens wherever, whenever. The other is Mikogo, an easy-to-use cross-platform desktop sharing tool, ideal for web conferencing, online meetings or remote support. That’s all, have an awesome day.
Aloha,
Golda
Golda Smith recently posted..The Breakdown- The Long Cry and Chocolate Cake- Surviving The Mental Tornado Caused By Resistance
Golda, aloha. Thx so much for sharing your tools; they look great. There are so many incredible resources online that is a challenge keeping up with them. Always nice to have information and resources to share with others.
Good to see you in my comments section, Golda. Best wishes for a terrific week. Aloha. Janet
Oh yeah Janet, goodies each month and free ones on top of that! Aren’t you a sweetie to start sharing this with us.
Was familiar with three of these tools/services but not a couple of them. Something to add to my list when these needs arise. Good to know we can always go with free versions first to get our feet wet and try things out.
Thanks for sharing and will look forward to seeing what you bring us each month.
Have a blessed day!
Adrienne
Adrienne recently posted..April Results- Another Month Behind Me
Adrienne, aloha. Though we may not use all of them ourselves, I think it is always nice to have options and the info to be able to share with others.
Best wishes for a terrific week–and month, Adrienne. Aloha. Janet
Thanks for this marvelous list of great free tools. Enjoyed checking out the ones I’m not familiar with. One of my favorite little tools is called Egg timer. http://e.ggtimer.com/
You just set your time – and it tracks for you – and gives you a buzz when time’s up. Great way to handle Twitter, email, etc…and stay focused.
Christian Hollingsworth recently posted..The business card I’ll be using if I’m ever unemployed
Christian, aloha. This is a perfect addition to my collection and I look forward to sharing it with others. People are always wondering how to keep track of their time and I have on many occasions recommended an egg timer. Love this, Christian. Thx so much.
Best wishes for a terrific day. Aloha. Janet
Great post theme Janet!
Just because things are FREE, doesn’t mean they’re not GREAT!
I’ve used a couple of these and looked a t a couple more, but you’ve linked us into plenty of amazing resources here. I’ll have to have a dig through – especially regards to page load speed, I’m putting together an article about that soon so some good homework needs to be done!
Thanks for sharing all this, Definitely a helpful resource list!
All the best,
Jym
Jym recently posted..Copywriting- Word Power and the Story of a Sign
Jym, aloha. Glad the post was timely for your research. There are some solid tools to help with page load speed.
As it happens, Stacy wrote a post on free tools before I met her. Jayne gave me the link. You may find something of interest in her list as well.
http://growwithstacy.com/2011/02/28/phenomenal-free-online-tools-build-blog-brand/
Isn’t it amazing, Jym, how many free or very low cost resources are available to us online? People are so generous. Best wishes for a magnificent week, my friend. Aloha. Janet
Hi Janet,
What a terrific share-worthy post, Janet! I am excited to learn about these free tools, and although I have heard of clicky, some of the speed test tools, and EmpireAvenue, I haven’t actually implemented them yet. This post is a very good reminder that I should make my move now
Hey Janet, I like the mix of How-to’s, cool online marketing tips, and of course personal development topics on your blog. Just love it!
- Rowena
Rowena Bolo recently posted..Are You Fearful of Sharing Your Greatness – Why or Why Not Pt 1
Rowena, thx so much for letting me know you like the mix of topics on my blog. As you well know, a blog is an evolutionary process.
My suggestion would be to select one new tool, use it to see how you like it before you move on to the next.
If you have a challenge keeping control of your time while on the computer, Christian let me know about another great online tool–e.ggtimer.com It is pretty nifty.
Rowena, best wishes for a terrific week. Aloha. Janet
Aloha Janet!
What a wonderful contribution you’ve made here! Yes, FREE is the operative word, I suppose but what I like most about your list is that you are finding ways to leverage technology and save time
For example, your Keyword Rank Checker saves time by checking your search position on keywords of interest in several search engines at once. As you know, I’m all about leveraging time and this one is a great tool I will share with my readers!
Another thing about Free Tools is they allow you to test technologies first before spending money on paid versions. For people who are uncertain about their ability or desire to give webinars, AnyMeeting is a great place to start. It may not be as powerful as the paid services like GoToWebinar and like you said, you have to put up with some advertisements, but it’s a great way to get started and see if you like it.
Nothing worse than paying for a tool and then deciding you don’t want or need it!
