Affordable Tools for Starting a Professional Services Business
Setting Up a Professional Services Business with the Right Software on a Shoestring Budget
In episode 4 of Getting Down to Business, Mark Mondo and Cynthia Zimmerman discuss how entrepreneurs can set up a professional services business on a tight budget. They cover affordable or free software solutions for website hosting, CRM, email marketing, video editing, and collaboration tools. We explore how AI tools, like ChatGPT, can help streamline content creation, making it possible to run a business efficiently without breaking the bank.
Key Takeaways
- How to find affordable website hosting and domain services (Weebly, GoDaddy, Zoho Sites).
- Affordable tools for video and image editing (Vimeo, CapCut, GIMP, Canva).
- Collaboration and communication tools for teams (Zoho Cliq, Slack, Zoom).
- Using AI (ChatGPT) to assist with content marketing and other creative tasks.
- Introduction to email marketing tools (Mailchimp, Mailjet) and free invoicing/accounting tools (Zoho Invoice, PayPal).
In This Episode
- 00:00 – Show Introduction: Mark and Cynthia introduce the topic of setting up a professional services business on a budget.
- 05:00 – The Importance of a Website: How to set up a professional website using affordable services like Weebly or Zoho Sites.
- 15:00 – Domain Names and Hosting: Discussion on buying domain names and the importance of having a professional email address.
- 25:00 – Tools for Video and Image Editing: Free tools like CapCut and GIMP for video and image editing, and when to invest in premium services like Vimeo.
- 35:00 – Collaboration Tools: How tools like Zoho Click and Zoom can help teams collaborate efficiently without high costs.
- 45:00 – AI for Content Creation: Using ChatGPT to generate marketing content, including blog posts, cold emails, and SEO strategies.
- 55:00 – Email Marketing and Invoicing Tools: Free email marketing platforms like Mailchimp and Mailjet, and accounting software options like ZohoBooks and PayPal for startups.
Guest Bio
Mark Mondo founded MondoCRM 1997 and earned his skills growing up in the family business and working in the software industry as VAR, publisher and consultant since 1993. Cynthia Zimmerman has worked in the non-profit space since 1991 in event and project management, and when she’s away from the desk, she’s singing utilizing her classical training for Christ Church in Winnteka, Illinois.
Additional Resources
- Website Hosting and Domain Services:
- Weebly: https://www.weebly.com
- GoDaddy: https://www.godaddy.com
- Zoho Sites: https://www.zoho.com/sites/
- Video and Image Editing Tools:
- CapCut: https://www.capcut.com
- GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program): https://www.gimp.org
- Canva: https://www.canva.com
- Vimeo: https://www.vimeo.com
- Collaboration and Communication Tools:
- Zoho Cliq: https://www.zoho.com/cliq/
- Slack: https://www.slack.com
- Zoom: https://www.zoom.us
- AI Content Creation:
- ChatGPT by OpenAI: https://openai.com/chatgpt
- Email Marketing Tools:
- Mailchimp: https://www.mailchimp.com
- Mailjet: https://www.mailjet.com
- Invoicing and Accounting Tools:
- ZohoBooks: https://www.zoho.com/books/
- PayPal: https://www.paypal.com
Increase E-Mail Delivery Rates for E-Mail Blasts from your CRM
Before you setup any ESP (Email service provider) for your CRM, you must setup your DKIM and SPF records. You may be asking, “What in the heck does that mean ?”. I will very briefly explain it; then, cite some resources.
ESP (E-mail Service Providers) such as Swiftpage (now Act!), MailChimp or Constant Contact send e-mails using their servers on your behalf. Your clients’ ISPs and spam filters will detect the ESP’s sending the email. However, some clients’ filters are setup to reject this because a hacker could use the same technique to spam you as well.
So an industry consortium created the SPF and the DKIM record. The SPF and DKIM records gets added to your DNS settings so other ISPs know that your ESP is actually legit when sending emails on your behalf.
Here are some links for a couple providers.
- MailChimp
- Constant Contact
- Act! Marketing Automation
- Zoho CRM
- Zoho Campaigns
- Benchmark One (Hatchbuck)
Once this is setup, this is another step closer to avoiding the junk box.
If you don’t know what a DNS record is; then, work with your I.T. contractor to set this up. When we work with our clients, we partner with your I.T. contractor to update this.
Swiftpage E-Marketing To Be Discontinued
Swiftpage E-Marketing will be discontinued on June 30th, 2018.
Re-engage Inactive Clients and Prospects Using CRM & Email
I found a good article on re-connecting with inactive clients and prospects, and it resonates with me because it’s a common request among my clients to use their CRM and tie it to an ESP (E-Mail Service Provider) to reactivate dormant prospects and customers. By the way, it costs 7 times more to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing client and the lifetime value is 10 times greater.
We’d like to believe one email blast with the same message to all contacts solves the problem; however, the author believes a win-back campaign requires precise messaging per market segment. Also, it should be rolled out incrementally so if you do get a high bounce rate, it’s easier to clean up for subsequent mailings. Acceptable hard bounce rates are less than 5% per campaign before ESPs take notice.
How are you engaging your inactive prospects and clients ?
The first thing we’d do is determine if your bounces and opt outs are in separate spreadsheets, and consolidate that in the CRM. Then filter the CRM’s to ensure they no longer get emails. In our practice, we hired a client retention specialist to call clients in addition to email. To help her out, I created a one click report that finds our clients sorted by account size. It takes her about 1 minute to find out who needs to be called.
Some Tips on Avoiding the Junk Box for E-Mail Campaigns
One question we get is, "How do I avoid a spam trap ?". I will answer this from a business process and content creation standpoint. Nothing is full-proof, but these are factors you can control.
From a business process standpoint:
- Do not buy a list of e-mails and solicit them. Will you answer a cold-blasted-email, no matter how good the offer is ? Not likely
- Ask them to add your e-mail to their safe sender list, and here is a list of systems' instructions
- Re-Purpose Blog Commentary like this
- Create some sort of relationship beforehand by direct mail, on-site visit or by telemarketing.
From a content-creation standpoint, these factors raise spam scores
- Using an excessive number of consecutive exclamation points
- Using excessive CAPS to write your message
- Using Microsoft Word as your .html editor. Microsoft Word's .html export tool contains sloppy code, which the spam filters will flag and not deliver
- Using an excessive amount of graphics instead of text. If you send an e-mail with just an image, it may look good for you. However, the spam-bot will flag it.
You can submit your email to some SPAM checker sites as well
Some of my drip marketing campaigns are plain-text in order to increase delivery rates, but I trade off branding and imagery to convey the message.