You need a new set of golf clubs, and your neighbor John is looking to sell the set he purchased last year. Zaarly is a web-app that can bring you two together. The online marketplace functions like a Craigslist for small communities – bringing people who want to buy and sell goods and services together with their neighbors who live nearby.

Head over to Zaarly.com and create an account to begin. You’ll need to input a valid phone number, in addition to your email address and name. The next step to using Zaarly is to type in whatever it is you want. Zaarly isn’t just for purchasing furniture or lawn equipment, either. You can ask to have a lunch delivered to your office, a pickup to rent for a move this weekend, or a babysitting to watch your dog while you’re away on vacation. Type in a title, add a description, name your price, and enter the date when you want the product or service to be delivered. A neighbor nearby who sees your ad pop up can click “I’ve Got That!” and type in an explanation of why you should pick him or her to fulfill the service. After including a few lines about his experience as a dog-sitting expert, for example, the neighbor can click “Confirm” and wait for your response.

Zaarly is a cool tool for people who are looking to make some quick cash, since it essentially functions as an open marketplace. When a service has been rendered or a good has been delivered—known as “fulfilling a Zaarly”—the recipient can choose whether to pay by cash or credit card. People who want to make sure they get paid can stick to responding to “verified” listings, which can only be posted by people with pre-approved credit cards on file with Zaarly.

Practical Uses:

• Find a Spanish tutor for your son
• Borrow a car to drive to an event next week
• Buy a used iPad from a neighbor
• Hire a house sitter to watch your house while you’re away on vacation

Insider Tips:

• Users can get verified by getting their credit cards pre-approved
• Set a time limit for how long your listing should remain active
• Credit card transactions have a 9.95% transaction and processing fee
• Zaarly works on any mobile phone that supports HTML5

What we liked:

• People can use Zaarly to make some quick money for the weekend
• Businesses can interact with their customers through Zaarly
• People can name their price for certain services and see if anyone is interested
• Buyers who get multiple offers can read descriptions from interested parties when deciding who to choose

What we didn’t like:

• Zaarly’s 9.95% transaction fee for credit card purchases may dissuade people setting up verified listings

Alternatives:

• Craigslist – http://craigslist.org
• SKYFER – http://www.skyfer.com
• TaskRabbit – http://www.taskrabbit.com

Company Info:

• Launched: May 2011
• Privately Held
• Headquarters: San Francisco, California
• Founded by: Eric Koester, Bo Fishback, and Ian Hunter
• Web site: http://www.zaarly.com

Costs:

• Free

Spreedly is a tool that web publishers can use to quickly sell subscriptions to their online properties. Whether you run an online magazine, sell stock photos, or operate virtually any other type of web-based business, you can count on Spreedly to handle all the most stressful parts of the billing process so you don’t have to.

Before you creating a paid account with Spreedly and start entrusting the site with your subscriber lists and billing data, it might be worthwhile to take the web-app for a spin and sign up for a free trial. Once you’ve decided to commit, you can start integrating your payment system with Spreedly by following the web-app’s step-by-step integration guide. Spreedly offers more tools than most individual companies would ever need, which means you get the benefit of being able to pick and choose which features to offer your online subscribers. The most obviously – and useful – feature on Spreedly is its subscription management system. Spreedly will manage users signups, account upgrades, and subscription cancellations. The web-app will also accept any complimentary subscription codes you’ve handed out to important customers and offers pro-rated fees for times when your site was down.

The responsibility for recurring billing and credit card security falls squarely on the shoulders of Spreedly, so you don’t have to live in fear of exposing your user data in an accidental way. For publishers who want to offer subscription services without all the hassle of payment collection and sales, Spreedly is an obvious solution that can decrease the time spent sorting out complicated financial matters each month.

Practical Uses:

• Offer a subscription to your online magazine
• Charge clients the right amount at the right time of the month, without worrying about embarrassing billing errors
• Let users choose between multiple subscription pricing levels
• Offer metered billing based on the time a client spends on your site

Insider Tips:

• Publishers can offer pro-rated prices when their sites go down
• Spreedly can accept complimentary subscription codes
• Website owners can browse through their list of subscribers at any time
• From the dashboard page, users can see revenue totals for the day or month

What we liked:

• Spreedly offers numerous guides and tutorials that make getting set-up a breeze
• Spreedly works with a number of different payment gateways
• Full-fledged test sites help people learn about Spreedly without signing up for an actual account
• Spreedly will work on all types of sites, regardless of what code they’re written in

