Did you know that it’s entirely possible for YOU to build a successful business for free?

When I first had the inkling of a business idea, I was a broke college student who refused to pay even a $7 monthly subscription for a website. 

Maybe you can relate, maybe you’re just sick and tired of all the bills.

Key Takeaways

• Payhip for selling products
• Pinterest for advertising 
• Emails with MailChimp
• Google Sheets for organization
• Canva for design
• Pexels or Nappy for stock photos and videos

My business expenses are $0. Well, at least they were until this month when I decided I was willing to pay $10 a month for Mayhem Marketplace. (It’s like a better, cheaper version of Etsy, check it out!)

Building a business absolutely should not mean a mortgage payment of fees every month. Especially when you’re a remote worker who doesn’t have to pay for a building or physical products.

So welcome baddies, to my collection of free tools you can use to run your business. Oh, and I actually use all of these tools!

E-commerce with Payhip

What you can use it for:

• Host your products and services
• Makeshift website
• Write blogs

To be quite frank with you, Payhip has been my saving grace. I was on the hunt for a site I could publish all my digital products to with the lowest amount of fees possible.

Now, if you’re relying on being discovered entirely through organic searches, this is not the tool for you. How many people are going to be actively going to Payhip to search for products? Exactly. You didn’t even know this platform existed before today, right?

That being said, I don’t use Payhip solely as a way to get discovered, it simply houses my products. Instead, I link my products to pins on Pinterest. 

Pinterest does all the heavy lifting of finding traffic, I just make pretty pins that people want to click on.

Which brings me to my next tool.

Advertising with Pinterest

What you can use it for:

• Replace regular social media posting
• Push buyers to your website
• Drive search engine traffic

I’ve completely dropped my social media platforms because of how much I love Pinterest. I’m not joking, go look at the last time I made a post on Instagram.

It was so draining to me to have to come up with content ideas for a post that would maybe get 3 likes. Maybe if I was willing to invest months of consistent effort and energy to a different platform it would be a different story, but I’m not.

You can create a business account on Pinterest for free. Don’t worry, it’s not connected to your personal account, so you can keep the board of Dramione fan art safely tucked away and not associated to your business.

You have the ability to buy ads, but then you have to start paying money, and that’s not what we’re into today.

Content on Pinterest compounds the longer it sits. Meaning, that post you made three months ago is just starting to pick up traffic and get put in front of an audience.

This platform is definitely meant for the long game, but the results are so worth it.

Mailing lists with MailChimp

What you can use it for:

• Build your email list
• Send regular newsletters
• Automatic emails after someone purchases a product

If you take anything away from this blog, let it be this little marketing tidbit. To make bigger sales than just selling a $12 ebook here and there, you need an email list.

Email lists show you people who are actively interested in you, your business or your products. They join because they either wanted your freebie enough or loved your website enough to give you their email address. This is what we’d call a “warm” audience.

They’ve heard your name before and they have some sort of interest in you. Yay!!

If you ever want them to become hot enough to make a purchase, emails are your way to do that. But enough about that for now, that’s an entirely separate blog.

MailChimp allows you to build a mailing list, schedule regular emails and gives you easy-to-use templates.

Even better than that, you can connect your mailing list to Payhip so anyone who buys your products can join your mailing list! How cool is that? I will admit, it’s a little time-consuming, but between you and Google, you got it!

Organization with Google Sheets

What you can use it for:

• Invoice templates
• Budgeting
• Tracking expenses and sales
• Digital Dashboard

Google Sheets is your holy grail for organizing your business, I use it for literally everything. I think I have 3-5 documents I use regularly in a week. 

Obviously, a Google account is free. You can also make an email dedicated to your business for free if you’re not upset by having @gmail.com at the end of it.

With a ton of included templates, Google Sheets makes it so easy to create your own invoice, build a budget document or create something entirely your own.

For me, I despised having multiple windows and 7 million tabs open because I was scared of loosing a link or document I needed. I solved my own problem and taught myself how to make a document that could help me organize.

It’s called a Digital Dashboard and is my favorite tool out of everything on this list. Basically, I made a sheet that I could dump all my links into, write out my to dos, plan my month and have separate pages for each client I work with. It’s actually the best thing ever. I only have to open what I’m actively using at the time and I don’t have to have a heart attack if my computer restarts.

Design with Canva

What you can use it for:

• Social media posts
• Digital products
• Signage
• Portfolio website

I know you already knew about Canva it still felt worth mentioning. 

If you aren’t already using Canva religiously for a free option to design social media posts, what are you even doing? And how can I visit that rock you’re under?

As a user-friendly platform, it’s perfect for any level of design experience. You can also find a limitless amount of templates available on the free plan.

I’ve used Canva to do way more than social media though. I’ve created videos, designed presentations, built banners and even have a version of my portfolio there!

The possibilities are endless, go forth and design.

Stock photos with Pexels (also mention Nappy)

What you can use it for:

• Stock photos and videos
• Match your brand aesthetic
• Build a mood board

It can be so hard to find accessible stock photos that you don’t have to pay royalties on and after a while, it feels like you’re using the same Canva photos over and over again.

When you’re sick of it and need a change of vibe, let me introduce you to Pexels. It’s a free stock photo AND video site with a multitude of different content. If you don’t find what you’re looking for on it, I’d be surprised. Maybe even give you a whole cent.

When you go to download a piece of media, you’re given the option to donate to the photographer, but it’s not required. 

Also worth mentioning is a website called Nappy. It’s specifically used to find photos of Black and Brown people and is a great option for diversity in content.

In Summary

I know all about how it feels to desperately want to run a business where the expenses don’t overrun your earnings. Hopefully something (or multiple somethings) can replace some of your monthly fees and help ease the stress.

*Since you’ve made it this far, here’s one final, extra tip: use the resources at your disposal! Networking is one of the best ways to build trust, find new buyers and get your name out there! Don’t downplay the power of a well-placed testimonial or word of mouth recommendations*

If you have any questions feel free to reach out any time, my email is breathoflifedesignstudio@gmail.com.