Thanks for this list, Janet. I’ll be sure to send any free tools I come across over to you for your next post!
Dr. Bob Clarke recently posted..Stop Hiding Behind Your Computer
Bob, aloha. So glad you liked the tools. As you know, there are zillions of them out there. What I decided was that it would be nice to start a list where people could keep new “finds” in one place to add as people find the time to implement them.
Like you, Bob, I always appreciate the opportunity to test something FREE first. Oftentimes, while the tool might be good, for whatever reason it is not a “fit” with the way you work.
Look forward to receiving any new tools you discover, Bob. Best wishes for a terrific week. Aloha. Janet
Hey Janet,
What a great idea for posts you’ve come up with. Who doesn’t like post, especially when they are great.
Whether it’s true or not, someone told me you could get almost any information you want for free online. He is right in a way so many free things online. The challenge however is how to search fro them.
Therefore it’s a lovely idea of compiling them and making your blog the source. Awesome.
I love the Site/blog speed tools and I’m gonna check them out.
Thanks!
Tosin
Thx, Tosin, for letting me know you like this idea. With the abundance of free online resources, I am sure you can get most everything–even if only temporarily–for free. It is a great way to test a new product.
Tosin, have fun checking your speed. Best wishes for a terrific week. Aloha. Janet
Hi Janet,
Awesome stuff you’re sharing here.
These are some amazing tools. Aloha, what a great list you’ve putted together. Love that resource link for checking loading speed. Thanks for sharing amazing post.
Dev
Devesh recently posted..Grab Your Visitor’s Attention With These 8 Simple Graphics
Glad you liked it, Dev. Have fun playing with the loading speed links. Aloha. Janet
Aloha Janet,
Who doesn’t like FREE? Mahalo for sharing these free resources. I use some of them
I love the idea of doing this on a monthly basis – it will be really helpful. I look forward to your May’s post on free tools.
All the best,
Mavis
Mavis Nong recently posted..Having a Blast and Turning Heads in the Beautiful and Magical April!
Thx so much, Mavis. It will be interesting to see what tools I find and others shares with me this next month.
Best wishes for a Magnificent May, my friend. Aloha. Janet
Well, I couldn’t wait to find out which four-letter word you were referring to in the forum!
These are great resources! I think the one I am most excited about is AnyMeeting. I need to check that out right away to see what it can do and how I might use it.
Jeanine Byers Hoag recently posted..Going Rogue w- Project 333!
Jeanine, aloha. So glad you like them the resources. You will find many uses for AnyMeeting once you start using it. As you will discover, the ads are very unobtrusive.
Have fun playing with them, Jeanine. Best wishes for a terrific week. Aloha. Janet
Hi Janet,
I hadn’t heard of most of these, so thanks! It’s very helpful!
That is my kind of four letter word.
Stacy
Stacy | Grow With Stacy recently posted..Honoring a Fallen Hero
You are most welcome, Stacy. Jayne told me about your post in February on this topic so I have incorporated it in my answer to several people. Isn’t it amazing, Stacy, all the incredible resources that are available to us for FREE?!
Best wishes for a terrific week. Aloha. Janet
Hi Janet,
What a great resource. I was looking at everything!! I know have an idea of how long it takes my page to load. I am curious if you know what is an acceptable time for a page to load? I was reading on google that something should show up within the first 3 secs and when I checked, within 2 secs, my site showed something. In total, it took 6.5 secs and I don’t know if this is good or not.
I am going to check out the photo shrinking site! Thank you these are very useful and I am going to share this post of my Friday Favs!
Diana Simon recently posted..Opt-In Is Finally Up!
Diana, aloha. Glad you liked it. There are so many great resources out there that are free that I wanted to pull them together into one spot.
“They” do talk about 3 seconds as the “magic” number. What I did with WebWait was put in my blog and tested many other “name” blogs. No one had the entire blog up in 3 seconds. What I liked about WebWait is that it automatically ran it a number of times thus showing if someone has been to your site how much faster it loads. From a visitor point of view, yours is fine for me. Of course, since I have been there so many times, it loads quickly.
Page Speed gives you solid advice on “to do” items to improve your page speed. Currently, I am 81 so need to do some tweaking.
So delighted that you are going to share it your Friday Favs; I’m honored. Best wishes for a terrific day, Diana. Aloha. Janet
Hi Janet,
Thanks for all the free tools. I’m glad the word was FREE. I was wondering what kind of discussion I might be reading today.
