In this guide, I’ll walk you through how to use Zoho Start, Zoho Domains, and Zoho Mail to set up your entire business foundation—legally and professionally—in less than an hour. It’s all part of our 90-day plan to build a profitable business on one secure platform.

No consultants. No complicated tech. Just simple steps and one Zoho login.

Why You Should Register Your Business

Before we jump into the how, let’s talk about the why. Registering your business isn’t just a formality—it’s your first real move as a business owner. It unlocks bank accounts, tax deductions, vendor relationships, and builds immediate trust with customers and partners.

The 3 Most Common Business Structures:

• Sole Proprietorship: Easiest and cheapest to start, but you’re personally liable for everything.
  
• LLC (Limited Liability Company): The sweet spot for most solo businesses. Protects your personal assets and is simple to manage.
  
• Corporation (S or C): Best for startups planning to raise money or bring on investors. More paperwork and tax rules.
  

Our Recommendation:

If you’re a service provider, freelancer, or coach, go with an LLC. It gives you personal protection without the hassle of corporate formalities.

Now let’s walk through setting it all up with Zoho Start.

Zoho One - The Operating System for Small Business

Imagine a world where all your business tools play nicely together (cue angelic choir). Whether it’s handling your finances, projects, or marketing, Zoho One keeps everything seamless and oh-so-simple. Plus, the price? A fraction of what you'd pay for piecing together different apps. Talk about a BARGAIN!

If you’re ready to take the leap from surviving to thriving, Zoho One is your trusty steed. Let’s ride into the sunset of efficiency, my friends. Click that button and get ready to supercharge your hustle!

Buy Now

We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

Step 1: Register Your Business with Zoho Start

Zoho Start is like the friend who knows what paperwork to fill out and exactly where to send it.

Here’s your step-by-step:

1. Go to Zoho Start and create an account

2. Choose your business structure (LLC recommended)
   
3. Enter your desired business name and check for availability
   
4. Input your business address and member/owner details

5. Select any add-ons you want (like an EIN or Registered Agent)

6. Review and submit your application
   

Zoho handles the filing with your state and will keep you updated on the status. Most people complete the setup in under 30 minutes.

👉 Click here to launch your business with Zoho Start

You should be able to complete this in under 30 minutes—and Zoho will update you as your paperwork is processed.

Step 2: Grab a Domain with Zoho Domains

Before we dive into the setup, let’s talk about why this matters.

Buying a custom domain isn’t just about looking professional—it’s about building trust, securing your identity, and creating a brand that sticks.

Here’s why it matters:

• Branding: A domain like “janesmithcoaching.com” tells the world you’re serious. It helps people remember you and builds authority in your niche.
  
• Email Credibility: Using your domain for email (like you@yourbusiness.com) improves email deliverability and looks way more legit than Gmail or Yahoo.
  
• Privacy Protection: When you register through Zoho, you get domain privacy included. That means your personal information isn’t exposed online.
  
• Security & Control: Domains registered through Zoho are automatically integrated with Zoho Mail and other apps. You get full control over DNS, renewals, and user management—all in one place.
  

Now that you know why it matters, here’s how to do it with Zoho Domains.  If you’ve ever purchased a domain with GoDaddy, the process is exactly like that.  If you’ve never purchased a domain, you’ll find it a breeze.

Zoho Domains is built for solo founders who want simplicity and security. 

Here’s how it works:

• Buy or Bring Your Domain: You can register a brand-new domain or connect one you already own. If it’s registered elsewhere, you’ll verify it by adding a TXT or CNAME record. I’ll show you how to buy a domain name below.  Here is how I’ve added my existing domain. 

• Instant Email Integration: Domains registered with Zoho are pre-configured for use with Zoho Mail. That means no complicated DNS setup—email just works.
  
• Centralized Admin Console: You manage everything—email accounts, user access, DNS records, security settings—from one clean dashboard.
  
• Advanced Features: Use catch-all addresses, subdomain aliases, and domain-wide disclaimers without extra tools or tech help.
  

It’s all designed to support your small business operations without adding complexity or cost.

👉 Get your domain now with Zoho Domains

Step-by-Step: How to Purchase a Domain with Zoho Domains

1. Go to Zoho Domains and either sign in with your Zoho credentials, or open an account. 

2. Search for a Domain Name: Enter your desired domain name in the search bar to check availability. Try to get a .com if possible.

3. Select Your Domain: Choose from the available domains and click “Buy Now.”
4. Choose the Duration: You can register your domain for 1 to 5 years. One year is usually fine to start.
5. Enable Domain Privacy: Make sure this option is selected to protect your personal contact information from public WHOIS databases.

6. Review Your Cart: Confirm the domain name, duration, and privacy settings.
7. Make Your Payment: Enter your billing information and complete the checkout process.
8. Domain Activation: Once purchased, your domain will be listed in your Zoho admin console, pre-integrated for Zoho Mail and ready for further configuration.

That’s it—you’ve officially claimed your online real estate.

Step 3: Set Up Your Branded Email with Zoho Mail

Now that you’ve secured your domain, it’s time to tie it all together with a branded email address. This is the step that often takes down even the most determined DIY business builders. Why? Because setting up custom email on your domain usually involves digging through DNS settings, adding confusing MX records, and hoping you don’t accidentally crash your website in the process.

But this time, you’re using Zoho. So, it’s going to be easy.

When you get your domain through Zoho and use Zoho Mail, the entire process becomes nearly automatic. That’s not just easier—it’s smarter. You don’t need to call in a tech-savvy friend or spend hours Googling instructions. Zoho Mail does the heavy lifting for you.

Even better? Zoho Mail is one of the best Gmail alternatives out there—especially if you care about your data privacy. Zoho doesn’t scan your emails, doesn’t serve you ads, and doesn’t sell your data. It’s a secure, business-class inbox designed for entrepreneurs who want control without complexity.

And when you bundle it all with Zoho One? You’re looking at a full Google Workspace alternative—email, calendar, contacts, file sharing, and more—without the monthly shock to your wallet.

Once your domain is live, you’ll create a professional email address using Zoho Mail. Something like you@yourbusiness.com instantly upgrades how people perceive your brand.

With Zoho Mail, you get:

• A clean, ad-free inbox that feels like Gmail (without the tracking)
• Built-in calendar, tasks, and contacts
• Seamless integration with your new domain

Now let’s set up your Zoho Mail account. 

Step-by-Step: How to Set Up Zoho Mail

1. Log in to your Zoho Admin Console: Start at mailadmin.zoho.com and sign in with your Zoho credentials.

2. Add Your Domain (if not already integrated): If you registered your domain through Zoho, it’s pre-configured. Otherwise, follow the on-screen steps to verify and configure DNS.
3. Create User Accounts: Add yourself and any team members as users. Assign email addresses (e.g. you@yourbusiness.com).

4. Set Up Email Delivery: If you purchased or registered your domain through Zoho Domains, this will be done for you.  Zoho will guide you through updating MX records if needed (for outside-registered domains like from GoDaddy).  
5. Enable Security Features: Turn on two-factor authentication and SPF/DKIM for email security. 

• Go to Security and Compliance > TFA (Two-Factor Authentication).
• Toggle it ON and enable for your entire organization.
• Users will be prompted to set up their preferred 2FA method (Zoho OneAuth, SMS, etc.).

6. Set Up SPF Record: Setting up an SPF (Sender Policy Framework) record tells email providers that Zoho is authorized to send emails on your behalf. This helps prevent spoofing and improves your email deliverability.

• Navigate to Domains > [Your Domain] > Email Configuration > SPF.
• Copy the SPF TXT record (typically v=spf1 include:zoho.com ~all).
• Paste it as a TXT record in your DNS provider.
• Click ‘Verify SPF Record’ in Zoho.

7. Set Up DKIM Record: DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) adds a digital signature to your emails, verifying they came from your domain and weren’t tampered with in transit. This is critical for brand trust and inbox placement.

• Go to Domains > [Your Domain] > Email Configuration > DKIM.
• Click ‘Add’ and generate a selector (e.g., zoho).
• Copy the DKIM TXT record.
• Add it to your DNS provider under the name zoho._domainkey.
• Verify and enable DKIM in Zoho Mail.

👉 Set up Zoho Mail with your domain

If you bought your domain through Zoho, setup is nearly automatic. If not, Zoho gives you a step-by-step guide to update your DNS settings.

Why Zoho Is the Best Choice for Solo Founders

Most people spend $250–$500 cobbling together tools to get their business off the ground. With Zoho, you can:

• Register your LLC
• Buy your domain
• Set up a branded email
  

…all for around $120–$150 total. And you do it all in one place. No juggling logins, no hidden fees, and no waiting weeks for approvals.  And these are basically one time set up costs.  After you’ve done that, if you’re using Zoho One, you are at about $37 per month per user,

Plus, Zoho’s values align with yours. They don’t answer to shareholders—they answer to you. They’re committed to privacy, small business support, and tools that make sense for founders who want to run lean.

Final Thoughts: Don’t Let This Be Another Thing You Put Off

Whew, that was a lot of work—but here’s the thing: you could literally do all of this in one sitting. No tech help. No 12-tab YouTube rabbit hole. Just a streamlined, professional setup that gives you everything you need to get started.

And the result? Your business is legit (literally). You’re officially registered and you’ve hung out your shingle—on paper and online. You’ve claimed your name, your email, and your presence. That’s more than most would-be entrepreneurs ever do.

Next week, we’re going to get you paid. We’ll walk through how to set up Zoho’s payment tools and connect them to your bank account, so you’re ready to make your first sale and actually collect money like a real business.
Need Help? Book a Fix-It Session

If you’re feeling stuck or just want someone to walk through this with you—I’m here to help. I offer personal Fix-It Sessions where we go through your Zoho Start, domain setup, and email configuration step-by-step.

Whether you’re stuck at the beginning or just want to make sure it’s done right, we’ll get your business set up fast—and right the first time.

👉 Book Your Fix-It Session Now

Placeholder for video:
How to Set Up Your Business in 30 Minutes Using Zoho Start (walkthrough of all 3 tools)

FAQ: What New Business Owners Want to Know

1. Do I have to use Zoho for everything?
Nope—but using Zoho for your business foundation means everything is designed to work together. No duct tape. No Frankenstacks. Just clean integrations and one login to rule them all.

2. What if I already registered my business—can I still follow along?
Absolutely. You can skip the Zoho Start part and jump straight into getting your domain and setting up your email with Zoho Mail. Everything else still applies.

3. Can I use a domain I already own with Zoho Mail?
Yes! You can connect any domain to Zoho Mail with a few simple DNS tweaks. Zoho provides clear, step-by-step instructions.

4. What if I’m not tech-savvy—will I need help?
That’s the beauty of Zoho Start and Domains. These tools are made for non-techies. No coding. No jargon. You can truly do this in one sitting without outside help.5. Is Zoho really a good alternative to Google Workspace?
Yes, and in some ways it’s better—especially if you care about data privacy and cost. Zoho gives you email, calendar, documents, and even CRM in one affordable platform.

You’ve got a login for email marketing, another for your CRM, maybe something else for scheduling, accounting, file sharing, team messaging, and project management. And every one of those platforms is billing you separately. Monthly.

