There are countless ways to promote your business online, and many of the best tools won’t cost you a cent.

Start Small and Target Well

Rather than trying to be everywhere at once, choose a few platforms where your target audience actually spends their time. Start with the ones you’re comfortable using and tailor your content to suit the style of each platform.

Measure and Refine

Keep an eye on how your posts perform. Use those insights to refine your future content. Your goal is to build an audience that recognises your brand and finds your updates genuinely useful.

Beat the Algorithm

Remember that social media platforms often limit your reach unless you’re paying for ads. To protect your business long-term, find ways to encourage followers to come directly to you—such as signing up for a newsletter or visiting your website. 

Leverage Community Groups 

Join online groups where your expertise adds value. Answering a single question in a group of 1,000 members often provides far more exposure than a standard post on your own page. It’s an efficient way to build a profile and show people what you’re about. 

Streamline Your Content

• Batching: Create a pipeline of posts and schedule them to be released in a staggered manner. This keeps your presence consistent without the daily stress.
• Use FAQs: If one customer asks a question, dozens more are likely thinking it. Use these queries as the foundation for your posts—they make for highly relevant, engaging content. 

The Bottom Line: In today’s market, if you aren’t visible online, you’re leaving money on the table. A strong digital presence isn’t just an option; it’s a business essential.

 

Managing money is a hugely important part of your business. Effective cashflow control is crucial to avoid issues like overdrawn accounts and unnecessary bank fees.

Professional Accounting Advice

Unless you are skilled in accounting, you should locate a compatible accountant. Local small business groups or your local Chamber of Commerce can be excellent sources for introductions.

• Interview potential accountants: Understand their service offering and determine who you will be liaising with day-to-day.
• Clarify fees: Confirm what services to expect and how charging works before entering into any arrangements.

Your accountant will likely have a preferred software platform, such as Xero or MYOB, which provides visibility of your banking and taxation accounts via a monthly subscription.

Daily Cashflow Tracking

We suggest using a tool like Google Sheets to track your bank balance almost daily.

• Record all transactions: Log outgoing payments as they are scheduled and income as it is received.
• Monitor for issues: Tracking daily allows you to take action before problems occur.
• Avoid fees: Overdrawn account fees should be avoided; they signal a lack of adequate control over your cashflow.

Invoicing and Payments

• Invoice promptly: Issue invoices as soon as goods or services are provided.
• Enforce payment terms: If you offer terms, follow up on non-payment immediately. Stop providing further goods until the account is settled. If you do not “police” your terms, you are simply providing an interest-free loan to your customers.
• Optimise outgoing cash: Take full advantage of any payment terms offered by your own creditors. Schedule your payments to optimise your available cash.

Managing unique, complex passwords for every account is nearly impossible without help. A password manager simplifies your digital life while significantly increasing your security.

• Bitwarden (Recommended): This is our preferred tool because it is open-source, highly secure, and works across all platforms (Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and Linux).
• Automatic Syncing: Bitwarden securely syncs your passwords, notes, and other vault items so they are available on every device you use.
• Browser Extensions: In browsers like Chrome, Bitwarden uses a plugin to autofill your credentials. While it generally works well, some sites may require you to manually copy and paste if the autofill is erratic.
• Google Password Manager: For sites where Bitwarden struggles, you can use Google’s built-in manager as a backup for smoother integration within Chrome. 

The Move to Passkeys

Passkeys are a modern, encrypted alternative to passwords. They allow you to log in to websites and apps without ever entering a username or password. 

• Set Up Everywhere: You should set up passkeys whenever a service offers them. They are more secure because they are resistant to phishing—a fake website cannot trick you into “giving away” a passkey like it can with a password.
• Multi-Device Portability: By storing passkeys in Bitwarden, they become “synced passkeys.” This means once you save a passkey on your phone, you can use it to log in on your laptop through the Bitwarden extension or desktop app.
• Phishing Protection: Because passkeys are tied to the specific domain of a website, they effectively eliminate the risk of being tricked by lookalike spoofed websites. 

Quick Tips for Bitwarden & Passkeys

• Enable Biometrics: Use your fingerprint or Face ID to unlock your Bitwarden vault quickly.
• Make Bitwarden Primary: In your browser settings, you can set Bitwarden as the default to prevent conflicting pop-ups from your browser’s built-in manager.
• Cross-Device Login: If you haven’t synced your devices, you can still use your phone’s stored passkey to log in to a PC by scanning a QR code. 

It has been quite a while since this site received the attention it deserves. Today, that changes.

As we look toward the future, we’ve been thinking about what our experience can truly offer you. We aren’t here to give you advice on how to manufacture your products or how to drive sales; instead, our expertise lies in the Internet technologies and services that power your business behind the scenes—the tools that control and support the activities your customers actually pay you for.

The Value of Choice: FOSS vs. Commercial

Our journey has been shaped by the incredible value of the Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) movement. We have found immense utility in the free tiers of various providers. However, we’ve also learned that it is often a smarter strategic decision to subscribe to a commercial product—provided you understand the potential for vendor lock-in and the long-term pricing risks.

Why Google Workspace Remains a Top Contender

Currently, Gmail stands out as a premier service that extends far beyond simple, reliable email. A free account serves as a gateway to a full suite of productivity tools:

• Google Docs & Sheets: Seamless collaboration and document management.
• Google Calendar: Integrated scheduling.
• Google Photos: Secure cloud storage for your visual assets.

Our Advice: Embrace the Ecosystem

To get the most out of Google’s offerings, we recommend staying flexible. Try running with their native workflows and recommendations first, rather than trying to force the tools into your existing habits.

Specifically, we’ve seen that attempting to emulate the Microsoft Outlook experience within Google products often leads to a steeper, less productive learning curve. If you embrace the Google “way” of working, the transition is much smoother.

Gmail is available on every platform and consistently ranks in our Top 5 Essential Tools for Small Business.