I use a plugin called smu**** for compressing photos. After you install it, it gives you the ability to go back and compress every phot on your blog with one click each.
Lou Barba
Lou Barba recently posted..The Secret of Stinging Nettles
Thx so much for the heads up on smu**** It sounds terrific and definitely like one I will want to incorproate.
Best wishes for a great day. Aloha. Janet
What a great idea for a regular blog post, Janet! You always have the best ideas for providing value, promoting interaction and creating discussion with your readers. =)
I’ve been thinking a lot about webinars lately although I think I’ll have to get over my fear of videos first. One step at a time! =) Diana had a cool opt-in for her website and I thought that would be a good start — a value-adding eBook or report that I could offer my readers. Have you done webinars before, Janet?
I’ve also been thinking about keywords a lot recently. Jym helped me analyze my site and made a few key suggestions. I’m going to start using categories that are embedded in my permalink with 4 or 5 optimal keywords. CuteRank seems like the perfect addition to this new step in my business! =)
I also loved the concept of GetClicky. It was always frustrating that I couldn’t see if a certain change I did would bring an instant spike in visitors or not when I analyzed using Google Analytics.
Thanks so much for this list, Janet! Looking forward to chatting more with you soon! =)
Sam
Samantha Bangayan recently posted..A Kreativ Blogger in the Central Andes
Sam, aloha. So glad you discovered so many treasures in this list. The number of FREE resources that are available to us online is astounding.
To me, Sam, GetClicky is much, much easier than Google Analytics–plus I like the quick feedback.
AnyMeeting is a perfect platform for you to use to practice your webinars. Remember, you can always use slides and talk in the background. A webinar does not have to be YOU LIVE! In fact, many big presenters do slides/voice exclusively.
Susanna over at Web Video Academy has some great tutorials on how to make videos. Being the researcher that you are, you will appreciate her step-by-step method and the logic behind it.
Best wishes for a terrific week, Samantha. Until next time, aloha. Janet
What a great idea Janet to list your picks of tools for people to use!
I just started using Clicky myself. Do you use the free version or the paid version? I guess I haven’t really delved into it to understand how I need to be using it.
Maybe you can do a video showing us how you use Clicky…hint, hint
LOL
~Kesha
Kesha recently posted..Free Stumbles Anyone Submit Your Site While I’m on a StumbleUpon Frenzy!
Kesha, aloha. At this point, I am only using the free version. Before I decide to purchase yet another tool, I like to make sure that I will use it. Everyone who uses Clicky seems to like it.
Let’s see if Susanna over at Web Video Academy uses it because she could make a great tutorial.
Glad you liked the list, Kesha. Look forward to seeing you again soon. Aloha. Janet
Hey Janet,
My eyes went wide when I saw the word free. I am loving your list of free-bees. In the next few days I’m going to take some time to check them out.
Tisha
Tisha recently posted..Top 3 Commentors of April
Have fun, Tisha!
Janet,
All I can say is “AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME!!”
I use most of these tools and we are lucky to have these tools
and resources available to us for no charge.
I love AnyMeetings and have started to put together some powerful
webinars that I know will blow things up.
One of my all time favs is Google Analytics, I am on there every morning, checking my traffic and all different stats like Bounce Rate.
Great job on this post!
Talk soon,
Tommy D.
Tommy DiPietro | Weight Loss Challenge recently posted..Losing Weight From Home The Online Weight Loss Challenge
Thx so much, Tommy. So glad to hear that you like AnyMeeting too. It is such a phenomenal resource.
It you are on Google Analytics every morning, you will love GetClicky.
Best wishes for a terrific weekend. Aloha. Janet
Hi Janet!
So nice of you to scour the Internet for freebies that we could really find useful! I’m checking out Cuterank now as per your suggestion. Thanks so much! (Makes our job easier, indeed!)
Elmar Sandyck recently posted..Writing Articles For A Living
You are most welcome, Elmar. Anything to make blogging easier–especially when it comes to the “unfun” part.
Hi Janet,
I haven’t got any words to tell you, you are just great person! The free tool you have shared are very helpful to me especially Getcliky.
Thx so much, James. So glad you liked them.
James, it is always a pleasure to meet first time visitors. Now that we have met, I hope I will see you here often.
Best wishes for a great weekend. Aloha. Janet