Now, imagine if all of that came bundled into one suite. One login. One invoice. Less than a buck a day.

That’s Zoho One. And it’s the best-kept secret in solopreneur success.

What is Zoho One?

Zoho One is the perfect suite of 50+ business productivity apps for entrepreneurs overwhelmed by the technology they need to run their businesses. In some ways it’s very similar to Google or Microsoft — but better.

All of these companies offer basic “office” software such as spreadsheets, documents, presentations, and meetings. But then Zoho went off and did something crazy by bundling all of its apps into a single platform for a low price that’s honestly hard to beat.

But there’s so much more to Zoho One than the features and the apps. Zoho’s leadership has made a firm commitment to you, the small business owner and put their money and their efforts where their mouth is.

Every year, Zoho makes running your entire business from one platform at an insanely low cost. You simply cannot get high performing software like this to run your business — no how, no way.

Who Should Use Zoho One?

If you’re a consultant, coach, creative, or small agency owner wearing all the hats — this is for you. Zoho One gives you a powerful, integrated foundation to:

• Capture and convert leads
  
• Deliver services efficiently
  
• Automate your follow-ups
  
• Get paid faster
  
• Measure your business performance with real dashboards

Why You Want an All in One, Unified Platform

Zoho One is a unified platform. That means that all the software you need to do just about every function of your business is in one place; one tab, one platform, and one price.

Having a unified business software platform means that you choose a single brand of software and use all of the apps from that brand. Google is a unified platform. Microsoft is a unified platform. Zoho One is a unified platform.

The trend right now is to shift from a patchwork of software to a unified and integrated software. Here’s why:

• You’ll save time. You make ONE decision. Choose the platform and all the apps come with it. That’s it.
• You’ll save money. You’ll pay a small monthly fee for the platform and all the apps are free. Since they are already integrated, you don’t need to spend money on any additional apps or software.
• Unified platforms work well together. The integrations are built in and all the appropriate data is shared without your having to do anything.
• Unified platforms collect and share data across all the applications. This makes it easy to get a solid picture of your business performance.
• With all your business data in one place, you can leverage the power of artificial intelligence to help you gain insights you might have missed in your business.

Why You’re Missing Out on New Customers

You know what the biggest lie in small business is? That the most important thing you bring to the party is your technical skill or knowledge. I hate to burst your bubble, but just because you bake the best cupcakes, doesn’t mean your cupcake bakery will succeed. Just because you are a yoga pro, doesn’t mean your yoga studio will attract enough students to pay the bills. And, just because you make beautiful jewelry, doesn’t mean anyone will buy it!

The most important skill in running a business is — running a business. That includes all those tedious. technical, stick-a-fork-in-your-eye stuff that you’d rather pay someone to do like marketing, sales, accounting, building a website, HR, customer service,etc.

In 2019, BizSugar collected feedback from more than 600 small business owners just like you. And the results uncovered the great unsaid — most small business owners think that their biggest challenge is generating leads and customers. But the real problem is something more insidious.

30% of our respondents said they were working in their business instead of on their business. In other words, sales and marketing is only a challenge because you don’t have the time and energy to devote to them.

This is why you need to take a fresh look at Zoho One.

Why I Love Zoho One and Recommend it

My admiration for Zoho goes way beyond the software or what a great value for the money it is. Zoho excels in four major categories that I use to choose a platform; people, platform, price, and promise.

Zoho is a people-first company. That means that the small business owner is at the center of every software development.

The Zoho platform is seamlessly integrated so that you only have to make one decision; to use the platform. Other than that, there’s an app for anything you need for no extra cost. Use as much or as little as you like.

Of course, the price is insanely affordable. Just $37/mo per user. That’s it. There are no levels, no limits on features.

All this is great, but let’s get to what really matters. What can Zoho One do that you can’t do or don’t want to do?

Zoho One - The Operating System for Small Business

Imagine a world where all your business tools play nicely together (cue angelic choir). Whether it’s handling your finances, projects, or marketing, Zoho One keeps everything seamless and oh-so-simple. Plus, the price? A fraction of what you'd pay for piecing together different apps. Talk about a BARGAIN!

If you’re ready to take the leap from surviving to thriving, Zoho One is your trusty steed. Let’s ride into the sunset of efficiency, my friends. Click that button and get ready to supercharge your hustle!

Buy Now

We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

Zoho One Replaces $400 per Month in Small Business Tools for $37/mo

What would you do with an extra $400 per month? That’s nearly $5,000 per year! While you think about that, check out some of the tools I’ve been paying for before using Zoho One.

• Microsoft 365 ($8.25/mo)
• Dropbox Business ($20/mo)
• Zoom ($14.99/mo)
• Keap.com ($100/mo)
• Kajabi ($119/mo)
• Constant Contact ($20/mo)
• MailChimp ($14.99/mo)
• Buffer ($5/mo)
• Evernote ($9.99/mo)
• Quickbooks Online ($40/mo)
• Calendly ($12/mo)
• SurveyMonkey ($32/mo – billed annually)
• Zapier ($19.99/mo)
• Zendesk ($19/mo)
• WebinarJam ($42/mo)

I’m pretty sure there are more, but these are just the tools I’ve replaced with Zoho One.

Zoho One has two pricing plans:

1. Flexible user pricing: Starts at $90/user/month. Under this pricing model, companies can purchase any number of licenses for managing their business better.
2. All employee pricing: Starts at $37/user/month. Under this pricing model, companies must purchase licenses for all their employees. For more information please head to https://www.zoho.com/one/pricing/

The pricing I’m quoting here is for an annual contract. You can also pay monthly at $45/mo.

Saving money is great! But the real benefit of using Zoho One as your business operating system is in how it either eliminates some of those tasks that everyone says you should do — but you don’t do because it’s a complete pain in the neck.

I’ve made a list of tasks and responsibilities from some of the small businesses I’ve worked with and outlined how Zoho One either eliminates the problem or makes it easier to do.

17 Dreaded, Annoying and Tedious Tasks Zoho One Will Do For You

Typical software reviews talk about features. But in this Zoho One review, I want to talk about how Zoho One simplifies your life. I’ve pulled together all of those tasks that keep you from working ON your business that Zoho One simplifies for you.

1. Choosing software to run your entire business.

It can take as long as two years to choose a software for your business. Imagine how many more new customers you could get in that time? Zoho One’s cloud software combines CRM, project management, email marketing, website design, HR, and more into one platform. All you need to do is choose it and use it.

2. Making software work together.

Even after choosing your software, the next challenge is having it all work together. Integrations often break down and it takes an expert to set them up and fix them when they break down after an update. Because Zoho One is an all-in-one unified platform and the integration is already set up — not a problem.

And another thing.

Business software tends to multiply. As soon as you choose two different platforms, you’ll usually need a third to integrate it. But wait, then you want to look at everything in one dashboard – now you need a fourth platform. Most businesses aren’t that technical. This means that you have to jump from one application to another to measure your progress. As a result, you’re missing out on new leads and opportunities.

If you’re using the Zoho One platform, the integrations are seamless. Not only that, but Zoho One also pulls your data together all in one dashboard.

3. Put all your business performance data in one unified dashboard

How many times have you tried to pull together a business performance report and gotten different numbers from a team member who pulled the report?

This happens All. The. Time. It’s insanely frustrating because you might choose one set of criteria and someone else will choose another set.

Because Zoho One seamlessly integrates all your apps, all you need to do is set the criteria and select what you want in the dashboard. BOOM. Everyone sees the same numbers and track progress consistently.

4. Figuring out what customers want.

Experts tell you that you should always be gathering feedback from your customers. You can run a survey and get the numbers, but wouldn’t it be great if you could include a survey link at every step of the buying process and then have that data all in one place?

Zoho Surveys is the answer. Imagine being able to collect customer feedback and then have their responses synchronized to their Zoho CRM record!

5. Capture leads from everywhere and put them in one place.

Every small business wants more leads and customers. But the challenge isn’t “getting them” so much as collecting them all in one place.

Prospects enter your business from email, from social media, from forms on your website, from recommendations, and from direct phone calls.

With Zoho One, you can capture those leads, categorize them and put them in one place.

6. Automatically follow-up and move leads through your sales process.

Did you know that the number one reason you aren’t converting leads to customers is because it’s difficult to keep track of all your leads as they go through your sales and marketing funnel.

Zoho One helps you automate your entire sales process. You can create automated workflows that instantly label or tag leads and make it easy to follow up.

7. Run and manage all of your marketing campaigns from one place

Of course you’re frustrated with sales and marketing! You’re losing leads because they come in from all over, you aren’t following up with them, and nurturing those leads with emails takes so much time!

Most integrated sales and marketing platforms can cost hundreds of dollars per month — and they aren’t connected to the rest of your business. That’s no help!

The new Zoho One has a suite of sales and marketing apps that are already synchronized in a way that allows you to capture leads from a form, your site, or a phone call and then automatically place them into your CRM and the proper marketing campaign. No matter where a new lead comes from, you can make sure that they receive timely and relevant follow-ups.

Let’s not forget about the relationships you build and nurture on social media. Zoho Social is also included in Zoho One. Use Zoho Social to post, track and run reports on your social engagements.

But here’s where Zoho Social shines — you can capture LEADS from social and automate their progress through their sales funnel. All you need to do is tell Zoho Social when you want to move a lead into your marketing funnel.

8. Building and managing a website or ecommerce site.

The trouble with small business websites is that you often need a team of technical folks like designers, developers, SEO experts, analytics experts and social media experts to make your website do what it’s supposed to do.

If you’ve been in business for any length of time, you’ve been burned by this entire process. You’ve thrown money at it and gotten nothing in return.

What you need is a website that funnels new leads to your business! That’s what Zoho Sites does. And yes, Zoho Sites is included in the Zoho One platform.

Zoho Sites has all the awesome features of most DIY website builders:

• Tons of gorgeous professional templates
• No code, drag and drop building
• A/B testing and analytics
• SEO optimization
• And more….

But none of this is all that different from other site builders like Wix or WordPress. What makes Zoho Sites so powerful is….its ability to automatically integrate with your entire business system:

• Collect leads and add them to CRM and your marketing automation (Zoho Campaigns).
• Optimize for user experience and SEO with Zoho PageSense
• Provide chat support with Zoho Sales IQ

If you’re a brick and mortar business, ecommerce business, manufacturing business or service business — this is an ideal platform for you.

9. Automatically track your business success with pre-built reports and dashboards.

Whoever said “You can’t track what you don’t measure” hasn’t tried to integrate a dozen custom apps into one dashboard without custom coding or spending a fortune on reporting software.

The new Zoho One provides more than 1500 pre-built reports and dashboards so you can finally be the one to boast about your business growth.

10. Got a question about your business? Ask “Zia”.

One of the most frustrating things about running a business is data analysis. Luckily Zoho One has an AI, lovingly named Zia.

If you’re a Star Trek fan, it’s like having your own “Enterprise Computer”!

The great thing about Zia is that “she” can search your entire Zoho One database and answer some of your basic questions.

You can type your question or even use voice search to ask your question.

11. Easily onboard and train new team members.

You’ve worked tirelessly to create a business process that delivers quality – but it seems to take forever (and cost a fortune) to train everyone on your team to follow them. Zoho One includes a powerful Learning Management System so that you can quickly, easily and automatically onboard employees and create on-going training programs.

