Top 7 free applications that can help your business grow

Starting your own business has never been easier. Due to technological advancements and the internet, one can readily start a business with just a few steps and clicks on their computers. Some can even cater to clients abroad without setting foot in another country. For those who are into e-commerce, dropshipping has allowed business owners to sell products worth thousands of dollars without actually needing to handle the products. Doing business nowadays has a lot of possibilities. 

However, no matter how easy it is to start your business, managing it is another story. A lot of small business owners tend to do everything on their own. From management, marketing and sales, social media, customer service, product sourcing, networking, and accounting tasks they only get very little help or even none at all. Most postpone hiring someone until the company gets bigger. 

Here are the top 7 free applications that can help your business grow: 

1. Google Suite - It is an all-in-one package that allows you to connect, store, and create. Google Suite allows you to communicate with your partners and clients via email or through video conferencing using Google Hangouts. 

It also provides access to files online through cloud storage and it has its own file-syncing service that allows users to work offline. 

Google Suite also comes with a full range of essential business software similar to Microsoft Office allowing you to create correspondence, sheets, presentations, and even online forms. 

It starts with a free 15 GB storage plan. 

2. Evernote - This is one of the most popular productivity tools where it allows users to capture, organize and share notes easily. It enables users to organize tasks and keep important information and notes all in one place. 

More than just a note-taking app, it also allows users to add links, checklists, tables, attachments, audio recordings, and handwritten notes. The best part is it has a search function, making it really easy to look for the information that you need including the handwriting in images. 

The basic plan allows you to 60MB of new uploads every month for free. 

3. MailChimp - Email marketing is an important digital marketing strategy and is known to generate the best return on investment among other digital marketing campaigns. It allows businesses to directly communicate to their audience through their inbox -- to build trust, nurture relationships and to call for action. 

MailChimp is the largest marketing automation platform that allows businesses to send emails in bulk reaching out to a large audience all at once. 

It features email marketing automation that can be readily customized according to customer behavior and preference. This creates room for business owners to focus on strategy and on more important things. Automation allows businesses to welcome, re-engage, and follow-up potential and existing clients. 

It also comes with reporting feature showing data and analytics allowing business owners to evaluate performance and aid in the formulation of future campaigns.

New business accounts are free and can hold up to 2,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails per month.

4. Skype - Skype is a text, voice and video tool that allows users to communicate online at no additional cost. 

It allows business owners to hold online meetings, group calling and video conferencing with up to 25 people. If you are traveling or is out of the country, Skype allows you to get a local number where your customers can call you wherever you are without long-distance charges. 

Skype also allows file sharing, screen sharing, and language translation. 

5. Asana – Asana is a project management tool that allows users to track projects from start to finish. It is an effective tracker to know who is doing what, by and when. This has been really helpful for teams who are doing different roles in a certain project.

Basic plans include free features, such as unlimited projects, tasks, and conversations.  

6. PayPal – PayPal provides a faster and safer way to send and receive money. It is a popular payment method used in over 200 countries. This enables clients to have more confidence in your business by using a payment method they are familiar with.

It also comes with an invoicing tool to easily and quickly request payments from customers.  

Creating a PayPal account is absolutely free.

7. TradeOff - It is an online platform that allows users to trade services for other services. It is an effective tool for networking and looking for collaboration opportunities. 

Through this app, users can trade the skills that they have with the skills that they need. Exchanges can be made with services, money, or a combination of both in a safe and secure platform.

How about you? Can you recommend other applications that can help? 

Try this Wizard of Oz Magic using Google Search

Do you remember the special effects made by Google for Avengers: Endgame where you click the infinity gauntlet and something else happens on the screen? Well, I found it really cool and amazing. 

Thus, when I found another one from the Wizard of Oz, I got excited again. So, here's how? 

1. Type Wizard of Oz in the Google Search Bar. 

2. Click the "red shoes" on the right side of the screen and see the magic. 

3. Now, you will see a "tornado", click it too. 

Well, that's it. Share this post if you had fun! 

"Remember A heart is not judged by how much you love, 

but by how much you are loved by others." -The Wizard of Oz

Word of the Year: Intentional

2019 was neither the best nor a bad year for me. Technically, it was okay but I was just so surprised that it has ended so fast. Before I knew it, it was already the holidays and I realized I was not really able to accomplish something major for the entire year. I felt that I either slacked off or I had a lot of distractions.

Though I had no regrets about how the year went, I promised myself that I will try to achieve more of my goals this year. I promised that I'd be more INTENTIONAL this 2020. 

So, what do I mean by being intentional? 

According to liveandlovework.com, being intentional means you are purposeful in word and action. It means you make thoughtful choices in life. It also means that you live a life that is meaningful and fulfilling. 

