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Free (or very cheap) VS Paid Internet Marketing Tools for Your Online Business

by mvwolf
3 replies
On a recent discussion about V Bulletin I mentioned a free forum software as alternative to paid solutions.

So I'm curious, what do you think, and do you prefer paid or free solutions for your business?

I think that in building any business you need to be cost-consciousness, down to pennies. Not always of course, but you need a detailed analysis before you buy (invest in) anything. For example:
  • GIMP vs. Photoshop
  • Open Office vs. Microsoft Office
  • vBulletin vs. Simple Machines 2
  • Free traffic sources vs. paid ones
  • Linux vs. Windows
  • Free open source CMS vs Paid Enterprise CMS
  • Strategic alliance with bloggers and webmasters for links and guest posts vs. Paying them for promotion and posts
  • Google Analytics vs. Paid Analytical Tools
  • and so on...

Ok, I know that it's not always posible or practical to work with free tools, but if they have the ability to create desired results, why not? What do you think?
#business #cheap #free #internet #marketing #online #paid #tools
  • Profile picture of the author JoeDRL
    Well, let's say that my first criteria is EFFECTIVENESS.
    I'm in business to make money, not to save it.

    That means I'll choose whatever delivers the desired result in the less amount of time and effort.

    Most of the time it's paid But sometimes free kicks paid ass, in the case of Linux OWNING windows every single time (starting a troll here, that's just my opinion btw)

    --Joe Langlois

    Be successful, be happy!
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    (FREE TODAY)
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  • Profile picture of the author marcos08
    You will continually see people selling stuff pushing get it via free traffic free methods etc etc, when at the end of the day you end up wasting a whole heap of time, which is by no means free more time spent on free ( which may not work) equates to lost revenue....................... if you want a ROI you generally have to pay. Lets face it you cant set up a brick and mortar business for free.................. so these days personally I do believe you have to speculate to accumulate and if only I did so earlier lol!
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    http://onlinesuccesscafe.com
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  • Profile picture of the author soylentgreen
    As far as my O.S goes, I use linux for most stuff - because it's more secure and also better than windows in so many ways.
    Price is not really an issue for me if the product does what I want it to.

    Sometimes, a lot of what you are paying for are just 'bells and whistles' which = distraction and the potential for procrastination.
    It doesn't matter how much you spend on software. If you don't put it to good use, you'll just end up with 'All the gear - No idea'
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