25 Of The Most Useful Websites For Business Owners

Jenny Marsden • Nov 04, 2019

25 Of The Most Useful Websites for Business Owners

As a small business owner myself, I'm always on the hunt for websites and apps that make my life easier and my business processes more productive. I hope these 25 website will help you to streamline your day and enable you to solve some problems.

1. Brave - the ultimate in browser protection. Brave is open source, had ad blocking capabilities and faster browsing. It is now the ONLY browser I use for researching. I got so sick of being stalked by Google and Facebook and Ad Remarketing so now I use Brave with complete confidence.

2. Later - This Instagram scheduling app is an Instagram Partner so you don' t have to be concerned about any challenges between the two parties. You can schedule Instagram posts & stories, Facebook posts, Twitter Posts and even Pinterest. Check out LinkInBio - one of the best features of this membership.

3. Highbrow - I LOVE this website. You get a new 5 minute lesson delivered to your inbox every day. I have a filter setup so it goes to my Highbrow folder and then I watch them all on Friday mornings. There is a 30 day free trial and then its $4 per month so VERY affordable. I particularly enjoyed the Introduction to Red and White Wine course!

4. Raindrop.io - this bookmarking app is my favourite thing at the moment. It is available as a plugin for your browser and as an app on your phone. You just add bookmarks from your browser, or share on your phone and then choose the Raindrop app to save. I love it because its everywhere so things I've saved on my PC I can access on my phone, you can create collections, sort and apply different icons to collections so you can find things easily.

5. Google Keep - you do need to have a google account for this but its a great note keeping app. Again, because it is all cloud based you can access your notes on your pc or your phone. I'm always saving stuff in keep.

6. Canva - I will readily admit I don't use Canva a lot directly for my business as I'm a photoshop user, however I do a lot of graphics and media on Canva for clients. While they do now have a paid version you can still get a lot of use from the free option.

7. My Maps On Google - you can create custom maps on your Google Maps account and save them for sharing or later use. Great if you have a sales team on the road and you want to create a day, week or monthly plan for them.

8. Unsplash - free stock photos. Nothing more to say! Great resource.

9. Get Response - I've recently changed to Get Response for my email marketing and I'm loving it. It is simple to use, the lists are easy to create and segment, the newsletters or marketing emails can be based off a wide range of templates and you can customise them with HTML to add in those little extra's you might need. You get a free 30 day trial and then it starts from $15 per month. Mail Chimp just go so confusing to me - and I'm a web person. I've not regretted moving.

10. PDF Escape - for editing PDF's without Adobe Acrobat Pro.

11. Iconfinder - in todays world of infographics, icons are becoming more and more necessary and if you can't find it on Iconfinder, it probably isn't out there. They do have monthly plans if you are a regular user or you can purchase credit and pay as you go

12. Google Translate - a must for anyone who does business with international companies, or just for translating that website for your hike in Switzerland.

13. Copychar - a great resource for all those unique characters you need but can never remember how to achieve from your keyboard.

14. Google Fonts - the best place to find open source fonts that are free to use with no restrictions.

15. Tripit - if your business does any kind of travel Tripit's $49 annual fee is really worth it. It schedules all your travel activities into "Trips" that you can create and share with other Tripit users. It will recognize a lot of confirmation emails that come into your email (must be the one you sign up with) and has a forwarding option if the booking is not automatically put into Tripit.

16. Kiva - Kiva is a micro finance website that allows you as a business person in the western world to give back to less fortunate area's by financing micro loans. If you've ever been to Africa, microloans are changing peoples lives. It might be $25 that allows them to purchase an extra cow, which means they have enough milk to sell and they become more self sustaining. You don't make profit on the loans but an incredible 98% are paid back in full on time. Even $100 will allow you to help someone who is trying to help themselves.

17. Infogram - if you are a business that needs to produce Info Graphics, this is for you. There is a free version, however the paid version starts from $19/ month (annual subscription). It won't be for everyone, but its a great option to having to pay for expensive software to do the same thing.

18. TED - I'm not sure there is anyone who hasn't watched a TED talk at some point, however taking half an hour from your day to watch something that is relevant to your work, or simply inspiring to you can change your attitude for the balance of the day.

19. Blind - I almost didn't add this to the list, but it is a handy website if you are really stuck. Everything you ask on Blind is completely anonymous so if you have a question about how to handle an employee's bad attitude or how to complain and get a resolution, this is for you. Beware however there are some not so great users who obviously just love the drama but I've used it for something a bit tricky and got some excellent suggestions. You won't need it until you need it.

20. Speaking IO - if you have to speak in public and need help to make that less stressful, this is the website for you. I love their USP "because imagining everyone naked is bad advice".

21. Review Meta - I know here in Australia we don't have a huge Amazon society but it is getting larger and larger. Amazon is run by reviews and it turns out you can buy Amazon reviews. This handy website allows you to put your Amazon product URL in and it will tell you how "real" the reviews are.

22. Xero - Cooking the books is something that so many businesses do as a last minute end of quarter activity. Xero helps to make that as easy as possible and has features like Bank Account Syncs, Repeating Invoicing and customisable templates. There is an app for your phone so you can add expenses from anywhere. It's very reasonably priced too.

23. Typing.com - I heard Bill Gates say once that learning to touch type was the best skill he had ever invested in. Can you imagine how much more productive you would be if you could turn those two fingers into ten fingers. Get cracking - you won't regret it.

24. Zoho CRM - I feel I must say here that any CRM will set you in good stead, however I've used and loved Zoho for a few years now. All CRM's can be a challenge to get your head around initially, but they can really help you to formalise your business sales process and also enables sales people to generate quotes and invoices easily and quickly. Without having to wait for the accounts person to prepare your quote, your sales team on the ground can act instantly which can increase your conversions.

25. Fiverr - Fiverr does require you to be a little brutal with who you choose, but it can be a great resource. I have a girl in Nigeria who rewrites content for me for $15 per post and I've been very happy with her. Sadly she has just told me she is having a baby and won't be continuing on. It does require a few "test" jobs to get the right person but it can be worth it in the long run.

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About Jenny

I started my IT career in Database Administration and .Net coding. While I LOVED that work, I realised very quickly that I also wanted a life. To be a top end coder or DB Admin, you have to comit your downtime to constantly learning and evolving and while that is also something I love, I wanted it to be my work and not my life. So I morphed my love of design with my knowledge of all things SEO and moved into building small business websites.

Why small business websites? I'm a small business myself and I know how hard it can be so I wanted to give my clients a great service, with an approachable point of contact where no question was a "stupid question".

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