What we didn’t like:

• Nothing

Alternatives:

• Chargify – http://chargify.com
• CheddarGetter – https://cheddargetter.com
• SnapBill – http://www.snapbill.com

Company Info:

• Launched: July 2008
• Privately Held
• Headquarters: Raleigh, North Carolina
• Founded by: Alexander Kohlhofer, Nathaniel Talbott, Duff O’Melia, and John Carlin
• Web site: http://spreedly.com

Costs:

• $19 per month, plus 20¢ or 2% per payment transaction

Getaround is a peer-to-peer car-sharing program that benefits owners and renters alike. Car owners can make hundreds of dollars a month by lending out their cars for just a few hours a week, while renters get access to all types of vehicles for far less than they’d pay at a typical car rental company.

Get started getting around by joining Getaround’s free beta program. Membership is instantaneous, which means you could be browsing for available cars in your city within just five minutes of signing up for an account. Click on a photo of any car that looks nice to find out more about it, including the rental price, availability, and any special instructions. Each owner sets his or her own rental price, although most prices range from $6 to $8 per hour. Add multiple cars to your queue just like you would on Netflix. When you click “Check Out” and “Confirm,” notices will be sent to the owners of all the cars you added. The first owner to respond and accept your request will be the person whose car you will rent. Cars that have the “Getaround Carkit!” loaded can be unlocked with a smartphone, which means you can get access to vehicles without having to wait for the owners to show up and hand over their keys.

Getaround takes precautions to protect vehicle owners, and it requires that all new members submit their driver’s licenses to make sure they meet certain eligibility requirements. Getaround also handles the insurance coverage from A to Z. All drivers are offered complete liability, collision and theft coverage for the duration of their rental period. Any speeding or parking tickets that drivers incur in rented cars can be sent by the car owners to Getaround, and an affidavit will be filed with the local authorities to ensure the proper person is charged with the fine.

Practical Uses:

• Rent a car to drive when your car is in the shop.
• Make extra money by letting other people use your car while you’re at work
• Impress your date by showing up in a splashy new car
• Borrow a truck when you need to haul furniture or pick up a Craigslist purchase

Insider Tips:

• Getaround handles insurance coverage issues so renters and owners don’t have to
• Owners who install the Carkit! don’t have to meet renters to hand over their keys
• Car owners can set their own rates and decide when their vehicles are available
• Speeding tickets can be forwarded from car owners to Getaround

What we liked:

• Getaround protects owners in case their vehicles are damaged in any way
• The entire rental process, including selecting a car and opening the door, can be managed from an iPhone
• The Carkit! includes a GPS, which can be used to track the vehicle if it is ever stolen
• People who have always wanted to drive a certain type of vehicle can do so cheaply using Getaround

What we didn’t like:

• Getaround is still not available in many areas around the country

Alternatives:

• RelayRides – https://relayrides.com
• Spride – http://www.spride.com
• Whipcar – http://www.whipcar.com
• Zipcar – http://www.zipcar.com

Company Info:

• Launched: May 2011
• Privately Held
• Headquarters: San Francisco, California
• Founded by: Elliot Kroo, Sam Zaid, and Jessica Scorpio
• Web site: http://www.getaround.com

Costs:

• Fees vary depending on the car

Getting hired in this economy is a lot of work, but ResumeBaking is an online tool that can make the process a whole lot easier. With ResumeBaking, job seekers can create resumes from scratch, submit those resumes to employers via email, keep track of how many of those would-be employers are viewing their resumes online, and ultimately get hired for the gig of their dreams. ResumeBaking has a number of other useful features for job seekers, as well, such as job offer notifications, interview advice, and networking tools.

Most people looking for jobs aren’t in the position to be spending money in the process, which is why ResumeBaking is completely free for job seekers to use. Enter your email address, select a password, and get started building a resume that will get you noticed. ResumeBaking guides you step-by-step through the process, providing space to upload your educational background, work history, skills, interests, and reference information. You can also add custom sections to reflect your unique talents and show employers what makes you different from all the other applicants. When you’re done building your resume, continue on to the Settings & Templates section. There, you can select your profession – so ResumeBaking will know which types of job notifications to send your way – and choose whatever template style you think looks best. ResumeBaking will also provide you with a unique URL for your resume, which you can share with hiring managers, friends, and business associates online.

