Must Design

Lots of "new to us" tools on this comprehensive list of free tools to use in web design. "Free", in some cases, means freemium or you get to start for free and need to upgrade for more advanced features. Nothing wrong with this "try and get addicted" model since you don't invest in tools that don't get traction.

Who isn't a "designer" of one thing or another these days? When in doubt I raid the places, resources and tools used by the pros. I'm not a designer, but boy do I have to design a lot of stuff.

Since I'm not a designer it helps if I can get a running start and STEAL (or be significantly influenced by) a great design. I never copy outright, but I look at cool stuff to get my creative juices flowing.

Nothing is immune from museums to Top 10 Websites for Designers :).

Great Hubspot list of free tools. One caveat. There is no free lunch. Most of these tools are using a "freemium" model. They develop a robust tool and then give away a stunted version free in the hope they will hook users enough they pay to continue using the tool.

Most freemium models know where their marketing sweet spot resides. They will and can provide value. As you scale you will need to upgrade or lose your investment. Free tools require a learning curve too.

Smart move is to have the free tool be so simple anyone can use it. That limits any tool's ability to do more advanced things. "More advanced things" only happens every now and then, so never buy a tool for "every now and then".

Do protect your investment. If you learn a tool well enough to be comfortable with its use and it provides value AND you've outgrown the free version upgrade assuming the ASK isn't out of line with the market. The tricky thing to know is when to JUNK your time investment and move on and when to double down.

No hard and fast rules for "junking" a tool and moving on, but here are reasons I leave tools I've previously invested in:

* They don't listen or care about my input.
* They don't champion how my team and I are using their tool (see Haiku Deck's Featured and Popular galleries for great examples of SUPPORT for use of their tool).

* No easy to tap Applications Program Interface (API).
* The upgrade costs are not aligned with perceived benefits.
* Something easier, better and cheaper came along.
* Something more technically advanced was invented.

Those last two points are connected. Money isn't usually the most important of first consideration when thinking about tools that we use. We don't pay for enterprise level tools (say $30K a year and up), so everything is between $300 and $2K a year.

Biggest reason we change is something new creates efficiencies or is more aligned with our ideas and philosophy. Don't think your ABOUT page matters? Yeah you wluld be WRONG about that (lol).

If you are using or do use any of HubSpot's free design tools please report back as most are new to us.

Thanks, Marty