Best-Kept Guru Tightwad Secrets – The Most Powerful, Free Software, Tools, And Resources For Online Marketers

You do NOT need to spend a bunch of money to get the software and other resources you need to make money online. In fact, you can get some extremely powerful software absolutely free…if you know where to look.

So, this post won’t be too wordy – I’m just going to share the most useful free software available – the stuff I use nearly every day and which often has commercial equivalents that sell for several hundred dollars.

Please realize that this is a somewhat PC-weighted list, but be sure to check each website for Mac versions, if you’re so inclined.

Here we go…

• Open Office – Totally free alternative to Microsoft Office. This is beautiful, powerful software that even generates PDF files from right inside each application – word processor, database, presentation creator, drawing tools. Get it here.
• Gimp - A virtual carbon copy of Photoshop, with plenty of tutorials available on YouTube and other places around the internet. In the long run, it’s probably smarter to outsource graphics if you’re not very good at it, but if you don’t have the money yet, or you like doing it yourself, Gimp is the way to go. Get it here.
• FileZilla - A free FTP program that does everything the paid programs do. If you manage your own website(s), or soon will (you should), you need this software to transfer files to and from your server. Get it here.
• Audacity - An awesome, free audio recording and editing program. Almost like having professional recording software, but without the high price tag – or any pricetag, for that matter! Get it here.
• Camstudio - This simple, powerful software lets you record your screen to create tutorials, reviews, or your own products. Camtasia (costs about $300) does have a lot more features, but Camstudio is a great tool when you’re just starting out. Get it here.
• Jing - Techsmith, the company that makes Camtasia, recently released this free alternative, which lets you capture video or still images from your screen, and save them locally or on their sharing site. There is a 5-minute video capture limit, but this tool is extremely useful and has been picking up a lot of momentum lately. Get it here.
• Pixel Ruler – This nifty little tool will let you measure areas of your screen, or websites, or whatever. It’s not essential, but it does come in handy sometimes. Get it here.
• CutePDF - A clean little print driver that lets you create PDF files from any application, simply by printing to the CutePDF driver. Get it here.
• NoteTab Light – Windows’ Notepad on steroids. The professional version is even more powerful, but the light (free) version is awesome on its own. One nice feature is the way it shows what row/column you’re on in the status bar, and its ability to wrap text to any width you like, which is especially handy for autoresponder email setup. Get it here.
• ScreenHunter - This is a very handy little free screen capture program that lets you select regions of your screen by dragging your mouse. Get it here.
• Google AdWords Editor – If you do anything with pay-per-click advertising, you really should use this handy tool from Google. It controls probably 99.5% of all Google AdWords functions, but in a way that lets you edit multiple campaigns, keywords, and ads offline, and then bulk upload them when you’re ready. Get it here.

That should give you a pretty good start – and at absolutely no cost whatsoever!

Now you really have no excuses

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