14 Best Screen Recorders to Use for Collaboration For your team, screen recorders can be used for several reasons — from creating tutorials for your website to recording a recurring tech issue to sending your marketing team a quick note instead of an email. Plus, we can't forget about product demos and training videos that can be used by many departments on your team, from marketing to sales to customer service. Below, let's learn about the best free and paid screen recording options for your company — whether you work at a small business or enterprise company. What is the best screen recorder? What's considered the best will depend on what you need. Are you using it for work? For fun? Will you be live streaming on another platform? Once you've figured out your use cases, it will be easier to choose a screen recording tool. Other qualities you should take into account include: Cost User interface and ease of use Built-in editing tools Sound quality While we can't definitively tell you which screen recorder is best for you, we've come up with a list of some of our top choices. Best Screen Recorder Tools Overall 1. Loom Price: Starter Plan, free; BusinessPlan, $12.50/user/month; Enterprise, contact for pricing Best for: Work communication Pros: Background noise suppression Viewer insights Can create a team workspace for storing and sharing videos Integrates with Slack, Jira, Dropbox, GitLab, and more...

How to Write a Powerful Executive Summary Whether you're an entrepreneur looking for investors for your small business or the CEO of a large corporation, an executive summary can help you succeed and is a critical component for long-term growth. A short, attention-grabbing executive summary is an essential part of your business plan. Done correctly, it will ensure your company becomes or remains a key player in your industry. In this post, you’ll learn what an executive summary is and how to write one that engages investors, customers, and general audiences. Essentially, an executive summary is the front cover of your business plan, convincing readers that it's worth their time to read the whole thing. A business plan includes a company overview, your company's short-term and long-term goals, information on your product or service, sales targets, expense budgets, your marketing plan, and a list including each member of your management team. However, a CEO or investor might not have the interest or time to read your full business plan without first getting the general gist of your company or goals through an executive summary. Ultimately, the executive summary is meant to inform readers of the most important information in your business plan, so they don't have to read it all and can get caught up quickly. To write an impressive executive summary that effectively embodies all the important elements of your business plan, we've cultivated a list of necessary components for an executive summary, as well as...

12 Expert-Vetted Sample Business Plans to Help You Write Your Own Ask any successful sports coach how they win so many games, and they’ll tell you they have a unique plan for every single game. The same logic applies to business. If you want to build a thriving company that can pull ahead of the competition, you need to prepare for battle before breaking into a market. Business plans guide you along the rocky journey of growing a company. Referencing one will keep you on the path toward success. And if your business plan is compelling enough, it can also convince investors to give you funding. What does a business plan look like? And how do you write one that is viable and convincing? Let's review the business plan format and sample business plans you can use to inspire your own. Business Plan Format Before you start your business plan, you might be wondering, "Where do I start? How should I format this?" Typically, a business plan is a document that will detail how a company will achieve its goals. Most business plans include the following sections: 1. Executive Summary The executive summary is arguably the most important section of the entire business plan. Essentially, it's the overview or introduction, written in a way to grab readers' attention and guide them through the rest of the business plan (which may be dozens or hundreds of pages long). Most executive summaries include: Mission statement Company history and...

The 23 Best Google Chrome Extensions for SEO The importance of using a great SEO Chrome extension can’t be overstated. SEO is essential if you want your site to rank on Google, and the right extension can help you automate research and analysis, leading to a more effective SEO strategy. With so many SEO Chrome extensions available, marketers often find themselves spending more time finding a great fit than getting actionable analytics. To help you navigate the crowded world of Chrome extensions, we’ve come up with a list of our favorites for SEO. Best SEO Extensions for Google Chrome 1. MozBar Price: Free; MozBar Premium, free 30-day trial, then paid plans from $99/mo MozBar allows its users to check SEO within their browser using just one click. MozBar provides metrics while viewing any webpage, and allows users to export SERPs into a CRV file and access analytics. Upgrading to MozBar Premium offers functions like analyzing keyword difficulty, page optimization, and SERP metrics. What we like: MozBar makes checking your SEO as simple as possible with its one-click model, making it a huge time saver for stressed SEO pros. 2. Keywords Everywhere Price: Free Keywords Everywhere is a tool that shows three different information types for keywords on Google: monthly search volume, cost per click, and Google Adwords competition. By having this extension installed, going back and forth from Google Keywords to your open browser page is a thing of the past,...

Customers’ Top HubSpot Integrations to Streamline Your Business in 2022 The HubSpot team is excited to share that the HubSpot App Marketplace has officially crossed the 1,000 apps milestone. We’re proud of this milestone because it reflects the combined commitment of HubSpot and our partners to deliver integrated solutions to help you grow better. We know there’s an increasing number of software choices out there for your growing company. And that trend is only going to continue: A recent IDC white paper commissioned by HubSpot predicted that the cloud computing industry will only continue to grow over the next three years. Blissfully estimates that all SaaS categories will continue to experience growth, with IT, security, compliance, and HR being the top-growing categories. That means your company may adopt even more apps to get jobs done, and you’ll have a bigger need for integrations that unite your data and power cohesive customer experiences across your tech stack. That’s why our app ecosystem is such an important part of HubSpot’s platform for scaling companies. The App Marketplace, now home to 1,000+ integrations that span a variety of use cases (marketing, sales, service, and more), makes it easy for you to find and connect the integrations you need as you grow your business. On average, our customers install seven apps, and more than a quarter of customers install more than 10. Our goal is to let you bring your entire business tech stack together around the HubSpot platform, to deliver a remarkable,...

