There are 2 types of people in the world - those who dive straight in - all guns blazing and those who prefer to tread cautiously, 1 step at a time. 

This is equally true in business.  Some people have an idea and throw a ton of money at it. - They buy all the advice and resources they can find in the hope of finding the things that will set their business alight.  Others prefer to feel their way in, working out what they want.  They then try out a few apps and do their research as to where to invest.

If, like me, you fall into this second camp then this is the post for you!  There are a ton of blogs out there on the wonderful web pushing you to buy their apps.  They try to persuade you that to be serious about starting a business, you need to invest a lot of money in it. Well, I'm here to show you there is an alternative!

Why Use Free Resources?

If you are starting out with an on-line business whether a blog, an on-line shop or a supporting website - I believe in starting with Free Resources for a few big reasons.

• It is all very well spending money if you get something valuable in return. When you're first starting out however, it's really difficult to know what is truly valuable and what is just a waste of money.

• You don't know what you really need when you start.  I've changed my focus and business model 3 times already since I started. If I had invested in a brand, a logo, a website etc at the start I would have wasted a heap of money.

• It takes time to learn.  Not sure if you have heard the old saying that "you don't know what you don't know".  When you're deciding on what type of business tools you need there are a lot of options to choose from.  The problem when you are starting out is that you have no idea of what most of them even mean.

If this has you nodding your head then here are some of the free resources I've used to get started and that I highly recommend to you.

Free Resources List - updated 2022

Website

The general consensus seems to be that you should start with a self-hosted wordpress site for lots of reasons (mainly monetary) but the problem is that this costs money.  If you are a complete beginner, then I recommend starting with a Wordpress.com website to learn the ropes. Most of the set-up is the same as self-hosted and you will learn a lot in the process. It's easy to switch later on and you'll save yourself a few months payments on your own site.

Self-Hosted

Once you understand a little more about setting up your site and writing your posts, you can move to a free themed wordpress.org self-hosted site (OK - not completely free as you will need to pay for your domain and for someone to host your site).

Just transfer over your site and away you go.

I used the Astra Free Theme for my site with Elementor Page Builder (also free).

I bought my Domain from Go Daddy and host my site through Siteground.  Total spend to date is £42.16.

You can now play with a few plug ins and finetune even more on the type of site you want and the features you need.  Once you've made your mind up then you can buy a premium theme. You'll have a much clearer idea of what features are important to you and what your site needs to do.

Update 2022: I have now moved over to Squarespace for my website but was on my free Wordpress for 4 years before deciding to make the switch.

Selling online

If you're looking to sell your own products - physical or digital then this is another area with a steep learning curve to get through.  The biggest problem (after the initial set-up) is driving traffic to your store so that your customers can find you.  For this reason, I recommend starting with an online shopping site that already has an audience.  You will pay more in fees (when you sell) but it is the best way to grow your audience.

Once you have a following then you can look at moving them to your own site that you control and manage yourself.

Etsy

If you want to give this a go then you can use this link to start an Etsy shop for free with 40 listings.  You will only pay something when you start making sales so you have nothing to lose.

Disclaimer:  I also get 40 free listings when you use this link but I host my shop through Etsy and would recommend them to anyone starting out.

PS  If you are selling digital products you need to be aware of the European VAT rules which apply wherever you are based.  Etsy take care of all this for you so you can just forget all about it!!

Social Media Scheduling tools

Once your business is up and running, you'll probably want to promote your business via social media. It won't be long before you start looking for a way to schedule your posts so you're not spending all day glued to your computer. There are lots of options out there but again you need to take the time to understand what you need and where you want to focus your time.

Take advantage of all the free resources, trials and options you can find to see what works for you and to learn how you want to use them. Some of them have a bit of a learning curve to get going.

Later

I love this app and use it for both Instagram and Pinterest. You can schedule 30 posts free each month on each platform which is plenty to start with and you can preview your Instagram feed ahead of time. One of my favourite free resources

Planoly

In 2021, I moved from Later to Planoly for both Pinterest and Instagram as I preferred their web layout.

