12 Resources For Running Your Company on a Budget

If you're just starting your online business, whether it be selling crochet scarves on Etsy or running a blog (which, yes, can be turned into a business), you might feel overwhelmed with everything you have to do. And that Pinterest article you read basically screamed at you for not understanding analytics and engagement rates and what your niche is and your brand? Like, of clothing? But it's okay, take a deep breath and remember the internet is a scary and big place, but you're surrounded by thousands of people in the same boat as you.

While I can't even hope to cover every aspect of online businesses (branding, marketing, advertising, social media management... I could go on all day), I'm hopeful that this list will help you get started somewhere. Because the hardest part of starting is actually starting.

PHOTO EDITING

Humans are visual. Most people would pick an attractive image over a wall of text any day. Thankfully, we've come a long way since the days where your only photo editing option was Photoshop. There's thousands of free resources for any kind of photo editing you can image. From simple filters to perfect your IG theme to websites allowing you to create infographics all on one site; if you need it, chances are it exists.

* = Paid features optional

˜ = Available on desktop and in the app store

APPS:
• VSCO Cam :: Free*, available for iPhone and Android

• Polarr :: Free*, available for iPhone and Android

WEBSITES:

• Canva :: Free*˜

• Piktochart :: Free*˜

• Pixlr :: Free˜

• Info.gram :: Free*

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT

Chances are, you have social media accounts. I'm also willing to bet that sometimes you also feel lost in a sea of random numbers and analytics. While it's important to be able to understand the data behind your social media accounts, you don't have to understand it all in a day. There's so many free products created to help people like you manage and understand the data behind your accounts. Let them take over (at least for now). I'll only be linking websites because I feel it's easiest to get the full feeling for these products when you're not staring at a tiny screen.

* = Paid features optional

º = Paid membership required

WEBSITES:

• Hootsuite* :: The only tool that allows you to manage over 30 social media platforms in one place. If you're not using Hootsuite... how have you been keeping your head above the ever rising tide that is social media management?

• TweetReach :: This site allows you to easily view how many people your Tweet "reached." It's important to know how many people you engage with daily so you don't feel as if you're staring into a black void.

• Iconosquareº :: Free for 14 days with paid membership after. If your biggest platform is Instagram, Iconosquare is for you. They have analytics on anything you need from hashtags to your competition's daily counts. 

EVERYTHING ELSE 

Could I be more vague? Possibly. But could the world of free resources be so rapidly expanding that this guide will require an update in 3 months? Definitely. Running a company is so much more than pretty pictures and tweet engagement, but understanding how to do those things with the free resources out there will save you time, money, and sanity, all invaluable resources when you're a small business. 

• AllTop :: This website gathers some of the internet's most popular sites and their top viewed stories. If you want a site that shows you Mashable, LifeHacker, and CNN's top stories on one page, AllTop is for you. It's an excellent site to see what people are interested in now. 

• FreedCamp :: A free content and project management system. I'm a firm believer in the best way to stay organized is to let other people keep me organized and FreedCamp helps me with that.

• HelloSign :: Contracts are scary. The idea of actually writing law-binding contracts for others to sign is scary. Hellosign is not scary. It lets you virtually create contracts for clients to sign with ease.