12. Be two places at the same time!

Zoho One’s “Lens” custom app gives you the ability to troubleshoot virtually. This is an ideal app for service businesses like HVAC repair that have a service team on the move who need to solve problem.

13. Eliminate email overwhelm and critical tasks falling through the cracks

Another major annoyance for small business owners is dealing with a flooded email inbox that mixes external emails with team communication. This can lead to missing important information makes collaboration and follow-up difficult.

This is where TeamInbox saves the day. This is a shared inbox for teams so that every team member can see all the messages related to a project or customer issue. You can assign owners to each incoming message so that no email is left without a response. You can see what everyone is working on, share thoughts and ideas, and most importantly, make sure that all of your customers get the right answer as fast as possible.

One feature I really love is that you can configure all of your channels in one place so that you’re not jumping from one tab to another.

The great thing about TeamInbox is that you can run ALL of your emails (internal and external) through this app. Not only that, but you can also create tasks and communicate ALL from your inbox! This is especially useful when dealing with online reviews.

14. Backup and secure your data without an IT department.

Most small business owners don’t have an IT department. We count on the tools we use to keep our data private and secure.

Well, get this. When you have Zoho One, you also get “Vault”. This is an app that allows you to easily and securely backup all your data.

15. Don’t work alone! Stay connected, chat and meet with your team anytime, anywhere

The biggest challenge business owners face when working virtually is connecting with their team — not just for meeting, but for quick questions, announcements and even a quick video chat.

Zoho One’s Cliq app is your alternative to Slack.

16. Schedule meetings and even get paid for your advice with one click

One of my biggest peeves is going back and forth with someone to schedule a simple meeting. Zoho One’s “Bookings” app is how I schedule meetings with one click.

Another peeve is not making money on the advice I give and not knowing what types of meetings yield new clients and customers.

One of the features I love most about Zoho Bookings is that you can turn a meeting into a lead and that lead into a customer! Again — this is the benefit of a unified and synchronized operating system that doesn’t let a single interaction go to waste.

Sure, you can use other Calendar tools — but they won’t give you REPORTS the way Zoho Bookings does.

You can create reports by meeting type, revenue reports and so many more!

I’ve also created “breakthrough sessions” as a meeting type that allows clients to schedule 1-hr consulting meetings and where I can get PAID for my advice. This has been a game changer for me — because I hate asking for money. Instead, I simply tell my client to schedule a “breakthrough” session. This is a low-investment for them and allows me to get paid for my advice.

17. Leaving money on the table because you aren’t keeping the books

You know that feeling when you put on a coat and stick your hand in the pocket and find a $10 bill? I can see you smiling already.

Well, your business has money hidden in the nooks and crannies; phone consultations that go unbilled, getting lost in a project and not billing for all your time, pricing too low because you don’t understand your costs — and so much more.

Luckily Zoho One has Zoho Books.

When you use Zoho Books along with apps list Zoho CRM, Zoho Bookings, Zoho Sites and other integrated apps, you’re not leaving any money on the table.

New and Improved Zoho One Pulls Everything Together at a Price You Can Afford

Zoho One is a robust suite of business applications, designed to help entrepreneurs handle their most important tasks from anywhere with just an internet connection. They have the tools to run your entire company from accounting and finance to sales and marketing. 

I’ve been using Zoho for about two years now, and I’m very happy with it! I love that you can share documents with other users so we don’t have to email around spreadsheets or files anymore! There’s also a chat function where we can communicate in real-time – it’s great for brainstorming sessions or getting feedback on a proposal before submitting it. 

So Many Apps — Where Do You Start?

This is the most important question you can ask yourself. The best way to start using Zoho One is to start with a single app, get familiar and comfortable with it, then add the next most obvious app.

Here are some basic “triggers” or entry point apps to Zoho One:

Bookings (Calendly Alternative): This is how I started. A calendar booking app is simple, we all understand how they work, and, because it’s connected to your calendar, you’ll get some basic experience with connecting or integrating Zoho One to your existing calendar tool.

Bigin (Simple CRM): Another great way to start with Zoho One is with their basic, simple CRM, Bigin. This is a “Trello” like CRM that is ideas for anyone who has NOT used a CRM before. Again, you can use it out of the box, without integrating to anything. So it’s a great place to start.

Invoice: A lot of my friends start with this one. It’s a free invoice tool, you can also connect it to Bigin and just work on managing and growing your sales.

Zoho CRM (Salesforce alternative): This is the most popular way to start using Zoho One and a lot of companies choose this one. It’s not at the top of my list for solopreneurs because it can feel overwhelming (That’s why I recommend you start with Bigin). Now, you can start with some bare bones features because EVERY Zoho One app integrates with CRM, like everyone. So I’d recommend you connect your apps to Zoho CRM and you can jump into it when you are ready.

Ultimately the answer of where you start is up to you. Just start. Start with one app at a time and work your way up.

How to Get Started Without Overwhelm

Start with one app. Here’s what I recommend:

• Beginner? Start with Bookings or Bigin CRM
  
• Need to get paid? Use Invoice or Books
  
• Ready to scale? Start with Campaigns and CRM
  

Each app plays nice with the others. No integration headaches. Just activate, connect, go.

The Bottom Line

Zoho One is the ideal choice for a startup or new business that hasn’t committed to a wide variety of software just yet. Zoho One works best when you have all of your information in the single platform. That’s where the magic happens.

If you would rather spend your time working on your business, serving customers and seeing how your business is doing by glancing at a dashboard – Zoho One is for you.

Overall Zoho One and its apps are outstanding and will serve the needs of 90%+ of small business owners. Granted if you are very specific in a particular area, you may want to use particular tools or you might find that some Zoho apps don’t have the advanced features you want. BUT — Zoho One is very customizable. And if you struggle with measuring business results and making business decisions because you can’t see all the data, investing in some customizations will be well worth it.

Zoho One has made it easier for small businesses to operate out of one secure platform by seamlessly connecting all their apps so they don’t have to worry about data silos or multiple logins anymore. They can now focus on what matters most – growing their business!

FAQ

Is Zoho One good for solopreneurs? 

Yes! It’s built for small teams and solo operators who want affordable, integrated tools.

What’s the difference between Zoho CRM and Zoho One? 

Zoho CRM is one app. Zoho One includes CRM + 45 more apps.

Can I try Zoho One free? 

Yes — you get a 30-day free trial without a credit card.

How much is Zoho One? 

$37/month per user (annually). $45/month if billed monthly.

How is it different from G Suite or Microsoft? 

Zoho One includes CRM, marketing, accounting, analytics, and more. It’s a full operating system.

Can I cancel Zoho One anytime? 

Yes, Zoho One offers both monthly and annual plans. Cancel monthly anytime without penalty.

Is Zoho One customizable for my business? 

Absolutely. Most apps are modular, and you can enable only what you need.

Do I need to hire someone to set it up? 

Nope. Start simple. Use one app. As you grow, the platform grows with you.

Will Zoho One work for my team? 

Yes, you can add users as your business grows. Permissions and roles are built in.

Each month, I give QuickBooks $80. Think about that. I’ve been paying twice the amount for one app (Zoho One is about $40/month) as I do for an entire suite of integrated tools that run my whole business. And now that Zoho has launched its U.S. edition of Zoho Payroll, the timing couldn’t be better.

The Problem with Running a Business on Too Many Tools

If you’re running a small business, you’ve probably felt this pain. You’ve got QuickBooks for financials, Trello for projects, some kind of CRM, a payroll tool that barely talks to anything else, and maybe a dozen spreadsheets in between. That’s a lot of toggling back and forth, a lot of manual data entry, and a lot of lost time. 

Nothing integrates as smoothly as it should, and you’re constantly second-guessing your numbers. Sound familiar? That’s where Zoho One comes in. It’s not just one tool—it’s an entire ecosystem where everything works together. 

Zoho One - The Operating System for Small Business

Imagine a world where all your business tools play nicely together (cue angelic choir). Whether it’s handling your finances, projects, or marketing, Zoho One keeps everything seamless and oh-so-simple. Plus, the price? A fraction of what you'd pay for piecing together different apps. Talk about a BARGAIN!

If you’re ready to take the leap from surviving to thriving, Zoho One is your trusty steed. Let’s ride into the sunset of efficiency, my friends. Click that button and get ready to supercharge your hustle!

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And now with Zoho Payroll, I’ve finally got a complete, integrated financial system for my business.

Let me walk you through the details, and I’ll show you exactly why I’m so excited.

The Dashboard That Does It All

Let’s start with the Zoho Payroll Dashboard, where everything you need is right at your fingertips. This isn’t one of those cluttered dashboards that gives you 20 charts but no real answers. It’s simple, clean, and shows me exactly what I need to know:

• How much you owe for federal and state taxes
• Your total payroll costs, broken down into net pay, taxes, benefits, and deductions
• A quick snapshot of your active employees and whether they’re hourly or salaried

Look at that! Everything is right where it should be, without any of the clutter or confusion. No more jumping between systems or reconciling scattered data. It’s all in one place, ready to go.

Managing Employee Benefits Doesn’t Have to Be a Headache

No employees? No problem.  I’m willing to bet that you’re avoiding offering comprehensive benefits because, let’s be honest, it’s a lot of work. Managing 401(k)s, tracking PTO, and keeping up with health insurance details isn’t exactly a small business owner’s dream task. But Zoho Payroll makes it easy to manage all of that in one spot.

This is what benefits management looks like when it’s done right. You can set up everything from retirement plans (401(k)s, Simple IRAs, you name it) to medical, dental, and vision insurance. It even tracks PTO balances and accruals automatically. That means I can offer a real benefits package to my team—full-timers, part-timers, even my virtual contractors—without the usual headache.

Taxes? Handled. Like, Really Handled

Let’s talk about taxes, everyone’s favorite topic. If you’ve ever missed a payroll tax deadline, you know how stressful it can be. The fines add up fast, and the paperwork is brutal. 

Zoho Payroll automates the entire process for federal, state, and local taxes in all 50 states. That means it calculates, files, and pays everything for you, on time, every time.

I mean, look at this. It’s clean, clear, and straightforward. Everything’s tracked, and you can see exactly what’s pending and what’s funded. No more chasing down tax forms or panicking at the last minute.

Online Payroll System | Cloud Payroll Software | Zoho Payroll

Zoho Payroll is a seamless, all-in-one payroll solution for small businesses. It automates tax compliance across all 50 states, simplifies benefits management, and empowers employees with a mobile self-service portal. Fully integrated with Zoho Books, People, and Expense, it’s the perfect tool to streamline payroll and grow your business effortlessly.

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Zoho Payroll vs QuickBooks Online

But wait! QuickBooks is the standard – is it worth the hassle of switching? 

Honestly, that’s not for me to say.  After all, it’s taken me a few years to get here. But as soon as the opportunity presented itself, I was in. 

I get it. For years, QuickBooks Online has been the go-to for small business accounting and payroll, but the comparison starts to fall apart when you dig a little deeper. At least it has for me. 

When you break it down, Zoho Payroll does everything QuickBooks Payroll does—and more—at a lower cost, with seamless integration across all your business operations. QuickBooks feels like a standalone tool with add-ons, while Zoho Payroll feels like part of a bigger, smarter system.