Once you’ve started distributing your resume, you’ll want to keep a close eye on the statistics that ResumeBaking makes available to users. Using these statistics, you can see how many times your resume has been viewed, downloaded, sent, and opened. You can also decide whether to keep your resume private or make it public, and read advice and tips from HR experts on the best ways to get hired in your field.

Practical Uses:

• Create a resume that reflects your latest accomplishments
• See how many of the resumes you’re sending out are actually being viewed
• Find out when a mentor forwards your resume to an important business contact
• Get notifications about new job openings in your field

Insider Tips:

• Download resumes in PDF, DOC, or TXT format for printing or email distribution
• Select a template style that fits best with your industry
• Statistics page shows how many times a resume has been downloaded or viewed
• Resumes can easily be shared via shortened links on social networking sites

What we liked:

• Users can quickly make updates to their resumes on ResumeBaking
• ResumeBaking handles all the formatting and spacing issues
• Job seekers can get notifications when new openings have been announced
• Resumes can be marked as public or private, depending on how open a person wants his job search to be

What we didn’t like:

• ResumeBaking does not offer as many customization features as other resume building tools

Alternatives:

• Innovative Resume – http://innovativeresume.com
• JobSpice– http://www.jobspice.com
• Resume Companion – http://resumecompanion.com

Company Info:

• Launched: March 2011
• Privately Held
• Headquarters: Ukraine
• Web site: http://www.resumebaking.com

Costs:

• Free

BetterWorks is a platform that companies of all sizes can use to track the benefits, incentives, and perks they’re offering to their employees. Whether a company is giving everyone free access to a new local gym, fun prizes for the top earners in each department, or coupons for lunch at a neighborhood taco joint, BetterWorks is a tool that can help companies manage the rewards they’re offering to their stellar employees.

Because BetterWorks is still relatively new, it’s not available for businesses nationwide just yet. The service is currently only available to companies in Southern California, however it plans to launch in San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Washington DC, Houston, San Diego, Miami, and Dallas within the next few months. Assuming your business is located in an area where BetterWorks is live, getting your company set up is easier than you may expect. Just enter your zip code and company information to begin. Once you’re signed up, you can designate how much money you’d like to spend on perks for each employee, invite said employees to participate, and let your employees start reaping the rewards. BetterWorks handles all the negotiations with local gyms, restaurants, and service providers on the behalf of its clients, so you don’t have to worry about calling around town looking for a gym that’s willing to offer your staffers a 20% discount.

Businesses that use BetterWorks can reduce the cost of their current perks plans while boosting employee morale and increasing retention rates at the same time. The platform itself charges companies $4 per employee, per month, with no month-to-month commitment. Although that can sound like a lot of money up front, it pales in comparison to the cost of hiring and training new employees on a regular basis while your rock star staffers defect to competing businesses with better perks and incentives packages.

Practical Uses:

• Offer great perks and discounts to your employees
• Retain staffers by offering rewards they can’t get at other companies
• Spend less money on the employee perks and rewards you already offer
• For vendors, get noticed by more consumers who fit your target demographic

Insider Tips:

• BetterWorks negotiates perks at a 15% to 70% discount for employees
• Vendors can sign up to offer discounts on their services to participating BetterWorks companies
• Employers pay a flat rate based on the number of employees in their office
• Live chat support is available for companies that need help getting set up

What we liked:

• Employees who work at companies that use BetterWorks can get discounts on all types of local goods and services
• Offices that are known for having great perks attract better job applicants
• Businesses that use the platform will have an easier time retaining employees
• Employees are more willing to work hard when they have an incentive for doing a good job

What we didn’t like:

• BetterWorks is currently only available in Southern California

Alternatives:

• None

Company Info:

• Launched: February 2011
• Privately Held
• Headquarters: Santa Monica, California
• Founded by: Paige Craig, Sizhao Yang, and George Ishii
• Web site: http://www.betterworks.com

Costs:

• Very Small Biz plan is $30/month
• Small Biz plan is $75/month
• MidMarket Small Biz plan is $200/month
• MidMarket Large Biz plan is $500/month
• Large Biz plan with custom pricing, starting at $1,000/month

Quote Roller is a tool that small to medium sized companies can use to create business proposals and price quotes for clients. The web-application automates the process of creating proposals and lets the whole company get involved. Professional looking business proposals can be put together and sent to potential clients in minutes. Even better, Quote Roller makes it possible to track the progress of these proposals and find out when they’ve been reviewed and accepted without having to send any follow up emails.

