including: websites, applications, software, e-tools

Applications & Software

4 Tips to Make the Most of Mobile Ads—Video Content Roundup

Aug 8, 2014

Digital technology continues to open new doors in the world of advertising. Whether they’re engaging with customers on social media or leveraging consumer data for personalized campaigns, businesses have more opportunities than ever to reach their target market. As smartphone technology occupies a greater role in our lives, it’s increasingly easy for businesses to reach their customers wherever they might be or whatever they might be doing. However, mobile advertising is no easy feat and requires some strategic insight in order to generate revenue.

5 Tools To Keep Up-To-Date On Industry News

Oct 10, 2014

If you are an aspiring small business owner or entrepreneur, you probably are diving in head first into secondary market research. The time you spend finding quality resources is very valuable, but with all of the resources consulted and the time devoted to the research, it is easy for keeping up-to-date to fall off the radar once you have a business plan in place.

Adopting Digital Technology (Part 3 of 5): Using Technology for Financial Transactions

Aug 8, 2014

This issue of our Adopting Digital Technology series focuses on monetary transactions, specifically for those small businesses working in business to consumer (B2C) environments, such as a coffee shop, retail shop, restaurant – the list goes on! Every business is at a different degree of technology adoption, and this article addresses the varying degrees of integration.

Check out the SBA “Tools for Doing Business” Page

Aug 8, 2013

Looking for ways to expand the online presence of your business? Here at the SBA we are constantly on the lookout for free or low cost web tools that might be useful to your business. To date, we have compiled a list of over 75 mainly free tools that are usually simple to learn, easy to use and have the potential to significantly enhance the way you do business.

Cool Tools: Managing your Social Media Accounts

Jul 7, 2013

We are big fans of social media and its many attributes here at the SBA, but lately we have been reading about the large amounts of time businesses and entrepreneurs are spending to maintain their social presence.As such, we decided to do a survey of some of the tools available that are designed to manage social media and hopefully make the work more efficient and effective. Hootsuite

Extracting Insights with Data Visualization Tools (Part 1 of 2)

Dec 12, 2015

Data can be hard to manipulate and translate into a user-friendly graphical format. In this blog post series we will review different data visualization tools that will help you unlock the insights hidden in raw data. More importantly, these tools will allow you to answer many business and market questions and tell a compelling story to partners, employees, customers, and investors.     Tableau Public

Extracting Insights with Data Visualization Tools (Part 2 of 2)

Jan 1, 2016

Continuing with our review of data visualization tools, we now introduce you four more tools that aim to satisfy very different user needs. Datawrapper Datawrapper is ideal if you want to create a professionally looking graph in a few minutes. Originally envisioned for world-class journalists, Datawrapper is an open source project supported by ABZV and developed by Journalism++ Cologne. This tool enables anyone to create graphic design-like visualizations in four simple steps, without any programming skills. 

Four Nifty Financial Tools for Small Business Owners

Jul 7, 2015

Keeping track of your financials can seem daunting when you are starting or growing your small business. Accountants and bookkeepers can be expensive, so for entrepreneurs looking to tackle the job themselves, these online tools can help you get expenses under control.

Image Editing Tools

Jan 1, 2015

There are a lot of image creation and editing tools available online, many that offer free accounts as well as premium versions. Don’t worry if you’re not a graphic designer—whether you want to make an infographic, edit a photograph, or create visual content for social media, there are tools that can help you do it. Here are just a few, but there are plenty more out there!