12 Gantt Chart Examples You'll Want to Copy Gantt charts. Love ‘em, hate ‘em, or can’t live without ‘em, they’re a reality of a marketer’s life. But how do you make yours stand out from the rest? I’ve gathered some of the best examples around, along with some free templates to get you started. Dive in below and find your favorite. But first ... The elements within a Gantt chart can be grouped into four categories: resources, milestones, tasks, and dependencies. Resources: Project managers must have insight into what resources are needed for tasks outlined in a Gantt chart, in order for each to be completed on time. Milestones: Along your timeline, there will likely be milestones, both small and large, that must be hit in order to keep your project on track. A milestone for a blog launch might be, “Blog post draft due on 5/30.” Tasks: There are specific things that need to be completed along the way of your project. In our blog post example, a task might be, “Edit blog post.” Dependencies: Tasks on your Gantt chart will be related to each other, for example, the editor won’t be able to complete her task of editing the blog post until the writer has met their milestone and submitted their draft on 5/30. These are dependencies and should be noted in your chart. Benefits of Using a Gantt Chart The main goal of a Gantt chart is to...

Professional Invoice Design: 26 Samples & Templates to Inspire You Invoices and infographics may seem like two entirely different business materials, but they actually have one key thing in common: they both exist to convey information. However, while infographics are known for employing colorful designs and data visualizations, invoices are typically pretty straightforward. While your invoices might not be a front-facing part of your business, it doesn’t mean they should be plain and boring. Of course, conveying important payment information in a clear and concise way is the name of the game — but that doesn't mean you can't add a little brand personality to them. To help you get a sense of the possibilities, we put together a collection of impressive invoice samples that may inspire you to rethink your current design. But first, let's review how to design an invoice in the section below. How to Design an Invoice You don’t need to be an expert to create professionally designed invoices. In fact, you can use customized templates to get started (more on that later). However, you need to know a bit about an invoice's structure if you want to create and send invoices that ensure you receive your payments on time. Here are some best practices for creating professional invoices: Decide on your invoice format. Start by choosing the format you want to use for your invoice. Do you want it in print? Or in digital formats like a PDF, Google Docs, Word, or Excel? Once...

6 Reasons You Really Need to Write A Business Plan Starting a business can be a daunting task, especially if you’re starting from square one. It’s easy to feel stuck in the whirlwind of things you’ll need to do, like registering your company, building a team, advertising, the list goes on. Not to mention, a business idea with no foundation can make the process seem incredibly intimidating. Thankfully, business plans are an antidote for the new business woes that many entrepreneurs feel. Some may shy away from the idea, as they are lengthy documents that require a significant amount of attention and care. However, there’s a reason why those who take the time to write out a business plan are 16% more likely to be successful than those who don’t. In other words, business plans work. What is a business plan, and why does it matter? In brief, a business plan is a roadmap to success. It's a blueprint for entrepreneurs to follow that helps them outline, understand, and cohesively achieve their goals. Writing a business plan involves defining critical aspects of your business, like brand messaging, conducting market research, and creating pricing strategies — all before starting the company. A business plan can also increase your confidence. You’ll get a holistic view of your idea and understand whether it's worth pursuing. So, why not take the time to create a blueprint that will make your job easier? Let’s take a look at six reasons why you should...

79 Marketing Tools and Software for Every Business & Budget In the world of marketing, it seems like there are always new tools, tips, tricks, and trends to discover and incorporate into your marketing strategy. How is it possible to keep up with them all? As a marketer myself, I often wish I had a better sense of all of the tools available to me -- and what sets each of them apart -- so I can make more informed decisions on how to create and optimize content. Luckily, I have the privilege of working on a team of 150+ other marketers who specialize in different functions than I do. And because of that, I was able to curate this list of the top tools every marketer should know about and use. The list of recommended tools below is sorted into different sections so you can get a better sense of what tools are available for different functions of the job.  Above lists the different types of tools for every part of your job. Below is our roundup of the best marketing tools in each category.  Marketing Tools Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Tools 1. HubSpot CRM 2. Zoho CRM 3. Zendesk 4. Pipedrive Online Advertising Tools 5. AdStage 6. HubSpot Ads Tracking Software 7. Perfect Audience ...

What is a Business Plan? Definition, Tips, and Templates The business plan is an undeniably critical component to getting any company off the ground. It's key to securing financing, documenting your business model, outlining your financial projections, and turning that nugget of a business idea into a reality. In an era where more than 50% of small enterprises fail in their first year, having a clear, defined, and well thought-out business plan is a crucial first step for setting up a business for long-term success. Business plans are a required tool for all entrepreneurs, business owners, business acquirers, and even business school students. But … what exactly is a business plan? In this post, we'll explain what a business plan is, list the reasons why you'd need one, and identify different types of business plans. What is a Business Plan? A business plan is a documented strategy for a business that highlights its goals and its plans for achieving them. Business plans outline a company's go-to-market strategy, financial projections, market research, business purpose, and mission. The business plan is also a prominent tool used to secure investors and financing for a business. Business Plan Template Working on your business plan? Try using our Business Plan Template. Pre-filled with the sections a great business plan needs, the template will give aspiring entrepreneurs a feel for what a business plan is, what should be in it, and how it can be used to establish and grow a business from the ground up....