Three value-conscious tools for online marketers

Digital marketers need to wear a lot of hats.  One minute we might be writing copy, the next we're tweaking graphics in Photoshop, and the next we're shooting or editing video.  This profession takes a variety of skills, and it also requires a lot of tools.  Often those tools need to be as inexpensive as possible, because while some projects have big budgets, others are being run on a shoestring.

Today I'd like to look at a few simple tools that can make your life easier without breaking the bank.  (All of these are written as my own personal viewpoint...nobody's paying me to write these endorsements.)

• Need to shoot good-looking video, but don't have the budget for a studio?  The Westcott Photo Basics PB500 Educational 3-Light Kit can provide good lighting for simple "talking head" or interview videos.  Of course for less than $500, you can't expect professional quality...especially when pros are easily spending 10 times that amount for a simple lighting setup!  But this kit gets the job done for non-pros, even people with no previous experience in lighting.  It comes with an instructional DVD and a reference card that will get you set up.  Even though the DVD focuses on still photography, it still provides good takeaways that apply to simple video shoots.  With a Google search, I was able to find this kit for $369 here.
  
  
• For podcasts and simple audio editing, Audacity is a solid product at a price you can't beat: free.  It doesn't come with all the goodies you'll want (like MP3 capability) with the main download.  You'll need to spend a few minutes downloading add-ons and filters that do everything you need.  But that's a quick and painless one-time process.  The software itself is solid, fast, and relatively easy to use.  There are a few controls that aren't the most logical, and newbies to the audio editing world will need to spend a few hours playing around with the software and reading about it until they feel comfortable.  Luckily, Audacity has some great documentation, tutorials, and even a wiki where you can learn how to do just about anything.  Goldwave is another solid choice for audio editing that I used for many years, and it comes with more capabilities.  But it also costs $45.  Audacity can get the job done for free, which is why it's a no-brainer for podcast and webcast audio editing.

• My favorite new tool is called Dropbox.  It's basically like a Flash drive that you don't need to carry, but even better.  With Dropbox, you can store files online in an easy-to-access tool.  It has automatic synchronization so the files are always ready on your computer when you need them, which is especially handy if you regularly work on more than one computer.  You can also use it to share files with friends -- either a single file they might need to grab quickly, or an entire folder for long-term collaboration.  The software you download onto your computer is slick, giving you drag-and-drop ease of use.  It has a web interface too, so you can access files from a friend’s computer or wherever you are.  With Dropbox, you might never need to email files to yourself anymore.  I've tried several online file exchange services before, and Dropbox is by far the best.  Plus it's free for 2GB of storage space!  You can pay for additional storage if you need it.  (If you sign up using my referrer tracking link, you get an extra 250MB of bonus storage...and I get an extra 250MB too.  Here's my referral link that gives you the bonus 250MB.  If you don't want to use my referral link and you're happy with the standard amount of storage, you can sign up here).