The Employee Experience: A Mobile App That Makes Life Easier

Here’s the part my team loves the most: the Zoho Payroll employee self-service portal. If you’ve ever had someone email you asking for a copy of their pay stub or wanting to know how much PTO they have left, you’re going to love this too.

This mobile app is a game-changer. Employees can view their pay stubs, update their tax withholdings, check their benefits, and even track PTO—all from their phones. It’s like giving them their very own payroll assistant. And you know what that means for me? Fewer emails, fewer interruptions, and a happier team.

Expense Reimbursements Made Simple

If you’ve got a virtual team like I do, chances are you deal with a lot of expense reimbursements. Zoho Payroll integrates seamlessly with Zoho Expense, which means approved reimbursements flow straight into payroll. No more tracking down receipts or manually adding reimbursements to paychecks.

It’s smooth, seamless, and automatic. Exactly how it should be.

W-4 Forms? Paperwork-Free

Onboarding a new team member? Zoho Payroll even handles digital W-4 forms. Employees can complete, verify, and submit their forms right from the platform. No more scanning, printing, or chasing down paperwork.

It’s one of those small touches that makes a big difference when you’re running a small business.

Why This Matters for Your Business

Here’s the bottom line: if you’re juggling multiple software tools to manage your business, you’re working harder than you need to. I’ve spent years trying to make disconnected tools work together, and I can tell you firsthand—it’s not worth it. With Zoho One, everything from payroll to marketing to project management happens in one place. And now with Zoho Payroll, I finally have a financial system that’s fully integrated and built to grow with my business.

This isn’t just about saving money (although the savings are real). It’s about saving time, reducing stress, and making better business decisions because all your data is finally working together.

For $90 a month, I’m running my entire business on Zoho One. That’s CRM, email marketing, project management, and now payroll—all for the same price I was paying for QuickBooks alone.

If you’re still juggling a dozen tools or hesitating to hire because payroll feels too complicated, let this be your sign: it doesn’t have to be. Zoho Payroll is here, and it’s everything small business owners like us have been waiting for.

2025 is my year of integration. What about you?

One of my mentors once told me, “By the time you’ve analyzed everything, the opportunity will have passed you by.” That advice stuck with me.

But as much as I love the “just-do-it” mindset, ignoring the numbers means you’re flying blind. And that’s where Zoho’s latest version of Zoho Analytics comes in. 

They’ve packed this update with tools that make sense of your data without forcing you to become a data scientist. 

So if you’ve been avoiding analytics because of all the numbers and complexity, stick with me—this new release is a game-changer for solopreneurs, especially when it comes to sales and marketing.

The Game-Changing Features for Solopreneurs

1. Map Sales Data for Better Decisions

This feature really grabbed my attention. Geo-mapping sales data. Imagine this—you upload your sales and customer location data, and Zoho Analytics automatically plots it on a map for you. This is where the magic happens.

For example, let’s say you sell online courses and notice you’ve got a hot spot of customers in a certain region. Zoho Analytics can map this out, helping you see where you’re gaining traction. You can then focus your marketing dollars on that area—perhaps by launching a targeted Facebook ad or hosting a local webinar. This mapping feature doesn’t just show where your customers are; it helps you predict where future customers might come from. You can make smarter, data-driven decisions in minutes, not weeks.

2. Predict Customer Behavior with No-Code ML Models

One of the most intimidating things about data analytics is machine learning, right? Zoho’s got that covered. Their new no-code ML (Machine Learning) Studio lets you build models to predict things like customer churn or sales trends without writing a single line of code. It sounds fancy, but the idea is simple: you give it some data, and Zoho spits out insights that help you act proactively instead of reactively.

For example, if your website visitors usually purchase within three days of signing up for your newsletter, but suddenly you see people are taking longer—your model might predict this as a sign of declining interest. You can then take action, like offering a limited-time discount or sending a re-engagement email, before losing that potential sale.

3. Automated Dashboards: Because We Don’t Have Time

I’m not going to lie—one of the reasons I’ve avoided business intelligence tools in the past is the amount of setup involved. Setting up dashboards, figuring out which data to track—it’s a lot. But Zoho’s Auto Analysis feature cuts through that. You upload your data, and it suggests dashboards and reports. It’s like having your own personal data assistant. You don’t have to decide what to track; Zoho tells you what matters.

This is perfect for solopreneurs who don’t have time to spend hours tracking every metric. You upload your sales data, and it tells you what’s working, what’s not, and what to keep an eye on. You get a full picture of your business without the usual overwhelm.

4. Integrating Data from Multiple Apps for a 360° View

If you’re anything like me, your business data is probably spread out across a dozen different apps—email marketing in one, customer data in another, sales transactions in yet another. Zoho Analytics now allows you to blend data from different platforms—think Salesforce, QuickBooks, or even Shopify—and create a single dashboard that shows everything in one place.

This means you can analyze how your email marketing campaigns are affecting your sales in real time. Did you send out a newsletter? Now you can see if it led to more product purchases without having to manually compare data from different platforms. It’s all laid out in front of you, helping you connect the dots faster.

5. AI-Driven Insights for Fast Decisions

Zoho’s AI assistant, Zia, now delivers diagnostic analytics. This is more than just tracking data; it’s understanding the “why” behind your numbers. Why did sales dip last month? Why did you suddenly get a surge in traffic from social media? Zia digs into your data and provides answers.

Let’s say you run a digital marketing campaign, and after a couple of days, you see a spike in web traffic but not in sales. Zia could tell you that visitors are dropping off after reaching a certain page, suggesting a UX issue. You can then tweak that page and potentially turn that traffic into conversions.

How You Can Use These Features in Real Life

Let’s break down a simple example of how you might use all of these features in a real-world scenario. Say you run an online business selling handcrafted items and you’ve been shipping products all over the country. Using Zoho Analytics, you can:

1. Map Sales Locations: Upload your customer data, see where most of your sales are coming from, and focus marketing efforts on those regions. Maybe you discover that people in the Midwest love your product. You can launch Facebook ads specifically targeting that region.
2. Blend Data from Different Platforms: Pull in sales data from your e-commerce platform, email marketing stats, and social media engagement to see how everything correlates. Did people who engaged with your recent Instagram post end up buying? You’ll know right away.
3. Predict Sales Trends: Use the no-code ML model to predict which months will be best for sales based on past performance. Let’s say your model shows a slow summer—this gives you time to plan a promotion to keep sales up.
4. AI-Generated Reports: Let Zia handle the “why” questions. Why did your best-selling product suddenly drop in sales? Maybe Zia points out that the drop coincided with a price increase, suggesting you test a discount to see if that gets sales moving again.
5. Automated Dashboards: You upload your sales and marketing data, and Zoho builds a dashboard that tracks the most critical KPIs for you. That’s less time crunching numbers and more time focusing on strategy.

Wrapping Up

At the end of the day, tools like Zoho Analytics are here to make your life easier. It’s about getting actionable insights without drowning in data. Whether it’s mapping your sales to target new markets or using AI to predict customer behavior, these new features mean you can finally start using your data to grow your business—without the headache.

I’ve been using Zoho One for a while, and if you’re a solopreneur, it’s honestly the best bang for your buck. Now that Zoho Analytics has leveled up, there’s no reason not to take advantage of what your data can tell you.

What’s Marketing Automation

Before I get into the nitty gritty of Zoho Marketing Automation apps, I think you need to have a clearer idea of what marketing automation is overall.

Think of marketing automation as your business’s personal assistant for handling all the repetitive marketing tasks you’d rather not do manually. It’s software that helps streamline things like sending emails, posting on social media, and running ads, so you don’t have to do it all yourself. It’s like putting your marketing on autopilot—but with smarter, more personalized touches.

Why Use Zoho One for Your Small Business Marketing?

The quick answer is that Zoho Marketing Automation is included in Zoho One – in addition to another 50 apps.  So for about $47 per month you can automate your entire business — and not just marketing. 

I’ve used Zoho One for over five years and have dabbled in just about every marketing automation tool over the last 20+ years. My conclusion? If you’re a small business operating on a tight marketing budget (around $500 a month), Zoho marketing automation within Zoho One is the most cost-effective way to manage your business and marketing.

Zoho One - The Operating System for Small Business

Imagine a world where all your business tools play nicely together (cue angelic choir). Whether it’s handling your finances, projects, or marketing, Zoho One keeps everything seamless and oh-so-simple. Plus, the price? A fraction of what you'd pay for piecing together different apps. Talk about a BARGAIN!

If you’re ready to take the leap from surviving to thriving, Zoho One is your trusty steed. Let’s ride into the sunset of efficiency, my friends. Click that button and get ready to supercharge your hustle!

Buy Now

We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

Zoho One is like the Swiss Army knife of business tools—it has something for almost everything. But we’re here to discuss marketing, so let’s focus on that.

Think of marketing automation as the engine that keeps your marketing efforts running smoothly and delivering sales-ready leads, even while you sleep. And within the Zoho One platform, you’ve got two powerful options: Zoho Campaigns and Zoho Marketing Automation. Don’t let the names fool you; you need both.

Zoho Campaigns: Your Content Marketing Powerhouse

Zoho Campaigns is your go-to for inbound and content marketing. It’s perfect for:

• Creating and sending email newsletters.
• Building landing pages that convert.
• Segmenting your audience for targeted messaging.
• Tracking the performance of your campaigns.

Email marketing software | Zoho Campaigns

If you're looking to run sharp, well-timed email campaigns without the headache, Zoho Campaigns is your new best friend. It’s easy to use, offers tons of pre-built templates, and lets you send out emails that actually get opened. Plus, its automation features take care of the heavy lifting, so you can focus on the big ideas.

Whether you're sending newsletters, promos, or follow-ups, Zoho Campaigns makes it feel like a breeze. It's affordable, too—perfect for solopreneurs who want professional results without breaking the bank!

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Zoho Marketing Automation: Fueling Your Sales Funnel

Zoho Marketing Automation kicks things up a notch, especially if you rely on ads to generate leads. It goes beyond email and lets you:

• Design automated workflows that nurture leads across different touchpoints.
• Score leads based on their engagement.
• Trigger personalized emails based on user behavior.
• Align your sales and marketing teams seamlessly.

The key is to figure out how Zoho marketing automation integrates with the other marketing must-haves already in Zoho One. That’s what we are here to uncover, so let’s go.

Zoho CRM and Bigin: Managing Your Leads Like a Pro

Let’s be real; marketing is all about getting people interested in what you offer—and those people are your leads. Managing those leads effectively is important to business growth. Zoho CRM and its simpler counterpart, Bigin, are here to make sure nothing falls through the cracks.

Zoho CRM is a robust tool perfect for businesses that need detailed lead management, sales forecasting, and marketing analytics. Think of it as your command center.

Now, if you’re new to CRM, Bigin is like dipping your toes in without getting overwhelmed. It offers an intuitive interface and focuses on contact management, pipeline tracking, and basic reporting. It’s simple, yet powerful. Marketing automation tools are essential for this.

Bookings: Scheduling Made Easy (and Automated.)

