Backpack and Highrise are essential tools for the online bootstrapper, according to the Bootstrapping Blog.
This is our first list of tools we believe every bootstrapper should have in their toolbox. If you are an online business owner or a freelance designer / developer you will enjoy these tools. You can also get a lot out of these tools for offline tasks as well...
Backpack - WOW. If I was without this tool, I do not know what I would do. This website is great, and best of all, FREE! (there are pay plans available also, but the free plan has worked out very well for me). If you need to keep track of tasks, to-do lists, messages, files and a calendar that can send reminders to your email or cell. If you need to be more organized, this is the tool for you. A+ from us!
Highrise - This is another project from 37signals that exceeds all of our expectations. If you need to keep track of who you talk to, what you said, and what to do next, Highrise is the product for you. I personally use this tool daily for all of my clients, and any business contacts I meet along the way. The Free plan offers you no file storage, and only 250 contacts but if you are on a small scale, this is perfect to test it out, start using it, and once you get to the point of growing your contact list larger, you can upgrade (paid accounts are $12.00 per month for 500 contacts all the way up to $149.00 for 50,000 contacts and 50GB of file space and CampFire for free.
The post also lists a bunch of other helpful tools. The whole blog seems quite thoughtful too. If you are looking for advice on how to bootstrap your business, check it out.
