The Enlightened Entrepreneur - Free and Low-Cost Tools and Resources for Small Businesses!

I went into great detail about the free version of the online scheduling program "Calendly" in episode #105 and today I’m going to introduce you to another program that does the same thing with more features without a monthly charge!  In fact, as I write this, they are charging only $19 for lifetime access! I tested it out, and it works perfectly!  

If you are currently paying between $8 and $12 each month for the paid version of Calendly or a similar calendar scheduling program, this program will save you between $96-$144 a year!

Links mentioned in this Episode:

TidyCal: https://appsumo.com/tidycal/

(Want a small discount?  Use this link and "signup" - you will receive a $10 coupon code the next day.  When you receive it, locate TidyCal in the list and you will get a discount at checkout!)

For our Episode about "Calendly", visit Episode #105:

Jump to Episode #105

"ON YOUR OWN, BUT NOT ALONE: 50 FREE and Low-Cost Resources for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses!"

If you are enjoying these weekly tips containing free and low cast resources that will help your business, then you may want to pick up a copy of our best selling book “ “ON YOUR OWN, BUT NOT ALONE: 50 FREE and Low-Cost Resources for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses!” It contains 50 programs, tools and resources that are all free or low-cost – and when I say low-cost I mean under $20! Get your copy on Amazon today!

Available on Amazon.com - HERE

I have used this service for years and it has been a lifesaver that allows me to “appear” efficient – even when things are crazy.

Let me explain…

Many of you know that I am in the entertainment business and I travel internationally quite often during the year -- many times on cruise ships where it can be very expensive to call or even communicate by email! For those of you have travelled by ship, you may be aware that internet access – which can be as slow as old-fashioned dial-up access -- can cost as much as $1/minute!

For that reason, it is not practical to take time online to write detailed email replies, so it is better for me to schedule to reply to emails at a more practical time – But it is very easy to forget about emails once you’ve received them. So how do I remember who to reply to without things slipping through the cracks?

That's where this free service comes in handy -- and I love using it! There are no plugins or programs to install and it works with all email clients and on any device and it's intuitive and easy to use.

Links Mentioned in this Episode:

https://www.nudgemail.com/

A Professional and Reliable Webinar Program for UNDER $20???

Webinar programs are expensive. Go-to-webinar: starts at $109/month.  WebinarJam and Everwebinar cost $499/year! That’s a LOT of money – especially if you are just beginning to experiment with webinars and may only be presenting a few a year.

Here is a sample and a walkthrough of the program I recommend and use for "pre-recorded" webinars.

(This link takes you right to the replay - no signup required).

https://app.getwebbyo.com/webinar/Z20GPJW2z7jV/replay

There is so much more you can do with this service than what I am going to mention, so I do recommend going to their website at and exploring all that they have to offer. Their prices are very reasonable (a 6 x 9 postcard printed and mailed costs .90 cents with no minimums).

There are no minimums, and with their FREE plan, here’s just some of what they offer:

Personalized Mailings: Did you ever receive a postcard in the mail that had YOUR name right on the front image of the postcard? You can do the same thing with your mailings!

A "Triggered" Drip Campaign: You can arrange postal mailing to be part of your CRM’s workflow! So, for example if someone fills out a subscription form on your website, a postcard or mailing can be sent without you having to do a thing!

Unlimited pURLS: (Personalized URL’s and Scanning Codes) which creates a unique tracking URL for the receiver to use to get to your site which allows you to track their interactions.

Links Mentioned in this Episode:

https://www.postalytics.com/

A Professional and Reliable Webinar Program for UNDER $20???

Webinar programs are expensive. Go-to-webinar: starts at $109/month.  WebinarJam and Everwebinar cost $499/year! That’s a LOT of money – especially if you are just beginning to experiment with webinars and may only be presenting a few a year. 

Here is a sample and a walkthrough of the program I recommend and use for "pre-recorded" webinars.  

(This link takes you right to the replay - no signup required).

https://app.getwebbyo.com/webinar/Z20GPJW2z7jV/replay

I was trying to assemble a simple 30 second video for a web project I was working on. In the past I used to use “Animoto.com” — a simple video program where you could drop images in and it would automatically assemble a 30 second video for you at no cost – and I loved it — but a few years ago they discontinued their free option, so rather than paying a monthly fee (which made no sense since I only produce a few videos a year for my websites) — I needed to find another economical option…

Researching online I discovered this program — and I was amazed!

