For “Do-It-Yourself Marketers” looking for some great tools to grow your business.

Not everyone has the funds to cover hiring a Marketing Agency AND a working budget to pay for all the elements included in the marketing plan. A great thing about what has been happening in the rapidly evolving marketing industry is the introduction of a large number of free, or inexpensive, marketing resources available for the savvy small business owner capable of going it alone and handling their own marketing activities.

As an agency we’ve tried them all, so consider this a carefully curated list of services we believe are worthy of recommending:

COMPETITIVE RESEARCH TOOLS

Spyfu

This is a fun tool that can give you incredible insights into what your competitors are doing to gain leads and outrank your site in search engine results.  Learn what keywords they’re targeting, and how you can organize them into core concepts that can drive the content you’re using in your inbound marketing efforts.  Get an AdWords campaign up and running without going through the trial and error of finding the right keywords and ad copy, since you’ll see every place they’ve shown up on Google: every keyword they’ve bought on Adwords, every organic rank, and every ad variation in the last 12 years.  And if you’re interested in influencer marketing, this tool can even help you target the influencers whose links will help you rank on a specific keyword with a custom audience on Facebook or Twitter, or build a relationship with them directly.  Beginning at just $33/month, this can be the budget-marketer’s best secret weapon – you’ll probably save that much per month in the savings you gain by lowering your AdWords cost per keyword!  LEARN MORE and explore their 30-day, no questions-asked, money back guarantee. No contracts. Zero hoops.

VIRTUAL MEETING APPLICATIONS

Personal meetings make for impactful first impressions, can be the medium to seal the deal for final discussions, and help you collaborate with clients and partners as projects progress. There are several good choices for applications you can use to hold virtual meetings, whether it’s a simple screen-share between colleagues or a full-blown new sales pitch. Here is the short-list of some of our favorites:

GotoMeeting

Easy. Reliable. Many Experienced Users. One of the web’s most popular services for online meetings, demos, presentations, and collaborative brainstorming, this one has been around for awhile, so they’ve had plenty experience to get the bugs out of the system. Attendees experience a speedy sign-on with no sign up or download required – just click a link. Available for Chrome or Firefox, we love that its free for up to three users to video conferencing and screen sharing, and paid plans start at just $39. Audio is included, with users able to select between VoIP or phone. Click to EXPLORE FURTHER, with a complementary demo.

WEBINARS

GoToWebinar

Webinars are a great way to educate your audience about your product or service, and to establish yourself and your business as subject-matter experts. If you’re doing this yourself and on a small budget, Citrix’ GoToWebinar is a simple, cost-effective tool for hosting live online events that will give you the professional-level experience you want to deliver. Up to 1,000 attendees can easily be invited and engaged with high-definition video, screen sharing, interactive tools and more. Register Here for a complimentary evaluation of the product, on us.