The less time you spend creating, sending, and tracking the proposals you email to new clients, the more time you can spend working on projects for the clients you already have. That’s why Quote Roller’s templates work so well. Once you sign up for an account, you’ll want to create a company profile with all the contact information you want automatically inserted into the proposals you send. Next, it’s time to type up a list of all the products and services you offer, add the details for all your new and existing clients, and create a custom template. If you can’t decide how your template should look, click on “All Templates” to see a library of templates that have been created and shared by others in the Quote Roller community. The time you spend inputting this information up front will save you hours when it comes to creating custom proposals in the future.

Once your first few proposals have been sent out, you can sit back and relax while Quote Roller does the work. The web-app will let you know when the proposals you sent have been reviewed and when they’ve been accepted. Quote Roller is also an excellent tool for companies with multiple employees, since it offers collaboration tools that help teams work together and ensures people never step on each other’s toes or duplicate work.

Practical Uses:

• Send price quotes and proposals to new clients
• Find out when clients have reviewed your proposals
• Give clients a way to accept or reject proposals right away
• Create templates that your employees can use when sending new price quotes

Insider Tips:

• Import existing clients into Quote Roller by uploading a CSV file
• Templates can be made from scratch or borrowed from the template library
• Users with paid plans get more storage space
• Quote Roller offers integration with FreshBooks and Highrise CRM

What we liked:

• Once a template has been created, sending new proposals takes almost no time
• Quote Roller saves client contact details, so you don’t have to input the same information twice
• Businesses can select their own theme and style so proposals look custom
• Quote totals are automatically calculated, which reduces the chances of human error

What we didn’t like:

• The template library is very limited, although that may change as more users begin using Quote Roller and sharing their templates with others

Alternatives:

• Proposable – https://www.proposable.com
• Proposalware – http://www.proposalware.com
• TinderBox – http://gettinderbox.com

Company Info:

• Launched: March 2011
• Privately Held
• Headquarters: Honolulu, Hawaii
• Founded by: Serge Barysiuk and Mikita Mikado
• Web site: http: http://www.quoteroller.com

Costs:

• Free account
• Basic plan is $8.99/month
• Advanced plan is $18.99/month
• Enterprise plan is $69.99/month

As the owner of a small but growing business, you could hire a chief financial officer, an HR manager, and a full time accountant. Or you could sign up for 60mo. 60mo is useful business management tool that entrepreneurs can use for financial forecasting, basic budgeting, and employee management. Unlike similar applications, 60mo can be used to run multiple companies with a single login.

Although 60mo doesn’t offer any free accounts, you can try out the system for 30 days without paying a dime. The app also offers special discounts for people who manage non-profit organizations. Once you’ve signed up for an account and logged into the system, you’ll need to give 60mo access to your bank accounts. 60mo can connect to more than 10,000 banks, financial institutions, and credit cards, so there’s no need to worry about whether the app will connect to your accounts. By giving 60mo access to your accounts, you’re making it possible for the app to get your real financial data in real time. Each time you login, you’ll see an overview of the cash available, monthly revenue, and monthly expenses. 60mo also keeps a running list of any financial alerts that need to be taken care of – such as bills that need to be paid and accounts that require some type of attention.

The more you use 60mo, the more it understands the way you work. In time, 60mo can start creating budgets and forecasts that you can use to manage employees and keep track of cash flow. And because the site is secure, verified, encrypted, and compliant, you’ll never have to worry about sensitive information getting into the wrong hands.

Practical Uses:

• Keep track of how much revenue your business is bringing in
• Create budgets that managers at your establishments are expected to follow
• Get immediate alerts when there is a problem with one of your bank accounts
• See how long it’s going to take your business to start generating a positive cash flow

Insider Tips:

• 60mo integrates with QuickBooks and QuickBooks Online
• Monthly transactions can be viewed on the bottom right corner of the dashboard
• 60mo uses 256-bit SSL encryption and SAS 70 ii / PCI-DSS compliance
• Businesses can manage their money in 300+ currencies

What we liked:

• Because the system is cloud-based, users can manage finances from anywhere
• 60mo helps business owner make good decisions with future financial forecasts
• Entrepreneurs can manage multiple businesses with one 60mo account
• Real time data transfers help people know how much money they have available at any given time

What we didn’t like:

• 60mo is aimed at small to medium size businesses, and it wouldn’t be ideal for larger companies

Alternatives:

• billFLO– http://www.billflo.com
• MyJibe – https://myjibe.com
• Profitably – http://www.profitably.com

Company Info:

• Launched: October 2010
• Privately Held
• Headquarters: Wooster, Ohio
• Founded by: Ed Buchholz, John Siladie and Keith Kauffman
• Web site: http://www.60mo.com

Costs:

• Free 30-day trial
• Forecasting plan is $29/month

Nutshell is a web-based CRM application that can help companies of all sizes with lead generation, sales reports, and customer management. With useful sales automation tools, customizable reporting features, and a first-of-its-kind mobile media activity logging tool available for iPhone users, Nutshell really is a cut above other CRM applications.

