When you run a small business, you seldom get anything for free. In fact, it seems that the “business” version of those things you need cost more, not less. Sometimes, however, there are exceptions. Sometimes there are really cool tools that are free, are computer safe, and make your daily life considerably easier. Here are a few of those for your consideration.

Google, the mad scientist of the Internet world, is constantly in the lab — Google Lab, that is — whipping up new creations. Some are cool, some you can easily live without and some, like these, are absolutely essential for the remote service provider, small business owner and entrepreneur.

These are my top three picks:

• Google Docs and Spreadsheets – How would you like a way to work online, to collaborate, to store project (and even personal) documents so you could access them from anywhere, edit them with others simultaneously and (when you were ready)… download them in a variety of useful formats to your own hard drive? And… how would you like to be able to do it all for free?!?!Yes, me too! So I use the Google Docs and Spreadsheets as a place to store my files that I need to coordinate with others. By assigning sharing options I can “invite” any number of people to have access to the one, several or all of my stored documents. It’s quite a tool for the mobile, remote professional. Check it out!
• Google Analytics – a comprehensive marketing tool for your personal website. Want to know who has been visiting your site, where they have gone, what (statistically) have been your best days of the week? Hours of the day? Want referral pages to know how people find you? Want easy-to-read graphic displays of all the results? Want it for free?This cool tool does more than many of the paid models available — and it offers in-depth measurements or “overview” displays. You can use it for any level of information you need, and the more you learn about the options, the more powerful the tool becomes. If you own a website, you need to become acquainted with Google Analytics!
• Google Reader – a one-click way to add any RSS feed from any website to your “reader panel” in Google. If you want to get started with RSS feeds, but you never took the time to learn about all the options, you never wanted to download anything to your computer to handle this, you never wanted yet another “something to learn”… the Google Reader is the quickest, least invasive way possible to get quick, easy and free access to your own customized and well-organized collection of RSS feeds.You know that RSS feeds are important for marketing and getting your information out into the websphere. You know that many people swear by them… now you can know why!

Enjoy these and visit again soon for more “free tools” segments for the small business owner, remote professional and entrepreneur.