Let’s face it—scheduling can be a time-suck. This is where Zoho Bookings seamlessly integrates into your Zoho ecosystem. Just like Calendly, it lets you:

• Create a personalized booking page to share with potential clients. They can easily book time with you without back-and-forth emails.
• Send automated appointment reminders to reduce no-shows. (Because, who needs those?.)
• Even charge for your time if you offer consulting or paid appointments. The beauty of this is it talks directly to your Zoho CRM.

That means all the information from Bookings populates your CRM, keeping everything organized without manual entry.

Zoho Social: Mastering the Social Media Game

Social media in 2024 is a different beast. Quality trumps quantity every time. Zoho Social empowers you to ditch the “post-as-much-as-you-can” approach and focus on what matters. With this nifty app, you can:

• Plan and schedule your social media posts across various platforms all in one dashboard. That’s right, manage your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (or is it X now?), and LinkedIn efforts effortlessly.
• Use social listening tools to monitor brand mentions and track relevant industry keywords. This can be invaluable for market research, competitor analysis, and staying on top of trends. Track the performance of your posts to understand what resonates with your audience. See which posts generate the most engagement and adapt your strategy for continuous improvement. But hold on—it gets even cooler with Zia, Zoho’s AI-powered assistant. Zia, within the marketing automation tools, can:
• Analyze your audience’s behavior and suggest the best times to post. Talk about working smarter, not harder.
• Offer content suggestions based on what’s trending and relevant to your industry. This takes out the guesswork, leaving you more time to focus on strategy.

Embracing the Power of Zoho Marketing Automation: Your Key Takeaways

Let’s be real—understanding Zoho marketing automation is no longer a “nice-to-have”—it’s essential. As a small business owner, time and resources are your most valuable assets, and automating your marketing efforts helps you get the most bang for your buck. Plus, you free up more time to focus on strategy, creating kick-ass content, and building meaningful relationships with your customers. And that, my friend, is how you build a thriving business.

FAQs about Zoho Marketing Automation

Do I have to use Zoho One to get access to Zoho Marketing Automation?

Not at all.  You can also get a complete suite of marketing automation tools with Zoho Marketing Automation.

If all you want is Marketing Automation, you can have an email list that’s about 6,000 emails for about $36 per month. This is the BEST deal you’re going to get for any marketing platform out there. 

What is the Difference Between Zoho Campaigns and Zoho Marketing Automation?

This is one of the most common questions — after all, they are kind of similar. 

Zoho Campaigns focuses primarily on email marketing, providing tools for creating, sending, and tracking email campaigns. While it offers some automation features, Zoho Marketing Automation is a more comprehensive suite of apps and features. It automates various aspects of your marketing funnel, including lead nurturing, scoring, and personalized communication.

I always recommend starting with Zoho Campaigns to send emails, and then as your marketing system grows and becomes more sophisticated, you can move up to Marketing Automation

Is there a free trial?

There’s a 30-day free trial for Zoho One. There is a 14-day free trial for Zoho Marketing Automation (no credit card required).  

What kind of customer support does Zoho Offer?

Every Zoho app comes with “Zoho Cares” support.  The best way to get support is to contact support@[name of zoho app].com.  For example, if you want to reach Zoho Cares for Zoho Campaigns, send an email to support@zohocampaigns.com. If you’re using Zoho One, send an email to support@zohoone.com.  Overall Zoho Corporation support teams will respond within a few hours. 

I want to say one more thing about Zoho support.  They really do care about their small business customers and may even reach out to you to do an online session with you.  I love their commitment to personalized experiences. 

How do I Connect Zoho CRM to Marketing Automation?

Connecting Zoho CRM with your marketing automation platform is crucial for syncing lead data and tracking campaign effectiveness. Thankfully, Zoho makes integration easy. In each of the Zoho Apps, there’s an integration page where you can connect Zoho with either other Zoho apps or with third party apps with a single click 

Conclusion

Successfully leveraging Zoho marketing automation doesn’t have to be scary, overwhelming, or expensive. If you use a total system solution, you will find tremendous marketing power when starting small and need to keep costs low.

You’re in business to make money, right? But let’s be real, managing finances can be a headache, especially when your accounting software speaks a different language—Accountantese. Enter Zoho Billing, the game-changing full-fledged billing platform designed to help you, the business owner, make more money. No accounting degree required.

Why Traditional Accounting Software Isn’t Enough

You’ve probably tried QuickBooks or something similar. Sure, they’re great—if you’re an accountant. But what about you, the business owner who needs to get paid, like, yesterday? Traditional accounting software focuses on ledgers and balance sheets, not on helping you get paid faster.

Zoho Billing: Making it Easier for Customers to Buy

Zoho Billing flips the script. It starts with the most important business function—getting paid for your products or services. Everything else is secondary. And guess what? It’s built for you, the owner, not for accountants.

Zoho Billing gives you the tools to create and send invoices, track expenses, and get paid online. No more waiting for checks in the mail or chasing down payments.

Stay On Top of Your Finances

Now, let’s talk about one of the biggest headaches in managing finances—staying on top of your numbers.

With Zoho Billing, you can easily monitor your cash flow, track expenses, and generate financial reports. No more guessing or drowning in spreadsheets. Plus, Zoho Billing integrates with other popular accounting software like QuickBooks and Xero, so you can have a complete picture of your finances.

Keep Your Customers Happy

Happy customers are repeat customers, which means more money for your business. With Zoho Billing’s automated payment reminders and recurring billing options, you can ensure your customers pay on time, every time. And with customizable invoices and professional-looking templates, you can impress your clients and maintain a strong brand image.

Now let’s dig into some of my favorite Zoho Billing features.

Features that Solve Real Cash Flow Problems

Do you now why small businesses fail? Lack of cash. With that in mind, one of your top priorities is making sure that you’re making money from all of your products and services. To do that, you’re going to need a platform that’s focused on helping you create products, services and offers that are profitable.

And this is something that Zoho Billing does in spades.

Easy Product Management

Problem: Ever spent hours setting up a product catalog? I’m actually guessing that you probably do NOT have a complete list of your products and services.

If you want to run a profitable business, you’re going to need to come up with profitable offers.

Solution: With Zoho Billing, you can effortlessly manage your products and services, making sales a breeze. Zoho Billing follows “best practices” when it comes to creating irresistible and profitable offers.

Create a list of everything that you can sell, how much that product or service costs, and the HIGHEST price you intend to sell it for.

Here, you can see a simple example of what I have as my individual items.

I can’t say enough about how powerful this is.

Embeddable Pricing Tables

Problem: Have you ever thought about how much money you’re leaving on the table?

Creating packages and bundle offers is a proven way to increase your sales by up to 300%. However, creating pricing tables can be a time-consuming task and require graphic design skills.

Solution: Zoho Billing makes it easy for you to create visually appealing pricing tables that showcase your products and services in a way that entices customers to buy. Plus, you can easily customize the pricing tables to fit your brand and offerings.

Here’s how to create that pricing table:

Click on Subscription Items

Then add your different offers. You can create subscriptions such as “Good, Better, Best” or you can do what I did and simply create unique offers.

Granted, my table isn’t so “pretty” but finding a design you like is just one click away.

Just click on “Change” in widget template and you’ll see several professionally designed tables.

But here’s what makes these tables so powerful. If and when your pricing changes inside of Zoho Billing — it’s going to change on your website! If you update the text, you’ll just have to repaste the code into that section of your website (just to be sure).

Upsell and Cross-Sell Opportunities

Problem: Are you missing out on opportunities to increase your revenue from existing customers?

Upselling and cross-selling are powerful strategies for increasing sales and profits, but many businesses struggle to implement them effectively.

Solution: With Zoho Billing, you can easily set up upsell and cross-sell offers for your customers based on their previous purchases. This allows you to make more money from each customer without having to constantly market to new leads.

You wouldn’t normally think about a billing software when it comes to upselling or cross selling, but I’m going to bring it up because upsells and cross sells are the best and easiest ways to increase your profits.

Remember that itemized product and service list we discussed above? This is where you put that list to use.

Everywhere you create an offer, you can include specific “add-ons”. For example, let’s say your basic plan includes a single monthly call with you. Your customers can “add on” additional calls.

Efficient Billing Processes

Problem: Tired of manually creating invoices and tracking expenses?

Solution: Zoho Billing automates all of that, freeing you to focus on what you do best—running your business. With customizable invoice templates, you can create professional-looking invoices in minutes. And with online payment options, you can get paid faster and more efficiently.

In a way, your billing practices form a crucial part of your overall marketing strategy. They help to shape customer perceptions of your brand and can significantly influence customer retention and word-of-mouth referrals.

Timely billing also plays a significant role in building your credibility. It sends a strong message to your customers about your professionalism and reliability. With Zoho Billing, you can guarantee that payments are made on time, every time.

Convenient Payment Handling

Problem: Struggling with partial payments or multiple payment methods?

Solution: Zoho Billing handles partial and bulk payments with ease, even sending automated reminders to make sure you get paid.

A smooth and flexible payment process significantly contributes to a seamless customer experience, enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty. By accommodating partial payments and multiple payment methods, Zoho Billing caters to the diverse needs and preferences of your customers.

This convenience in payment handling removes potential obstacles in the purchasing process, making it easier for customers to buy from you.

Manage Customer Lifecycle

Problem: Are you struggling to maintain meaningful relationships with your customers throughout their journey with your brand?

Solution: With Zoho Billing’s customer lifecycle management features, you can automate and simplify the process of managing customer accounts, from the trial phase through to the retention phase. This comprehensive approach ensures that no customer falls through the cracks, helping to foster lasting relationships that go beyond a single transaction.

From a marketing perspective, an effective management of the customer lifecycle can lead to higher customer retention rates, increased customer lifetime value, and more word-of-mouth referrals—all of which are crucial for sustainable business growth. It also enables you to identify and respond to customer needs more effectively, resulting in better customer experiences and a stronger brand reputation.

Powerful Business Insights

Problem: Need actionable insights but don’t know where to start?

Solution: Zoho Billing offers powerful metrics that help you make informed decisions to grow your business.

Zoho Billing reports provide a deep dive into your financial health, shedding light on key performance indicators (KPIs) such as revenue, expenses, unpaid invoices, and more. The detailed financial reports can be customized based on your needs, enabling you to focus on metrics that matter most to your business.

For example, the Sales Report gives you an overview of your sales performance, breaking down your revenue by product, service, or customer. It helps you identify which offerings are doing well and which ones might need tweaking.

Integration and Flexibility

Already using QuickBooks? No problem. Zoho Billing plays nice and integrates seamlessly. And if you’re a coach, consultant, or freelancer, you’ll love how easy it is to bundle services and create unique offers.

Just click on Settings in the upper right hand corner and scroll down to the “Integrations” box.

To integrate with Quickbooks, select “Accounting”

This will bring you to the Accounting software integrations. As you can see, I have both Zoho Books and my Quickbooks online connected.

Conclusion

Zoho Billing is more than just software – it’s a full-fledged billing software that empowers you to make more effective marketing decisions. By providing detailed insights into your sales performance and financial health, it enables you to identify which products or services are performing well and which ones need improvement. Armed with this data, you can tweak your marketing strategies to better target your customers, optimize your product offerings, and maximize your profits.

