Work.com Small Business Community Blog

60+ Free Web Development Tools & Resources for Entrepreneurs

I was redoing a website for a friend, and I kept collecting cool free web development tools that I was finding, from free ecommerce shopping carts to Web 2.0 curvy corner generators. I realized that the Work.com audience could save a lot of money on their startups and ecommerce websites by doing-it-themselves with these free tools, so to share my growing list of resources, I decided to write a Work.com guide called 60+ Free Web Development Tools & Resources for Entrepreneurs. I really would like your help to expand the list, so I am posting it here too so blog readers can add their own resources.

So, here is my list of the best free resources for web 2.0 design, development, and ecommerce:

Free Web Design Tools (22):
Background Image Maker
Cornershop – rounded corner graphics
CSS Button Generator
CSS Rollover Generator
CSS Tab Designer
curvyCorners – free JavaScript program that will create on-the-fly rounded corners
Design Patterns – flickr collection which captures consistent, unique, or interesting interfaces and design flows from across the web
Favicon Generator – create that tiny graphic that shows up in the browser tab
Gradient Maker
Grid Layouts – Javascript for grid layouts
Layout-o-matic
Listamatic – create lists with different bullets
More than 100 Web 2.0 Online Generators - grid layouts
My cool button – make cool web 2.0 buttons
Open Source Web Design – free web design templates
Resizr – resize images
RoundedCornr
Stripe Generator 2.0
Tabs Generator – tweak size, corners, colors
Web 2.0 Badges
Web 2.0 Colour Palette
Welie.com – patterns in interaction design

Free Web Development Tools (11):
Ajax Rain – Ajax/Javascript/DHTML examples and demos
Contact Form Generator – create a form-to-email with no programming skills
Create RSS Feed – automatically create RSS feed in XML
Drupal – open source content management system
GroundWork – open source IT monitoring
Help Desk – list of help desk and issue tracker software
Joomla – open source content management system
Mashable's 250+ Tools and Resources for Coding the Web
Nagios – open source host, service and network monitoring program
script.aculo.us – user interfaces & animations
Wufoo – build a form easily

Free Ecommerce Tools (7):
107 Add to Cart Buttons of the Top Online Retailers
Bigcartel – free online store
cubecart – PHP & MySQL shopping cart
Fat.Free.Cart – works with PayPal and Google Checkout
Magento – open source ecommerce platform
Opencart – PHP-based online shopping cart
Zen Cart – free open source shopping cart system

Free Feed/Widgets Tools (2):
Feedburner – create an RSS feed, allow subscriptions, and track feed stats
Widgetbox – create a “portable chunk of the web”

Free Community Tools (5):
Google Groups – create your own free email group
me.com
Ning – create your own community
phpbb – open source message board software
Yahoo Groups – create your own free email group

Free SEO/Advertising Tools (4):
Google Keyword Tool
Keyword Rank Checker
SEO Book Keyword Research Tool
Yahoo Site Explorer – analyze backlinks

Free Web Promotion Tools (5):
del.icio.us – make it easy for your users to bookmark your site on del.icio.us
digg
Pingomatic – after updating your site/blog, ping a lot of directories
HTML2PDF - create a PDF of your site for marketing purposes
Technorati – make sure you tag your blog posts to show up

Free Web Analytics/Tracking (5):
Alexa – compare web traffic
Google Analytics
sitemeter
StatCounter
Google Alerts

There are many more great free resources – if you have one please add it as a comment.

Tags: entrepreneurs, startup

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How Work.com Guides are Googling

Work.com guides seem to be doing pretty well on Google these days:

• Starting a Pool Hall
• Doing Business in Second Life
• Making Money with CafePress
• Learning Search Engine Optimization
• Building an Online Community
• Doing Business in Ghana
• Developing a Business Brand
• Remote Check Deposit
• Resources for Starting a Business
• Finding a Payroll Processing Service
• Setting Up a Virtual Office
• Hot Franchise Opportunities

Guide authors who are dominating their niches with useful and relevant information are getting great publicity and online visibility. Remember when writing your guide to focus on using keywords that people would use to search on your topic!

Good Business Gifts Keep Giving

Today we have a guest post from Susan Heathfield, Work.com Employees Community Leader:

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The holiday season is approaching faster this year than any other year I can remember. It may be that I'm getting older or perhaps it's because Christmas and Thanksgiving paraphernalia, decorations, and gifts were out prior to Halloween this year. But, as a small business owner, this is the season during which you will want to select your holiday client and employee gifts. It is important that you select memorable gifts that remind your gift recipients of you and your company all year long. It is equally important that you see and touch the gift before you send it to ensure it meets your company's standards.

I'm not a huge fan of flowers, food, and other consumable gifts as your main customer gift of the year. The cookie was good, but hardly memorable and flowers die. But useful merchandise that carries your company logo is a gift that truly does keep on giving. From golf shirts to book ends and desk accessories to framed, signed group photographs of your staff, your gift giving opportunities are endless.

Some businesses are bucking the norm in recent years, too. Instead of sending their card or gift in the onslaught that fills December, they are sending Thanksgiving cards or New Year cards to set themselves apart. You can do the same with gifts. And, there is a second benefit to sending cards and gifts on non-religious holidays; they honor the diversity present in most workplaces.

Just keep in mind that many workplaces have a limit of $25, $50, or $75 on gifts that employees may accept. Since your first step in buying business gifts is to establish your purpose and goals, stay within their limitations so your gift goes to the appropriate person with the right message. Helen Hoefele has written an excellent guide to business gift giving occasions and gift decision making. Debbi Karpowicz Kickham talks about potential gift giving pitfalls to avoid and additional ideas to make your gift memorable. And, small business expert Frances Sharpe offers unusual and unique ideas for "when you want to give something that's as unique and original as your business" - when typical corporate gifts, such as items with a company logo or gift baskets stuffed with food items nobody wants, simply won't do the job.