Not only will it put together an video of nearly any short length, but it has the ability to log onto any blog post or website and by using “artificial intelligence”, it selects text and images and puts them together automatically for you as a presentation!

I am not a video guy, and admittedly, it takes me a long time to put a video presentation together that I am happy with.

The one I was working on at the time I had already spent two days working on it. When I discovered this program, I put a presentation together in only about 20 minutes!

Links Mentioned in this Episode:

https://www.lumen5.com 

FREE for up to 5 videos a month - (Upgrades start at $29/Month)

Facebook Ads Course Discount Code - As a subscriber - only $15

Want to learn Facebook Advertising?  Normally priced at $125 -- here is a $110 discount code for our Facebook Course!  Just click on the link, and choose our Facebook Ads Course and use the following code at checkout to get it for only $15!

https://enlightened.coachzippy.com/

Discount code: EEPOD10

Using copyrighted music can get you banned from the platforms like YouTube, Facebook and others and can even open your business up to litigation. As much as you would like to use that music – don’t. You are opening yourself up to a lot of restrictions and may have to end up having to re-record your presentations because you will find that it will not be accepted on major platforms.

The way around this is to use what is called Royalty Free music. 

If you do a search for Royalty Free music on the internet, you will find a lot of available sites. Some of the popular ones include “Storyblocks”, “Soundcloud”, “Audio Jungle” – and even Adobe has a royalty free archive – but don’t be mistaken and think that the music that you find on any of those sites are actually “free” – they charge you for each song that you wish to download and the price can range from $30 to hundreds of dollars per song!. Even the site called “Free Music Archive” charges for each of their songs!

So where do you go to actually find Royalty Free music that is actually free? -- Want to know my “go-to” source for great, completely free music to use in your presentations? It is not anywhere where you would expect to find it!...

Links Mentioned in this Episode:

YouTube Free Audio Library: https://studio.youtube.com/  (Once logged in, on the left side, scroll down and select Audio Library)

Facebook Ads Course Discount Code - As a subscriber - only $15

Want to learn Facebook Advertising?  Normally priced at $125 -- here is a $110 discount code for our Facebook Course!  Just click on the link, and choose our Facebook Ads Course and use the following code at checkout to get it for only $15!

https://enlightened.coachzippy.com/

Discount code: EEPOD10

WANT TO BOOK A "ONE-ON-ONE" COACHING CALL?

As the founder of "The Enlightened Entrepreneur", Harry Maurer can help you achieve your business goals!

https://go.oncuepro.com/CoachingCall

Using this service is so much easier that using a service like Fiverr where you are at the mercy of a designer who knows nothing about you and your business and you may have to wait a few days for results and don’t really know what you are going to end up getting. This way, you pick exactly the look you want already laid out in a professional format and adapt it your needs.

If you are just beginning a new “side-hustle” or you want to create a brand image for your current company – or if you want to replace the logo you have with something that you feel might represent you better, then try this service and I know you will be impressed

Links Mentioned in this Episode:

Logo section of Poster-My-Wall:  

Facebook Ads Course Discount Code - As a subscriber - only $15 

Want to learn Facebook Advertising?  Normally priced at $125 -- here is a $110 discount code for our Facebook Course!  Just click on the link, and choose our Facebook Ads Course and use the following code at checkout to get it for only $15!

https://enlightened.coachzippy.com/

Discount code: EEPOD10

I think one of the most frustrating things is to find out about a live event, a meeting or a Facebook live presentation that I would like to attend, and then not be able to easily put it on my calendar so that I can see it on my schedule and plan for it! And I think I other people may feel the same way.

Most webinar programs have an “add-to-calendar” button built into them (although I have been shocked that some “high-end” webinar programs do not!), but if you are scheduling a meeting with a client, a Facebook live event or an in-person event at your company you may not have a button available to you to allow people to add the event easily to their calendar.

I searched for a program that will work without having to pay a monthly fee – and this one fit the bill perfectly and it fit my criteria – it was easy to use, it looked professional, it worked perfectly – and it was free!

Links mentioned in this Episode:

Free Add to Calendar Button by Eventable:

https://add.eventable.com/free-add-to-calendar-button

"ON YOUR OWN, BUT NOT ALONE: 50 FREE and Low-Cost Resources for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses!"

