Help Your Business Get Social: 3 Free Tools

Get a lot of bang for no bucks with these free business-oriented platforms.

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Who doesn't like free stuff? I know I sure do, especially when it comes to tools that help me grow my business and boost my productivity.

To be sure, there's a ton of "free" apps and software out there and trying every single one of them would be next to impossible. But recently, I was impressed by the following three that, in my humble opinion, are worth a closer look.

Dudamobile

It's pretty obvious by now that if your company doesn't have a mobile-friendly website, you're missing out on a huge pool of customer prospects. Back in the day, you'd have to hire a Web designer to develop your mobile site. Not anymore. The folks at Dudamobile have created a platform that makes it really easy to create a great-looking mobile version of your website, no design expertise required. Their editing tools are simple to use and you can set it all up in minutes. Cost: Free to start

Wibbitz

In need of video content for your biz? Wibbitz creates a video clip based on the text you have published on your website or blog. (Works better for blogs, I've found.) Just plug in the URL, and it will analyze the text and instantly produce a video clip with computer-generated narration. It also selects images from your site to match what's being said, and you have a couple of customization choices, like the music soundtrack and screen size. The narration can get a little clunky at times, but it's definitely fun to try out. Bonus: The company says its videos can play on any device, including smartphones and tablets. Cost: Free

Google Drive Templates Gallery

At my email marketing company, VerticalResponse, we rely heavily on Google Drive to share documents with the team. But did you know it goes way beyond just sharing documents? Google has business templates, too! Choose templates for invoices, timecards, project trackers and more. They're like Word doc templates on steroids--and in the cloud. Cost: Free

Got any free cool tools that have helped your biz become more efficient? Let me know in the comments below!

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Janine Popick is the CEO and founder of VerticalResponse, a leading provider of self-service email and event marketing, online surveys, social media, and direct mail solutions. The company was ranked No. 2,802 on the 2012 Inc. 5000. @janinepopick