In this sense, this is how I want to spend my year. I want to start making choices that are aligned with my goals and dreams. I want to make conscious decisions and here's how I plan to do it: 

1. Choose the projects to work on - As a freelancer, I am lucky to have the luxury to choose my projects and clients. This time, I want to do the tasks that I love and those that are aligned with my skills. If it would require some training, I want to make sure that it's one of the skills that I really want to learn and not spend time studying for the sake of the clients' needs. 

Just like what Leanne Jacobs of Beautiful Money said, “If an opportunity is not aligned with what matters most to you (your core values), let it pass. The opportunities that don't make your soul sing, or that you can't be excited about, just end up taking space where a better opportunity could be. Don't settle for something fine―wait for something great!”

2. Manage Smaller and Active Groups - Building and managing a community entails a lot of time and hard work. The bigger the group, the more effort you have to put in organizing events, addressing the needs of the members and keeping everyone engaged. If it's an online community, content moderation takes up a lot of time and effort to filter posts. 

Thus for this year, we, together with the other group admins, decided to clean up the groups that we manage. We started removing inactive members and will try to update certain group rules especially in online communities. We believe that it's better to have a small group with active and truly engaged members. In that way, we do not have to waste any effort on members who are no longer interested in the group's advocacy. 

3. Blogging - Though, I haven't really blog consistently for the past years. This 2020, I would love to write more posts. I am aiming to create at least 3-4 blog posts every week. I want to write my posts with my readers in mind, " How will this post benefit them?" 

This also means that we might be skipping some PR or sponsored posts that may not be aligned with our target audience. 

4. Minimize Shopping - Lastly, I want to try to lessen shopping. I usually go crazy whenever there's a sale or a huge discount is offered. Thus, I plan to minimize the things that I purchase. I have to make sure that it is something that we actually need. No more hoarding. (LOL!) 

Anyway, there are a lot more ways on how we can be more intentional which I plan to share on my future posts. However, let me end this post for now with my favorite quote from Richie Norton, “Intentional living is the art of making our own choices before others' choices make us.”

How to Refund Your Airport Terminal Fee?

Are you someone who gets excited during seat sales from Cebu Pacific, books a flight immediately but finds out later on that you cannot make the trip or flight because of an emergency or a sudden change of plans? 

Well, I am guilty. In fact, it happened twice already. 

Just like last December 2018, I was able to book roundtrip tickets from Bacolod to Davao for only Php 600+ for July 2018 (7 months in advance) but later on canceled due to workload. (boo!) 

I know that it's just a small amount but getting it refunded is very much welcome. Unfortunately, the cancellation fee or the rebooking fee (if allowed) is much higher compared to the purchase price, which means it is more practical if you just forfeit the ticket and let it go. 

If you are lucky, there are instances that Cebu Pacific also has sudden changes in their flight schedule or cancellations. If these cancellations are initiated from their end, this makes you eligible for a full refund of the ticket price, however, if you're the one who canceled, then technically there will be no refund.  

But wait....  not everything is lost. :)  

Many of us forget that our airline tickets for domestic flights already include terminal fees in the amount that we paid during booking. Terminal fees are collected by Cebu Pacific at the time of booking and payment of flights on behalf of the airport authorities for the use of the terminal facilities. This means that since we did not take the flight, we are actually NOT required to pay the terminal fee. 

According to Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), passengers with unused Cebu Pacific (CEB) and CebGo tickets from Feb. 1, 2015, to the present may refund their terminal fees.

Based on my experience, I was able to refund the terminal fee for my canceled July 2018 Cebu Pacific trip in full and with no administrative charges. I have yet to check if we can also do this with PAL. 

Anyway, here's how you can request/ process the refund of your terminal fee: 

Option # 1: Go to the Cebu Pacific website and fill out the Guest Feedback Form. 

Under the Type of Feedback, select "Request" 

Under Category, select " Refund of Taxes for Unused Tickets" 

After submitting all the information, you will receive an email confirmation with a reference number that you can use to follow up. 

Option # 2: Contact the Cebu Pacific hotline at +632 702 0888 for Manila or +6332 230-8888 for Cebu) This is not really advisable due to the long wait time. If you are not based in Manila or Cebu, calling these numbers would also entail long-distance charges.  

Tip: If you have an internet connection, you may also call their US toll-free number via Skype at +1-8555-232722. It is available from 7am-10pm (PH local time), daily. No long-distance charges. :) 

Option #3: Through the Travel Agent where the ticket was purchased. 

To manage your expectations, the processing of refunds usually takes 4-8 weeks. The refund will be made directly to the passenger's credit card, Paypal account, via the travel agent, or in form of cash, depending on the form of payment that was used to purchase the ticket. I was able to get mine after a month while Val's refund is still in the process even though we sent it the same day. 

Please keep in mind that they will only refund this upon request. It would be ideal to request a refund of your terminal fees as soon as you can. 

If you have any experience refunding your terminal fees, feel free to comment below.