7 Free Business Resources Every Owner Can Use During This Crisis

Moz Training for Online Marketing

Moz is the leading online marketing training service. Ask any online marketer or search engine optimizer and they will tell you they have learned so much from MOZ. Well thankfully, MOZ has released all its training courses for free. Get SEO free training through May 31st, 2020.

Remember that so many of your customers are at home right now. Use some of these courses to learn how to actively find and engage them.

If you want to explore more options, First Card Payments offers SEO services as well. We are more than just a high risk merchant account provider, we are a full-service online business solutions provider. Contact us to learn more.

Google 

Chances are, you already have a Gmail account set up, so why not make full use of your G Suite features? Google Drive is an excellent tool for working remotely with your team because it allows you to share files, do video calls and use Google’s Docs, Slides and Sheets features all for free. Google Drive also comes with 15 gigabytes of free storage so you can keep business files safely online.

Don’t forget about this tool. It’s everywhere and its beyond helpful. It is one of the easiest to use and more helpful free business resources you can take advantage of right now.

You can also use Google to research what the competition is doing. Search Google for the phrase that you want your business to rank for, and see what pages your competitors are ranking for on Google. Take their ideas and do it better! Use them as a benchmark when you begin creating online pages and beefing up your website.

Free online courses

Of course, MOZ is the first place to check. Now that you have more time in your hands, use this as an opportunity to learn more about your business. We live in the era of massive open online courses online anyway so you will have no shortage of options depending on what part of the business you want to learn more about. Ivy League institutions like Stanford and MIT has a lot of free online courses.

You can also check out Coursera, edX and Udacity for more options. Real professors give video lectures and worksheets are provided for you to apply what you learned. Attending online courses also gives you the opportunity to build your network with other entrepreneurs around the world.

WordPress

With the lockdown that’s going on, a lot of businesses are shifting online to still reach their consumers and hopefully get their sales going. If you haven’t done that or even if your services can’t be offered online, it’s still very important to have an online presence, especially since most consumers are spending more time online.

If you don’t have the budget to hire a web designer yet, WordPress offers you free templates that you can use to build a simple website. And if you’re planning to sell online, WordPress also offers some very affordable annual fees for e-commerce sites with almost all the functionalities you need to get up and going.

First Card Payments also offers web development services to our clients. Ask us about our services: (877) 441-6801.

 

Canva

Since a lot of other businesses will be competing to build their brand online, you will need good graphic design to stand out from the crowd. But you don’t need to hire a graphic designer to create your own materials with the help of Canva.

This free graphic design tool doesn’t only offer a wide range of templates for different platforms, but it’s also very user-friendly that even non-techies will do just fine using it. Graphics are VITAL to your website’s performance. Not only do thumbnails matter on YouTube, but they matter on your website.

Take the extra time to sign up and design some thumbnails for your site.

Project Manage Through Asana

Keep track of your projects, of your remote employees, and of your workflow all through Asana. It’s the all in one project management tool.

The tool does have a small learning curve, but once you get over that initial hurdle, you and your team will love how it works. There are so many features and checklists to keep your work flowing through this crisis.

“80% of customers say Asana increases accountability on their team. 81% of customers say Asana helps them communicate about work more easily. 68% of customers say Asana makes their team’s goals more clear. 74% of customers say Asana helps their team meet deadlines.”

How to Get Business Loans During The Crisis

Yes, the stimulus package is providing FREE business loans to companies and to contractors. But there are a limited number of them. We have found the advice from real estate investor Meet Kevin to be the most useful. Yes he’s young, yes he’s primarily a real estate investor, but he has got 2 great videos about the crisis and he walks business owners through the entire process to allow you to apply for your piece of the stimulus package.

 

Are you ready to explore these tools for your business?

We hope you take advantage of these free business resources while you can. Some have a limited time offer, so jump while you can. This is an unprecedented, once in a lifetime moment, and the way your business reacts will make all the difference. It’s already difficult for some high risk merchant account providers to manage their client accounts. Not us. If you need anything for your business. We are here to help: