Google Stuff

Some of these services require having a Gmail account first. To get a Gmail account, you need an invitation, so ask Criss for a Gmail invite here. In all of these cases, having a Gmail account will make it easier to sign up.

• Blogger - owned by Google - free Blogging platform. Your web designer can make your Blogger page match your website (to a great extent). Eclectic Tech offers a blog directly on your website, and there's also a package listed in the Geekery section.
• Make sure you sign up for AdWords and use AdWords to enable Google Analytics -- in case you ever want to track an AdWords campaign through Analytics. I made the mistake of doing it the other way around and ended up with 2 Analytics accounts that can't be linked, and lost data when moving websites to the properly linked Analytics account.
• Firefox with Google Toolbar - there is an Internet Explorer version, but I don't think IE is the best or safest browser, and prefer to recommend Firefox. This is a pre-made bundle of the two items.

Payment options

• PayPal - payment processing service that will allow you to put payment buttons on your website. Go through the process to become a PayPal Verified Merchant before trying to put merchant services on your website. This is one of the best merchant services options until you gross between $3000-5000/month, at which point it may pay to look into other merchant processing services.
• Google Checkout - a newer alternative payment service, with similar features to PayPal.

Other

• Mailing List - autoresponder & email list manager allows you to write emails, schedule them in advance, or set them up for sequential delivery (autoresponder). You may want to discuss how to create good email copy with marketing & sales specialists.
• Technocrati - Looking for places to post interesting content and an unobtrusive link back to your website for more info? Enter Technocrati, a blog logging service. Hunt for categories related to your business and share some expertise in exchange for putting your link out there. Don't offend anyone!
• Craigslist - available in many cities and areas around the country, Craigslist is an online classified ad venue.
• PRWeb - a place to submit (& find) online press releases
• Facebook - if teens & college students are in your target market, this is THE place to be, but it also caters to people who are not currently in high school or college.
• Myspace - if music bands, musicians, or movies are your thing, this is a must-go-to place. Many businesses in unrelated industries are also on Myspace.
• eZine articles - whether you need content for emailing out to others, or you need a place to send your tidbits of information, eZine articles is an excellent clearing house for medium to good quality content. Read submission guidelines etc.
• surveys through SurveyGizmo - They have a free online survey for up to 250 responses -- unlimited questions. If you think you could use a survey and think you need more than 250 responses, then sign up for a paid account, but otherwise it's one of the best free surveys I've seen.

Geekery

Too technical for the average person

• PHPBB - one of the most popular free software packages for creating online forums. Installation may require someone familiar with PHP, databases & HTML to set it up properly, but there are instructions for people who want to try it out.
• Google Map API - this is the programmer's reference page for Google Maps -- generally for geeks. If you need a Google Map on your website, it's not easy -- you probably want to seek out a programmer or install a program that has this feature. You can put a link to a Google map -- find the location, and right click on Link to this page on the right of the Google page above the map, copy the link. The link is very long.
• WordPress - free blog software that can be installed at your website domain. Installation probably requires too much technical knowledge for the average person.