The integration capabilities of Zoho Billing further enhance its utility. By seamlessly connecting with Quickbooks and other accounting software, it creates a holistic financial ecosystem that saves you time and reduces the hassle of managing multiple platforms. This means you can spend more time focusing on your marketing efforts and less time worrying about accounting tasks.

In conclusion, Zoho Billing is not merely a financial management tool, but a strategic partner in making smarter, data-driven marketing decisions. If you want to streamline your billing processes, improve your marketing strategies, and ultimately grow your business, Zoho Billing is a reliable choice.

Call to Action

Ready to make more money with less hassle? Start your free trial of Zoho Billing today.

In short, I decided to shift my business to the Zoho small business operating system, and I’m going to tell you all about it and answer all the questions everyone has asked me along the way.

What’s Zoho?

In my opinion, Zoho is the best kept secret in business software. It’s like Google and Microsoft for about half the price.

To make another analogy, Zoho is like the Legos for your business. You can use their apps individually and customize them to match your business.

Or, like those specific Lego sets, you can purchase these apps in use-case bundles for individual functions of your business.

No matter which you choose, after years of using individual apps and now nearly a year of using Zoho One for more than 90% of my business, I’m ready to share what I’ve learned.

Best in Class vs Centralized Software: Which is Best?

What is a Best in Class Software Stack

Let’s get on the same page first. Best in class is typically a piece of software that is designed to do a specific job; online meetings, social media scheduling, email marketing.

Most of us have a software “stack” that looks something like this:

• Zoom for meetings
• Slack for team communication
• MailChimp for Email
• Keap for Marketing Automation
• Evernote for Notes
• Google for Storage and Collaborative Documents, Spreadsheetd, Slides, etc.
• Kajabi for Online Courses
• Buffer for Social Media
• Jasper.ai for AI Content Marketing
• Quickbooks for Invoicing and Accounting
• Shopping Carts and Payment Gateways
• SEMRush for SEO
• SurferSEO for content writing

If you use several different types of software platforms to do a specific job — that’s called best in class.

What is a Centralized Software Stack

If you worked at a larger company, there’s a good chance that you worked on a “centralized software stack” — that would be your business operating system — like SAP for example. Or, if you were a small to mid-sized business, you probably worked on a centralized “Microsoft” type of system where all your apps were primarily Microsoft Apps.

The Myth of Low-Cost Small Business Apps

Now here’s where it gets interesting.

Most best in class apps are priced very affordably; generally less than $50/month. But when you add them all up, you’re spending hundreds of dollars each month. Personally, I was spending about $500 per month for my stack of marketing tools.

So, I asked myself “Is there a way to reduce any of these costs and streamline my workflows so that I can be more productive, get better analytics for my business?”

The answer is YES — and it involves finding a centralized software stack.

Zoho is the Best Choice for Solopreneurs, Entrepreneurs, Side-Hustlers and Small to Mid-Sized Businesses

If I told you there was a centralized software platform that only costs about $47/mo and includes absolutely every single app you would need to run your business; all in one place. Would you be interested?

Zoho is that platform.

I’ve been a fan of Zoho’s small business eco system for just about a decade. And, for the life of me, I’m not sure why MORE of you entrepreneurs, side-hustlers, and small to mid-sized businesses aren’t interested.

Zoho is the Best Kept Secret for Small Business Tools

A lot of you haven’t heard of Zoho — that’s because they don’t do much marketing.

Some of you might be familiar with Zoho CRM because it’s free for up to 3 users and it’s usually the gateway app into the entire Zoho ecosystem.

But there is so much more to know about Zoho.

What makes Zoho a good choice for solopreneurs and small businesses?

Zoho is the most affordable, highest value, more bang-for-your-buck small business platform that no one knows about. It’s the best kept secret for solopreneurs, side-hustlers, and small to bid-sized businesses.

Choosing affordable software is the most overwhelming aspect of running a small business. And Zoho literally eliminates all that guesswork because it’s like purchasing a massive Lego collection that allows you to pick and choose the software apps you need when you need them without giving your budget a second thought.

How can Zoho help me as a startup?

All your data securely in one place

The biggest way the Zoho platform helps startups is by starting and keeping all of your business information securely in ONE place. Zoho has had an AI feature for more than 5 years called Zia.

Zia has amazing capabilities — but only if it has data to work with. So you’ll want to have all your business data in one place, if you want to get good insights and recommendations.

Zoho is entrenched in small business

Zoho has traditionally been targeted toward small businesses. Many of their apps have a “forever free” option and are crazy affordable.

Zoho CRM is their flagship product and most of their 50+ million (it might even be 60 million) customers worldwide started their Zoho relationship with Zoho CRM.

In my honest opinion, even though it’s free, Zoho CRM is still a bit complex and overkill for most startups.

In the last few years, Zoho has made a concerted effort to make adopting Zoho as your single small business operating platform a lot easier.

Zoho is doubling down on Solopreneurs

Zoho’s leadership team believes that software is a critical utility for small businesses. In other words, you shouldn’t even think about the price or whether you can afford it. In the same way that you wouldn’t have a home without electricity, you shouldn’t have price be a reason you don’t have software.

In 2023, you’re going to see even MORE solopreneur and startup-friendly apps hit the market. Currently, they are in what I call a soft launch.

• Zoho Solo: Run your Business from Your Phone
• Zoho Start: Register your business, EIN and more
• Zoho Domains: Purchase your domain and set up your company email
• Zoho Publish: Submit your business to directories and do reputation management
• Zoho Voice: Set up your virtual phone system

How much does it cost to use Zoho’s software?

Every Zoho App costs less then $50/mo

Zoho’s flagship small business suite is called Zoho One. This bundle gives you access to over 50 apps for only $47/month/user. With Zoho One, you can replace your entire Google Workplace, Email Marketing and Marketing Automation, Meetings and Webinars, Online Courses, Websites, Bookkeeping and Invoicing, and so much more.

If you’re a startup, you can have all of this and many more apps I didn’t even cover for under $100 per month. This is literally a 10X reduction in software cost!

Zoho also offers department or use-case specific bundles that you can choose such as Marketing Plus which contains everything you need to run your marketing for just $25/mo with the option to add on users and email capacity as your business grows.

A lot of Zoho apps also have a forever free option, so you can start with that to see how you like it before you buy it.

What kind of support does Zoho offer for setup and troubleshooting?

Zoho’s customer support has come a LONG way over the last few years. With Zoho One, you get access to their Zoho Concierge service. Just schedule a call and they will help you choose the best app to start with and provide some basic guidance and training.

Every single app has its own support staff. All you need to do is send an email to support for the app you’re using and they will respond within a few hours.

I switched my entire business to Zoho One at the start of 2023. The entire process took me about 20 man-hours and several dozen messages to a variety of support folks. They typically will answer with an email and a screencast to help you do something. But I’ve also had people give me the option to schedule a call where they literally walked me through any issues that I was having.

Can Zoho scale with my business as it grows?

YES. This is what makes Zoho such a wonderful choice for cost-conscious small business owners and entrepreneurs. And, this is the reason I recommend starting with Zoho One. You can start small and add apps as you go.

Not only that, but you can run your entire business from a single dashboard.

This is a shot of my dashboard. You can see that I’m using Zoho Campaigns for my emails, Zoho Sites has some custom product pages that are tied to my shopping carts and payment gateways (yup — that’s in there too). You can see I have Zoho Social to manage my social media, Zoho meeting for webinars, and so on.

Everything is in one place – not even Google can do that.

How secure is my data on Zoho’s platform?

If you’re a freak about data and privacy — Zoho is a must have. Zoho has made data privacy a mission and their primary competitive advantage.

Zoho is a lot like Apple — it’s vertically integrated and it’s a closed system. That means that your data is yours. It doesn’t get shared, and no third-party apps get into the platform.

Zoho’s Ulaa Browser is Family and Business Friendly

You know the old saying — if it’s free, you’re the product. While Google’s browser is the standard, let’s face it, your results are still driven by ads and there’s little to no privacy for your searches — remember, you’re the product.

Another feature I love is that it offers a variety of browser experiences: Developer, Personal, and my favorite “kids” — so all the parental controls are taken care of and you don’t have to worry about your kids seeing anything inappropriate while researching their homework.

Ulaa uses Duck-Duck-Go as their preferred browser, so you know it’s secure.

Again — Zoho isn’t just committed to your data privacy, they are obsessed.

Does Zoho offer any mobile apps for managing my business on-the-go?

Of course! Every app you have has a mobile option.

Here’s a screenshot of my Zoho One mobile app. I can literally see everything that’s going on in my business in one place.

Not only that, but of you’re a startup, they have a new mobile app coming out called Zoho Solo which will allow you to run your entire startup from your phone!

This is still in Beta, but it’s going to be the best small business entry point for startups.

What specific tools and features does Zoho offer to help me run my business?

I’m not being facitious when I say this – but “all of them.” If you are an online, local, brick-and-mortar, ecommerce business – everything you need will be here.

I’ve already talked about Zoho one — and you can see how extensive this is. And, if that’s overkill for you – no worries. There are a variety of bundles.

The only thing I still use outside of Zoho are a few specific SEO tools.

Zoho Marketing Plus

This is everything you need for running all of your marketing; host your marketing assets, run webinars, social media, and online events for about $25/mo.

Zoho People for HR

Zoho People is a comprehensive human resources management system designed specifically for small businesses.

You’ll get a wide range of features and functionalities that streamline and automate various HR processes, making it easier for small businesses to manage their employees efficiently.

With Zoho People, you’ll be able to handle tasks such as employee onboarding, attendance tracking, leave management, and performance appraisals.

This Zoho bundle of apps provides a centralized database for storing employee information, ensuring easy access to essential details and facilitating effective communication within the organization. Additionally, Zoho People offers robust reporting and analytics capabilities, so that you can generate insightful HR reports and gain valuable insights into your workforce.

Zoho CRM Plus

And, if sales is the primary focus of your business, you can use Zoho CRM Plus; a collection of apps.

Again, there are more than 50 apps, and my recommendation is to go with Zoho One – because you get all of these in one bundle. Just pace yourself.

Can I integrate Zoho with other tools and software I’m already using in my business?

Yes. Zoho does a great job of integrating with the most popular tools. I was able to easily import my email lists from both MailChimp and Kartra (that’s a $300 monthly savings for me right there).

If you move to Zoho One, you’ll also have access to Zoho Flow (a Zapier alternative) so that you can synchronize any apps you don’t want to part with.

Does Zoho offer any educational resources or training for new users?

Of course there are help files and YouTube videos (these are the ones I use the most). But the best place for getting any help with the platform is by attending any of the dozens of live Meetups that Zoho has all over the world — and their annual conference; Zoholics.

What are the benefits of using Zoho One for my business?

Value! Let’s just start with that. In 2023, most marketing software has changed their pricing in such a way that most people are getting hit with a 50% price increase in some cases. By switching to Zoho I’ve cut my software expenses by about $500 per month.

Core Values: Now I want to talk about CORE values. Zoho is privately owned. That means that they are committed to long term goals. Their mission is to have software be a non-issue for running your business. They do this by keeping the price as low as possible.

All your stuff in one place: As a small business, you don’t have a tech team, you don’t have time to waste evaluating dozens of software tools and their features and prices. With Zoho everything is in one place, in one dashboard.

