Here are a few resources we've found very helpful for promotion and marketing do-it-yourselfers on a budget. While these resources and vendors are recommended, please be sure to research them further to ensure they are a good fit for your needs and budget. If you know of a useful resource you'd like to see added here, please contact Tiffany Meyer
This was my most recent discovery — thanks to a colleague who introduced this tool just this past month. WuFoo is a web-based, extremely affordable survey tool that offers much more customization and easy-to-use survey reporting tools than others I've tried. Their basic plan is free, and you can use their tutorials to get up and running with a customer survey in a manner of minutes. Check this resource out at www.wufoo.com
Thanks to a colleague, this year I discovered a free and extremely valuable resource for the non-techy to review web site analytics. I've found the Google Analytics site to be very user-friendly, and pretty easy to navigate. While the resource offers the potential to give you access to dozens of types of site visitor data, I usually pick my top 4-5 analytics to focus on, depending on the scope of the client's marketing plan and the objectives they are trying to achieve.
For those of you who do not analyze web site traffic yet, or have avoided it thinking it's either way too expensive or just too time-consuming to bother, I encourage you to check this resource out. You can create an account in minutes, and with just about 1-2 hours each quarter you can begin to make informed decisions about web site improvements, increasing conversion rates, or simply driving more of the "right" traffic to your site.
You can take a preview of Google Analytics or start setting up your free account at www.googleanalytics.com
This web-based tool ranks at the top of my "that's just cool" list this year. If you've ever struggled finding the best word for your marketing copy, or if you're working on naming a service, product, an event, or even your organization, the Visual Thesaurus is a great tool. Just type in a word like "peace" and it instantly creates a visual map of related words. Unlike a typical Thesaurus, the map shows the connections of the synonyms by physically branching them off.
There's no software to install for this service, as it's entirely web based, and works just as effectively on a PC as it does a Mac. Thinkmap offers a free 14-day trial, which is a great way to check out how the service works. An annual subscription is very affordable at just about $30 per year. Check it out at: www.visualthesaurus.com
I discovered RegOnline about two years ago, and am still impressed by the degree of customization, affordability, and efficiency it provides for those of us who manage events. Whether you put on public forums, workshops, or national conferences, this tool is likely to provide you with the administrative support you need so you can focus on the important stuff.
The pricetag for RegOnline varies depending on the size of your events, whether or not you already have a merchant account to accept credit card payments, etc. Typically you pay a per-registrant fee, which helps minimize the risk involved .I used the system for a workshop series I ran two years ago, and found the interface to be extremely efficient. The system walks you step-by-step to create a complete interface for taking registrations, processing event payments, automating email communications like receipts, reminders, tell-a-friend features, etc.
Having worked with organizations in the past that have manually taken registrations and payments, and have had no system to automate event reminders, I can say from experience that this system saved me countless hours of administrative time, not to mention helping maximize attendance by means of the email reminders.
You site registration form can also be customized with your organization or event logo, and a color scheme the correlates with your marketing materials. Check it out at www.regonline.com
This resource is a definite must-have for every nonprofit on a budget. iStockPhoto is a web-based stock photography store where you can browse through literally tens of thousands of royalty-free photos, illustrations, video, and flash images. Unlike some stock photo CDs and stores, here photos and illustration prices start at just $1 for low-resolution (great for web site or Powerpoint presentation use), to $15 for extra-large sized images used for large-scale designs.
This is a very affordable, user friendly web hosting service, priced around $66.00 per year (US) for hosting of basic to moderately technical sites. It has several add-on features, allowing you to set up a basic storefront or photo gallery if needed, as well as to plug in features like a blog. Check them out at www.fatcow.com
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