25 Ways You Can Use Online Forms In Your Small Business

I use online forms for just about everything in my business now.  In my “other life” as a corporate prof, I have always been good about creating templates.  If I have to do something more than once, I turn it into a shortcut I can use again & again without reinventing.

Online forms are an excellent way to capture information you might otherwise use paper for, or some other means.  The greatest thing about online forms is that you don’t have to manually collect the results – they are electronically stored in a format that you can usually export to some other program.  And anything that can integrate with another program you use is like a double bonus in my book!

Lately, I’ve been finding quite a few form sites out there – some of which I will be sharing with you in the coming months as either a Click of the Week on YouTube, or as an interview in my new podcast series.  But for now, I will let you in on my list of 25 ways you can use forms in your business – whether you are a solo or small business owner, you can use forms for any of these activities:

1. register attendees for an online event – e.g. teleseminar, webinar
2. sign up new leads to your blog or website as part of your opt-in process
3. enroll new clients into a program
4. sign up participants for contests, giveaways
5. schedule meeting requests
6. create contracts/agreements
7. conduct targeted market surveys
8. evaluation after an event
9. sign up volunteers
10. verify acknowledgement of terms and conditions, or rules
11. set up orders for your products
12. orders for your services
13. informational requests
14.  self-assessments
15. membership subscriptions
16. input on creating a business name or brand
17. record customer complaints
18. collect demographic data
19. application for premium services
20. create employment application for your hiring needs
21. check in with current clients on progress (one of my favs)
22. gather testimonials
23. sign up affiliates
24. upload photos or other media
25. arrange for an initial consultation with a new prospect

I can think of more but I will stop there for now and save some to share with you later.   How about you?  How do you use forms in your business?

What else would you add to this starter list?

P.S. If you need a resource for forms, check out my video review from awhile back on Wufoo.com.

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About the Author: Tanya Smith is a creative business strategist and coach specializing in showing service based entrepreneurs like coaches, consultants and freelancers how to save time & money with simple, yet profitable systems that help them earn more money and free up more time.  Her company Be Promotable provides fresh actionable strategies and virtual resources to promote business owners as power players in their market.  Claim your instant access to a free Small Business Health Assessment at http://www.tanyasmithonline.com.