But here’s the best part. Zoho has had an AI (named Zia) for about five years (maybe more). With all your data inside of Zoho, you can have that “Star Trek” experience and just ask Zia anything about your business.

How does Zoho’s marketing approach benefit me as a customer?

Zoho believes that the best marketing is a happy customer. In other words, they don’t believe in

They don’t do a lot of marketing. So, you never feel like you’re being “sold.”

At a conference a few years ago, one executive said that when they look at the expense of doing Google Ads vs an in-person meet-up where they can engage with users — they will choose the meet-up every time.

What does Zoho offer for Coaches and Consultants?

So what if you’re not a “traditional” small business? If you’re a coach or consultant, you’ve got some options with Zoho. As someone who does consulting and online publishing, I’m saving a ton of money and enjoying the simplicity of the Zoho platform.

Let me review the perfect Zoho stack for coaches and consultants.

The Whole Business or Just Marketing?

You actually have three strategic options; choose one app at a time, choose Zoho One, or Choose Marketing Plus.

I would NOT recommend that you start one app at a time, because ultimately you’ll have to start paying for it and as you start adding apps, you’ll end up paying more and more. If you want to start one app at a time and you’re not sure where to go from there — choose Zoho One.

Choose Zoho One if:

• You want to use Zoho’s shopping cart or financial features
• You engage with a internal and external team
• You want to explore running your business on Zoho
• You are using Wix or SquareSpace as your current website

Choose Marketing Plus if:

• The bulk of your business revolves around all things marketing; events, emails, social media, webinars, etc.
• You already have a website and/or a blog
• You are firmly committed to other financial and bookkeeping platforms.

TrainerCentral for Your Online Courses and Memberships

Finally, I want to take a minute to introduce you to TrainerCentral, Zoho’s online course and training platform.

This would be your alternative to Kajabi or Thinkific.

What I love about TrainerCentral

• It’s BEAUTIFUL! The design layout looks good with just about any design style you might choose. Here’s a shot of my main TrainerCentral Portal

• Insanely fast setup. Assuming my video and written content is ready, I can set up an entire course within about 30 minutes.

What’s Clunky About TrainerCentral

• Clunky for purchases. This is my biggest complaint about TrainerCentral. It’s easy to set up the payment gateway, but there are way too many clicks for customers to make from decision to pay to access.
• Missing “landing page” specific features. As much as I love the design and how easy it is to launch the site and the page, it’s missing some basic feature/functions like being able to add buttons in multiple spots on the page. Another design feature that’s missing is being able to add a purchase section and form on the page that allows the customer to purchase with as few clicks as possible.
• The academy umbrella: TrainerCentral operates under two layers; the academy umbrella and the courses. This makes it rather clunky. Students register into your academy that houses all your courses and then they register into whatever course or course bundle you’re selling.

What are You Waiting For

I’m going to wrap up with a single question — what are you waiting for? Honestly, I waited too long (5 years) to switch over to Zoho. If I had it to do all over again, I would have started my business inside the Zoho platform. I would have saved more than 6-figures in software costs.

Another shift that has happened to me in my business over the years, is that I care about who I give my money to and what they do with it.

I want to support a company that values their employees and loves their customers. Profits are important, but not at the expense of fleecing your customers.

Zoho matches my core values and after working with them for more than 5 years, I can honestly say they care about small business.

Best of all, it won’t break the bank. Let’s see if it’s right for you!

What is Bigin and Why It’s Great for Solopreneurs

Bigin is a simple CRM built to help solopreneurs like you stay organized and productive.

It’s a tool that brings together task management, customer relationship management (CRM) and project scheduling into one platform.

If you’re an entrepreneur hopping from one platform to another and struggling with having new client opportunities fall through the cracks — this is worth checking out.

What’s the Difference Between Bigin and Zoho CRM?

Technically, Bigin is a simple CRM. That means that it’s a trimmed down version of it’s much bigger parent CRM, Zoho CRM. So here are the main differences.

Bigin is like a baby Zoho CRM. It’s got everything you need to get started and nothing you don’t.

It’s interface is more visual using the “pipeline” concept. A lot like Trello.

It includes a lot of templates so that you can get started quickly.

My Overall Reasons for Loving Bigin

Easy to use and extremely intuitive

Not gonna lie. Most enterprise level CRMs, heck, most small business CRMs are overwhelming and force you to spend more time filling in data than driving new sales.

The new and improved Bigin has really made improvements in this area.

As soon as you open it up, you see this handy-dandy sidebar with lots of great pipeline templates that you don’t have to search for. As an aside, the older version had templates that I was never able to find — so this is an improvement.

As a part of Zoho One — Your Whole Business is in ONE Place

Bigin is an app inside the Zoho One ecosystem, so that means you’ll have everything in one place. Specifically, your email marketing, scheduling, project management, virtual meetings and events — literally every aspect in one place.

Of course, you also have access to Zoho CRM, but my honest opinion is that Zoho CRM is overkill and super confusing for most of us solopreneurs.

It’s affordable

Additionally, what I really love about Bigin is its pricing structure. Just $7 per month on its own. And “free” with a Zoho One subscription. I’m paying $42/month tax and everything. But that’s for 55+ apps that I use to run my entire business.

Just click, drag, and drop

If you can click, drag, and drop, you can use Bigin. In fact, the hardest part about Bigin is choosing what templates you’re going to use and how you’re going to organize your workflows.

But don’t worry if you don’t find a template that’s an exact match for your business process, you can choose a template and customize it — or you can create your own.

Here’s an example from my Bigin account.

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Bigin Saves You Time, Keeps You Organized and Productive

If you’re a solopreneur, Bigin Software can be a great tool to help you get organized and productive.

This customer operations software allows you to store pictures, documents, lists, tasks and comments all in one place. You can also set deadlines for your tasks and objectives to keep yourself on track.

Work ON Your Business — with documented workflows

If you’ve been looking for ways to step away from your business, delegate and still feel like the business can run without you — this is what WORKFLOWS are for!

Simply think of everything as a flow or process from beginning to end.

Automated Workflows Use If This, Then That Thinking

Where most of us stumble is when one workflow transitions into the next — and that’s where Bigin has this nifty workflow automation feature.

It’s a basic “if this – then that” automation.

Use the Mobile App to Work from Anywhere

Another great Bigin feature is it’s mobile app. Now, I have Zoho One – so it’s inside an entire suite of Zoho Apps, but it’s a great way to keep my deals moving forward no matter where I am.

Integrated Telephony

I think this is a great feature for a business with teams. You can either use your own phone system or get numbers for each team member.

Once you integrate telephony into Bigin, the system will track your calls so that everyone is always on the same page.

Typically, this is a feature you can only get with enterprise plans — BUT — if you have Zoho One — then you have Bigin. And if you only have Bigin, you’re getting this feature at the most basic level.

Save Time and Improve Consistency, Quality, Followup and Success

Creating a workflow means having a plan for how something should happen. With Bigin, there’s no code required. All you have to do is set triggers for the workflow to start, specify a condition for the trigger, and select an action to be performed when the condition is met.

I don’t need to tell you how many tedious repetitive tasks this can eliminate.

Email Templates that Eliminate Repetitive Tasks and Deliver The Right Info at the Right Time

I’m a huge fan of email templates aside from the obvious time saving benefits.

First, email templates keep the sale moving and deliver consistently correct information

There are two things that will stop a sale in its tracks; not sending an email right away and/or sending an email with incorrect information in it.

Oh and when it comes to talking about pricing and options — you don’t want to have to sit down and write this email from scratch. You want to select a template and click send. This removes you from the emotional element of the pricing conversation.

Bigin has an easy email template feature that I really like. I created an email inside of 3 minutes. And if you already have samples of emails that you’ve sent and that have approved – this will take you less than a minute.

Manage Twitter Conversations in Bigin

Now, a lot of small businesses aren’t running customer service via Twitter. But this is a great addition.

Simply connect your social profile and you can manage customer conversations from inside of Bigin.

Add Toppings

If you have a team helping you out in your business AND you have these different emails that go to different people i.e. support@yourcompany.com or sales@yourcompany.com — you can add a “topping” like “Email In” where all of these emails go directly into your Bigin so they don’t get lost.

Pricing: Start with Forever Free

One of the things I love about Zoho — all of Zoho, is their pricing philosophy — You shouldn’t have to think or worry about the price of software.

Well. there’s nothing to worry about if it starts with a forever free plan for up to 500 contacts. Honestly, you can stay free for a very long time.

I have Zoho One, so for me — it’s included as part of the entire Zoho One Suite.

What’s Missing in Bigin?

I’ve already told you what I love about Bigin — and there’s a lot. But there are a few things that I think would make a busy solopreneurs life a lot easier.

Bigin’s ability to connect with Twitter to manage conversations is a great first step. But a lot of customer support conversations and questions for solopreneurs are happening inside of Facebook groups and Facebook pages. I’m thinking those of you with Facebook communities would love that. Especially since it’s not easy to capture engagement via Facebook.

Automatically filling out contact information.

This is a BIG one. Everyone knows that the number 1 reason sales people don’t like CRMs is because no one has the time or the inclination to fill out contact information and social media handles. This is a BIG missing for me. Especially since I’ve been a Nimble user forever. This ONE feature is so critical and I really miss it in Bigin.

Managing lead and prospect conversations from online to Bigin

A LOT of my first conversations happen on social platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc. My goal is to move those connections off of social and into a CRM. Again, this is something Nimble does easily.

The real issue, I think, is the social platforms and their APIs which make it virtually impossible to move those contacts from their site to your site. Not sure if anything can be done about that.

Curating Your Best Prospects from Campaigns and Driving Them to Bigin

Currently you can drive people from Bigin to your email marketing software, like Zoho Campaigns. But you can’t pull your most engaged leads from Zoho Campaigns and drive them into Bigin via it’s native sync function.

I tried to set up a sync inside the Zoho Campaigns app to find the segment of highly engaged people and drive them to Bigin so that I can schedule calls with them — that didn’t work. I’m sure you can do that with Zapier, but it’s not native from Campaigns to Bigin.

Bigin Helps You Do the Success Behaviors that Generate New Sales and Loyal Customers

Being successful at sales has NOTHING to do with being persuasive. It has everything to do with listening, following up and simply DOING the right things at the right time every single day.

I call those success behaviors and this is where Bigin Shines.

I’m still exploring the platform and Zoho is always improving the platform. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to give Bigin a test.

Zoho Marketing Plus is the one-stop unified platform that puts everything you need to do great marketing in one place. With email marketing, webinars, blog posts, social media – and everything in between – Zoho Marketing Plus has got you covered.

I’m going to give you a quick overview of the platform so that you can decide if it’s right for you.

What is Zoho Marketing Plus

Zoho Marketing Plus is a unified platform that puts everything you need to do great marketing in one place. The app has a simple and intuitive interface, making it easy for anyone to get started. You don’t need any previous experience or knowledge to use Zoho Marketing Plus; the app provides all the tools you need to create successful marketing campaigns.

How does Zoho Marketing Plus work

You don’t need a marketing degree to be a great marketer with Zoho Marketing Plus. I have to admit, I was dubious. Every platform promises that they are going to simplify marketing and allow you to do all your marketing from one place. And truthfully, no software can do that 100%. But, boy, oh boy, Zoho Marketing Plus gets pretty darned close.