Facebook Scheduler

To schedule my Facebook posts I use the in-build scheduler which is free to use. The one huge benefit of this, is that it allows you to schedule posts to Facebook Groups as well as to your Page which is a big plus for me. I do find it a little glitchy though so be warned!

Tailwind

I can't talk about Pinterest without mentioning Tailwind but when you actually look at it, it soon gets pretty expensive. You can get a free trial for 100 pins (no time limit) so give that a go before you commit to paying for a plan.

Update: I did the trial and then did pay for Tailwind for a year but have to say I found it overcomplicated and a little long-winded! I prefer the slightly simpler features of Planoly for now.

Facebook groups

Not really a free resource but signing up to a few Facebook groups is a great way to increase the reach of your Facebook posts and many of them have regular networking threads that you can use to raise your profile and get your message out there. Totally free, but they do take time.

See above for a way to auto schedule your posts to up to 3 Facebook groups at a time

Email Marketing

Mailerlite

I’ve been running by email list for a couple of years now and just love Mailerlite. They have a great free plan for up to 1000 subscribers and allow you to do almost everything you would want on the free plan. I can automate my sign-up and welcome sequences, segment my list, schedule regular newsletters. Plus they look pretty good as well!

Update: I am about to have to start paying as I’ve breached their subscriber limit but will be sticking with Mailerlite for the foreseeable.

Stock photos

Again, you don't really know what look and feel you want for your business when you first start up. You need to decide how you will use photos in your blog, as mock-ups for your products and for Pinterest and social media. You probably don't even know your colour scheme. There are a lot of fabulous sites that will give you free photos that you can use commercially (very important to check the licencing rules) so why not start with them until you have a clearer picture of what you'll need.

Ivorymix

I love this site and their photos are great. VIP subscriptions are available if you decide you need more photos and that the style is right for you.

Unsplash

Massive library of photos to choose from.

Canva

Not only a source for photos but packed full of free resources to make graphics, social media posts and even to design printables and cards. The free option is great to start with but they do have a premium option available that you can upgrade to.

Fonts

If you want to have a certain feel to your website, or you are creating digital products / printables then adding some new fonts to your computer is a bit of a must. You can pay for premium fonts if there is something specific that you want but if not why not start with free fonts. A couple of websites that I've used successfully are:

Google fonts

Almost all are available for Commercial Use and easy to download and install.

Creative Market

Fabulous resource for fonts, photos, patterns, website themes and much more. Once you sign up you'll receive 6 free resources each week or you can buy individual resources that you like .

Other Free Resources

Linktree

If you're on Instagram and want a way to add multiple links to your profile then this is a great add-on. Free and paid options available.

Asana

A great project management / To Do list manager to manage your ever growing list of tasks and projects.

Planners & Printables

There is a lot of planning involved in starting a business and some well designed printable pages can help you achieve your goals.  I've designed a lot of planners as I've been going along and have many of them available on my Free Printables Page to share with you

Summary

I started my business over 4 years and still run the majority on free resources. I have started paying for certain options though, to speed up some of my processes or just because my business can now afford it:

Paid Resources are currently:

• Website Domain - Go Daddy

• Squarespace Website Plan - for website hosting

• Planoly basic plan - for Pinterest and Instagram scheduling

• Canva Pro - for image designs

I've had fantastic success with using free scheduling tools for Pinterest and Instagram - I do now pay for Planoly to give me a higher volume of posts but am not sure if I will continue this next year - I’m still considering other options.

I’d definitely recommend trying some of the free trials out there to see how you get on.

Let me know if there are other free resources out there that you use and love and I'll give them a go.

Remember, you don't need to spend a fortune when you start out.  Wait until you know what you want and why a paid tool will help you achieve it - only then should you get out that purse and hand over the cash.

Good luck and let me know how you get on.

Sarah x

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