29 Tools and Resources for the Bootstrapping Entrepreneur

Starting a business is already expensive and time-consuming enough. The young internet entrepreneur can use some of the following tools and resources to help get started on their journey (while they’re still working in a basement, parents home or shared apartment) before they can afford to pay for every piece of software they need or to hire someone who knows the tricks of the trade.

1. 7 Zip: http://7-zip.org (free download) An open source, free alternative to WinZip.

2. Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net (free download) An open source software used for recording & editing audio files.

3. AVG: http://free.avg.com (free download) Anti-virus and anti-spyware protection.

4. BrowserShots: http://browsershots.org (free online tool) Use this site to view how your website look in various browsers.

5. CamStudio: http://camstudio.org (free download) Lets you record all screen & audio activity on your computer and create video files.

6. CCleaner: http://ccleaner.com (free download) Removes unused files from your pc allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up space.

7. Color Cop: http://colorcop.net (free online tool) A multi-purpose color picker — great for web designers and programmers.

8. Down For Everyone: http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com (free online tool) Is your site down? Use this tool to see if your website is down for other people.

9. DupeFree: http://dupefreepro.com (free download) Quickly check for duplicate content & LSI keywords.

10. Evernote: http://evernote.com (free download) Scan your notes, receipts, etc … it will OCR the content, sace it, and make it searchable).

11. FileZilla: http://filezilla-project.org (free download) Open source FTP program for uploading files to your host.

12. Firefox: http//mozilla.com/firefox (free download) Alternate web browser.

13. GIMP: http://gimp.org (free download) An open source program used to create & edit — free alternative to Photoshop.

14. Give Away Of The Day: http://giveawayoftheday.com (free download) Unique site that offers you a free license digital product daily.

15. Kompozer: https://kompozer-web.de/en (free download) An easy to use WYSIWYG HTML editor.

16. Marketing Forum: http://resell-rights-weekly.com/forum (free online tool) Very helpful forum with lots of good info on internet marketing. Friendly members too.

17. NicheBot Classic: http://nichebotclassic.com (free online tool) Online keyword research tool helps you target the correct keywords.

18. Open Office: http://openoffice.org (free download) Open source office software — word processing, spreadsheets, databases, presentations …

19. OSWD: http://oswd.org/ (free downloads) Open Source Web Design offers free web design templates.

20. PDF995: http://pdf995.com (free download) Use this tool to easily convert files to PSD format.

21. PDF to Word Converter: http://pdftoword.com (free online tool) Easily create editable Word Doc files from PDF content — for legit purposes only! :-)

22. Pixie: http://nattyware.com/pixie.php (free download) Great for web designers — just point to a color and discover the code value for that color.

23. Resell Rights Weekly: http://resell-rights-weekly.com (many free downloads) Free membership where you can download over 300 PLR/RR products for free.

24. Roboform: http://roboform.com (free download) Easily & safely manage your passwords.

25. ScreenHunter: http://wisdom-soft.com/sh/sh_free.htm (free download) Software that allows you to “capture” any part of your desktop, a window or full screen.

26. Skype: http://skype.com (free download) Make free calls over the internet to other people on Skype.

27. Textpad: http://textpad.com (free download) A powerful text editor. I personally like Textpad for editing HTML code.

28. VLC Media Player: http://videolan.org/vlc (free download) Media player capable of reading most audio and video formats.

29. WordPress Help Sheets And Resources: http://1stwebdesigner.com/wordpress 23 extremely helpful WordPress help sheets and resources.

Why Should You Read ROI Overload?

Ihave a passion for motivating, inspiring and educating businesses on how to leverage emerging technologies and digital marketing to stand out from the noise and reach their target consumers and clients. With over 10 years in enterprise biz dev and take to market strategy, I have helped both start-ups and enterprise organizations navigate complex markets in both traditional industries as well as bleeding edge technology fields.

I’m the Head of Marketing & Business Development at Bedrock Affect, a Forbes Contributor & Biz Dev Council member, a Hackernoon Contributor, an Entrepreneur and a huge nerd.

Scott Douglas Clary — Founder, ROI Overload

29 Tools and Resources for the Bootstrapping Entrepreneur was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.