If you’re having trouble staying on top of leads and managing sales information on your own, then Nutshell might be what you’ve been looking for. Sign up for a company account and download the iPhone application to begin. Nutshell offers so many features and tools it can difficult to decide where to start once you have signed up for the site. Make the process easy on yourself by checking out the dashboard – where you can view your sales this month and activities this week – and then clicking over to the Leads section of the site. Nutshell offers filtering tools that let you view your own personal leads, your team’s leads, or all of your company’s ongoing leads at once. When you contact a particular lead by email, BCC the message to Nutshell as a way to ensure that all communication is stored in a central location that can be referred back to later. In an ideal world, your leads will eventually progress to being actual customers. Nutshell can help you in this stage, as well, by storing all of your customer data and vendor information in one spot. Expedite the sales process and dazzle your superiors by creating sales forecast reports, activity reports, and performance reports in just minutes.

One of the many features that separates Nutshell from its competitors is the web-app’s mobile media logging tool, which uses the iPhone’s video and audio capabilities to track the time spent working on various business-related activities. Nutshell also offers full integration with a number of popular business applications, including Wufoo, Google Calendar, and Microsoft Exchange.

Looking for a better way to track the performance of your investments online? Investment banking websites often leave a lot to be desired, which is why Hivetrader has become the go-to solution for everyday investors who are interested in finding a smarter way to manage their trading accounts online. In just seconds, a Hivetrader user can start an account, compare the performance of his investments to others online, and begin discovering new investing ideas and financial opportunities that could be worth exploring.

Begin “hivetrading” with Hivetrader by picking a username and registering for a free account. Next, it’s time to start uploading information for all the investment accounts you’ve got online. Hivetrader has access to online accounts at more than 14,000 banking institutions, so the odds are it probably supports the accounts you’ve got on hand. Add any brokerage funds, 401Ks, IRAs, 529s, or other managed investment accounts and watch as they begin to appear on your Hivetrader dashboard. Once all of your accounts have been uploaded, you’ll start seeing graphs and charts with all types of information and advice for how your current investments could be diversified or improved. The next step with Hivetrader is to compare the performance of your investments to the investments made by people you know – either in real life or online. Hivetrader will rank your investing acumen, with the hope that you’ll begin to learn more about smart investing by watching others who rank higher than you on the site. The web-app also offers special tools that will help you determine which investment plans are working and which are worth leaving behind.

Just because Hivetrader takes a “social approach” to investing doesn’t mean you need to share your account balances with friends. Rather, the web-app only shows people your percentage returns as a way to protect your privacy. Hivetrader is an excellent application that personal investors can use to learn more about making money in the markets.

Looking for an easier way to sell products and services online? SnapBill has a solution. The automated invoicing service lessens the load for web-based proprietors by making it easy to sell virtually anything online. Users can create custom invoices that automatically go out at recurring intervals, along with professional looking price quotes, order forms, and payment reminders in just a few simple clicks.

Whether you sell purses, peanuts, or pictures online, there’s a good chance you could streamline your web-based business by signing up for SnapBill. The automated billing system lets you send quotes, invoices, and billing statements to clients and customers at any time. Select a SnapBill pricing plan based on the number of employees who should have access to your invoicing account, and then head to the dashboard page to see an overview of all your activity and most recent transactions. If you sell subscriptions to a service, you can set up SnapBill’s recurring billing function to automatically bill clients at predetermined intervals. SnapBill also makes it possible to set up payment packages and offers an endless array of customization options.

Unlike competing invoicing applications, SnapBill accepts payments from a number of different sources. Depending on the modules that you’ve enabled, you can accept payments via EFTs, debit orders, PayPal, credit card, check, or direct deposit. SnapBill also lets you accept payment in whichever currencies you select. Business owners who want a hands-free system for billing and receiving payments from clients would be smart to check out SnapBill.