If you are enjoying these weekly tips containing free and low cast resources that will help your business, then you may want to pick up a copy of our best selling book “ “ON YOUR OWN, BUT NOT ALONE: 50 FREE and Low-Cost Resources for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses!” It contains 50 programs, tools and resources that are all free or low-cost – and when I say low-cost I mean under $20! Get your copy on Amazon today!

Available on Amazon.com - HERE

If you haven’t checked lately – webinar programs can be expensive! Go-to-webinar: starts at $109/month.  Webinar Jam and Everwebinar cost $499/year! That’s a LOT of money – especially if you are just beginning to experiment with webinars and may only present a few a year.

I came across this program to present pre-recorded webinars – and believe it or not, its biggest obstacle that keeps people from using it is the price – it’s less than $20.  That low price actually keeps people from purchasing it because they believe at that low a price it can’t possibly be any good -- but let me tell you from experience that it is one of the best and easiest webinar programs I have ever used – and it’s extremely reliable!

Links mentioned in this Episode:

Webbyo - A program to present "pre-recorded" webinars:

CLICK HERE

Here's a sample Webbyo presentation where I show you the major features of Webbyo!

CLICK HERE

Luma (Formerly ZmURL) Used to create Registration pages for Zoom Meetings: 

Jump to Episode #102

"ON YOUR OWN, BUT NOT ALONE: 50 FREE and Low-Cost Resources for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses!"

If you are enjoying these weekly tips containing free and low cast resources that will help your business, then you may want to pick up a copy of our best selling book “ “ON YOUR OWN, BUT NOT ALONE: 50 FREE and Low-Cost Resources for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses!” It contains 50 programs, tools and resources that are all free or low-cost – and when I say low-cost I mean under $20! Get your copy on Amazon today!

Available on Amazon.com - HERE

There was a time when it was not important to have an SSL certificate – it was the wild west days of the internet. But when spammers and unscrupulous people started taking advantage of people online by stealing ID’s, credit card numbers and personal information, it became more and more important to “secure” sites with an SSL certificate and most people will not continue to a site that is not secure (which may keep you from getting visitors…or business).

Some hosting platforms have started providing SSL certificates at no additional charge – and I commend them for that, but there are still many hosting providers that do not -- or they charge you either monthly or yearly for an SSL certificate and the cost can range from $9.99/month through Network Solutions to yearly fees ranging from $40 - $120 or more!

…but you don’t have to pay for that!  Here's how to get one for FREE!

Links Mentioned in this Episode:

https://www.cloudflare.com

Here's a video that will walk you through the process (easy)!

https://youtu.be/Y4iHXhRkpO4

"ON YOUR OWN, BUT NOT ALONE: 50 FREE and Low-Cost Resources for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses!"

If you are enjoying these weekly tips containing free and low cast resources that will help your business, then you may want to pick up a copy of our best selling book “ “ON YOUR OWN, BUT NOT ALONE: 50 FREE and Low-Cost Resources for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses!” It contains 50 programs, tools and resources that are all free or low-cost – and when I say low-cost I mean under $20! Get your copy on Amazon today!

Available on Amazon.com - HERE

This is a program that I use all the time! It’s simple to install and it’s a BIG timesaver – especially when you find yourself sending out the same information to people repeatedly!

This program that allows you to create a “hotkey” by assigning keystrokes of your choosing (something you would not accidentally type, like “#li” or “//oo”) and the program will type out a pre-written sentence, paragraph — or even an entire page of text for you instead!

For example, for my book “ON YOUR OWN, BUT NOT ALONE: 50 FREE and Low-Cost Resources for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses!” I just type “//oyo” and it types out the full book title and the URL where people can purchase the book -- saving me  153 keystrokes!

Best of all -- it's FREE!

Links Mentioned in this Episode:

https://www.shortkeys.com/lite.htm

"ON YOUR OWN, BUT NOT ALONE: 50 FREE and Low-Cost Resources for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses!"

If you are enjoying these weekly tips containing free and low cast resources that will help your business, then you may want to pick up a copy of our best selling book “ “ON YOUR OWN, BUT NOT ALONE: 50 FREE and Low-Cost Resources for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses!” It contains 50 programs, tools and resources that are all free or low-cost – and when I say low-cost I mean under $20! Get your copy on Amazon today!

Available on Amazon.com - HERE