Your Whole Marketing Plan on One Page

It’s not enough for me to tell you this, you simply have to experience it for yourself. As soon as you log in, you’ll see this page with all of your marketing projects and ideas — RIGHT THERE!

From there, just pick the project that you want to work on. Once you do, and this is the best part, your entire marketing job is laid out for you in the left-hand sidebar.

I’m practically giddy as I write this.

I thought getting started with Zoho Marketing Plus was going to be a lot more difficult and techy — but it wasn’t! At least starting out with the basics isn’t. And 80% of great marketing is about doing and measuring the basics.

Zoho Marketing Plus Features Make it Easy to Follow the Marketing Process

You know why marketing is so frustrating and overwhelming? You aren’t following the marketing process!

Too many business owners (and marketers) jump in and start “doing things” just because some expert says it worked for them. This is failure waiting to happen. And if you’ve had this “marketing slot machine” experience where you keep throwing money and time and different marketing ideas and getting nothing in return — that’s the gamble you’re taking.

Every successful marketing campaign starts with the marketing process. Unless you’re a trained marketer, you don’t really know this. Well, Zoho Marketing Plus has that covered, so you don’t need to KNOW it, you just need to do it.

So this is the marketing process:

And this is how Zoho Marketing Plus is organized:

In this section, I’m going to match the apps in Zoho Marketing Plus to the marketing process:

Research: Your first step is research, so it’s a good thing Zoho Marketing Plus makes that easy:

• Zoho Surveys and Polls will help you understand your customer’s wants, needs and challenges.
• Zoho Social: Connect your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest and get valuable feedback all from one screen.

Segmentation/Targeting and Positioning: Next, you want to segment your customers into groups with similar interests. With that in place, you can target people with similar interests with offers that are positioned to solve their specific problem.

• Zoho Campaigns: Is a simple email marketing system that allows you to send basic email sequences, follow-up emails and newsletters.
• Zoho Marketing Automation: gives you the ability to create more complex email sequences that are triggered by specific behaviors. For example, registering for a specific webinar and then receiving a sequence of emails that provide reminders and ultimately an offer for your prospects to buy.

Strategies and Implementation of Strategies: The Marketing Projects page of Zoho Marketing Plus and the individual elements of your marketing plan are there to help you implement.

• Zoho Webinars and Zoho Meetings: If you’re running content marketing or direct marketing strategies, you can use Webinars and Meetings for workshops, webinars, etc. to share content or present offers.
• Zoho Campaigns and Marketing Automation: These will help you guide customers through a buyers’ journey toward purchasing your offer.
• Zoho Backstage: Run live or online events to jump-start your list building.
• Zoho File Management: All of your brand assets, conversations, files and documents related to your marketing project.

Measure: Finally, you want to be able to track and measure your progress throughout your marketing activities.

• Zoho Analytics: Track advertising activity and the overall success of your marketing.

• Zoho PageSense: Track website activity. This is similar to Google Analytics.

• Zoho Social Analytics: Track social activity and engagement statistics

• Other custom analytics: Zoho Analytics also offers no-code ways to customize your dashboard for even more complex ways to measure your business. This is where it gets a little complicated.

What Software Does Zoho Marketing Plus Replace?

This is my favorite question! Because when you see this list and how much money you’ll save every month, your head will explode! I’m going to do my best to give you the prices for the plans that best match what’s offered on Zoho Marketing Plus.

Who is the target market for Zoho Marketing Plus

Untechy Solopreneurs, coaches, and consultants who are just starting out and don’t have the money to hire a VA or the technical knowledge to manage multiple tools and apps.l

Startup Brick and Mortar: If you’re a restaurant, retailer, ecommerce person who is in the business of providing products and services much more so than marketing.

Marketing teams and agencies: This is where Zoho Marketing Plus shines. Collaboration is a key feature of this suite of marketing apps and it’s ideal for teams of folks who all have a company email from the same company.

How does one get started with Zoho Marketing Plus

Getting started with Zoho Marketing Plus is easy. There’s no credit card required and you get a 30 day free trial.

If you already have or use Zoho products, you will need to start with a different email address. (This is my biggest frustration with Zoho — there is no way to use the same email to log into your different apps).

How much is Zoho Marketing Plus

For just $25/mo for an annual contract and $30/mo for a monthly contract you’ll get 1000 contacts. You can also purchase more contacts by purchasing the add-ons starting from $15 for 2500 contacts, billed annually. Also, every user license purchased comes with additional 1000 contacts in Marketing Plus

Zoho Marketing Plus is the simplest way to do marketing today

Zoho Marketing Plus is the simplest way to do marketing today. With everything you need in one place, it’s easy to get started and easy to keep track of your progress. You can use it to run webinars, email marketing, social media, and more. Plus, you can track all of your progress with the included analytics tools. And, if you’re on a team, it’s easy to collaborate with others. The best part? It’s only $25/mo for an annual contract. Get started today and see the difference Zoho Marketing Plus makes.

If you’ve been considering using Zoho One or any Zoho Software, you need to know that there is a wonderful support community available right in your back yard. Attend a Zoho Meetup in your local city and become a part of the Zoho Community!

I first heard about Zoho Communities and Zoho Meetups on a webinar. Then, I heard more about it when I attended ZohoDay 2020. Since I’m a new user of Zoho, I decided to experience it for myself and now I’m going to tell you all about it.

What is the Zoho Community?

Zoho Communities are a powerful force inside of the Zoho organization. There are online user groups where you can ask and answer questions, engage, help and be helped by more than 100,000 Zoho users and experts. More importantly, the executive and development teams at Zoho takes these conversations extremely seriously.

In other words, if you want a feature or have an issue, the way to get it solved is to be an active participant in the Zoho Community.

As part of the Zoho Community, there are local Zoho Meetups all across the country and the world. There are also webinars and trainings and dozens of other helpful ways to familiarize yourself with the Zoho platform.

How do you find a local Zoho Meetup?

You can find your local Zoho Meetup and Zoho Community two ways:

1. Click over to Zoho.com and then at the very bottom of the website footer, you’ll see Zoho Communities

2. You can also find Zoho Communities at its own domain Community.Zoho.com

Next, you click on that last block that says “Join a ZUG” near you. ZUG stands for Zoho User Group.

You’ll be directed to a page where you can see Zoho User Groups from all over the world. All you have to do is search for your time zone or city and you’re bound to find something within at least a two hour drive.

This is exactly how I found the local Zoho Meetup in Cleveland. I clicked on the “Cleveland Zoho User Group” block and registered for the upcoming event.

What to expect at a Zoho Meetup

I honesty wasn’t sure what to expect at this Zoho meetup. Would it be a bunch of people at round tables talking? They said the topic was Zoho CRM and Zoho Campaigns, and I was ALL about those two. But who knew.

There will be a presentation

As soon as I found the room, I could see that there would, indeed be a presentation. A screen was set up and there was a local guy (who I later learned was a Zoho Partner — that means expert in Zoho) who would do at least an hour presentation on Zoho CRM.

At our session the two main topics were Zoho CRM, which is the cornerstone application for any first time Zoho user. Believe me when I tell you, this is where you want to start your Zoho journey.

The second part of the session was all about Zoho Campaigns, which is the typically, your next step in moving your business into the Zoho environment.

You’ll meet Zoho people from Corporate Headquarters in India

I didn’t get very far before I was greeted by three super friendly guys who are actually part of the @ZohoCommunity team at Zoho Corporate.

These folks facilitate all of the hundreds of Zoho Meetups all over the world. They literally hit the road, like a rock band and manage these meetup sessions.

As they introduced themselves at the beginning of the meeting they asked if any of us knew how many people worked at Zoho. One person said 3,000. In fact, that number is 9,000!nI’m telling you this because I’ve met dozens, maybe more than a hundred Zoho employees over the last year and I was wondering if it was possible for there to be 9,000 friendly, nice, and super helpful people all working for one company.

If you think your business or industry is lacking nice people, that’s because Zoho has them all.

There will be food

Just wanted you to know, that Zoho was, indeed true to their word — and they WOULD rather feed people than bots.

You’ll meet a bunch of folks who are just like you at a Zoho Meetup

Our Zoho Meetup in Cleveland was packed with Zoho users and Zoho partners from the Great Lakes region. Most of our community is made up of manufacturers and medium to large organizations who had enterprise licenses. I’d say these folks were fairly technical or sales and marketing folks who wanted to learn more about Zoho CRM and Zoho Campaigns.

Should you bring a computer?

YES! My recommendation is that you absolutely bring your computer and have your Zoho or Zoho One at the ready.

The presentations will involve plenty of demonstrations and you absolutely want to follow along.

How to Join Zoho at a Meetup

Ready to join Zoho at a meetup? Here are my recommendations for preparing for a local Zoho Meetup.

Check the Agenda

When you sign up for your local meetup, you’ll see what topics and Zoho applications will be covered. Here is a snapshot of our agenda.

Take a close look at the agenda and start brainstorming as many questions as you can that relate to the topic they are going to discuss. This is something I wish I had done.

Bring Business Cards

Our meetup had a Zoho Partner who was a “host” or sponsor and did the first part of the presentation. They had a raffle and asked that folks drop their business cards.

Zoho Meetups are also a terrific networking opportunity! So, you’ll want to bring your business cards to give to folks with whom you’ll want to connect.

Unless you’re already a Zoho expert or Zoho partner, don’t expect to make any sales. Instead, work to connect with other users to share best practices.

Zoho Meetups will give you insights about how the system is structured and how to think about the system

Sure, you can absolutely watch videos and webinars. I’ve done that. And I think it’s really important to do a lot of that before you go to a meetup. I found that a lot of the attendees had been with Zoho for at least a year and had a decent grasp of how it worked.

But then there are these subtle concepts that you really won’t get on your own, that you’ll pick up from the Zoho Community team or from the partners who are presenting. Here are just a few.

• CRM is the center of the Zoho One platform. It can do a little bit of everything. The apps are there to enhance any of the core functions.
• Instead of using all the apps and trying to use all of the features and functions of CRM, focus on just the data you need. You can always expand and grow.
• Don’t overwhelm your team with too much stuff, they won’t implement. Be sure to know and explain where and how the data is used and how the collection of certain data will help your team be successful.

Why I’m a Zoho Fan — And it’s not just about the tech or the price

I’ve known about Zoho for at least 15 years. But I’ve really gotten to know them so much better since I started with the Zoho One platform and began attending ZohoDay and Zoholics over the last year.

You know how some people will only invest in companies whose values resonate with their own? This is now a philosophy that I’ve noticed has taken hold with me.

I want to purchase from and work with companies whose values resonate with my own, whose founders care about and respect small business owners and don’t just look at small business as an income stream.

Zoho does this consistently. The technology is affordable, it will do the job for 95% of small business owners. The technology offers a level of security and privacy you won’t get anywhere else. And the people are wonderful.

Yes, there can be challenges with figuring out how to do something.

Yes, the tech support isn’t always as convenient or as perfect as you might be used to.

But, in my opinion, these are little things when it compares to putting my money and my effort behind a vision I believe in.

If you haven’t checked out a Zoho Meetup or participated in any Zoho Communities, give it a shot and decide for yourself.