Here's the list of tools and resources I use online.
Tools To Get Your Website Started
WordPress is web software you can use to create a beautiful website or blog. Over 60 million websites are powered by WordPress (including this one) because it is constantly updated with the improvements and bug fixes. Download it for FREE on their website here.
The best WordPress SEO plugin needs no introduction with over one million current installs on websites but I must make a mention of this awesome plugin because I use it on all of my websites.
Tools To Get Subscribers & Leads on Your Site
GetResponse is an Easy to use Email Marketing Service
GetResponse
Email marketing is constantly changing and you can't possibly keep up! That's why you need to use GetResponse who has the latest email technology to serve your customers and fans. You can even get a $30 credit with my link so what are you waiting for?
If photoshop had a hipster little brother then it would be Snappa. It's an all in one graphic design tool that helps you create premium looking graphics for your blog, youtube, facebook, twitter, and linkedin but that's not all! You can also create infographics, banner ads and much more.
Affiliate Marketing / Affiliate Management Resources
Make Affiliate Income Easily With Pretty Link Pro
Pretty Link
If you are using affiliate links on your site then you will love Pretty Link. Here's the basics of how it works in a nutshell – Pretty Link redirects a url from your website to your affiliate link. Your customers are more likely to visit a link that looks like it is to your site versus a weird looking affiliate link. If you have no idea why you should use this software then check out my guide to affiliate links blog post here.
AffilaiteWP is a WordPress plugin (Customized WordPress Affiliate Program Management) that allows you to offer your own affiliate management in-house for your products. You can offer whatever commission you want on your products and choose which affiliates you want to accept into your program.
Clickbank
Clickbank is kind of like an Amazon of digital products (Digital Marketplace & Affiliate Platform) where product vendors can upload their products for sale and affiliates can promote those products for a commission. This all happens with what they call a hoplink and affiliates promote their unique hoplink and if people purchase from them then they get a commission.
Amazon Kindle Author Tools
KDP Rocket takes you behind the scenes of Amazon kindle books and let's you see keyword volumes, keyword difficulty, and keyword competition. Watch my full review here.
To Create Your 3D Ebook Covers
Designers charge big bucks for ebook cover designs but now you can create them yourself quickly and easily with this new cloud based software. I used to have to pay designers to create my ebook covers but not anymore! In just a few minutes literally ANYONE can crank out awesome looking ebook designs with Pixel Studio FX. If you want to see me do it live then you can watch my video review here.
Ecover Authority is a more advanced 3D Ebook creator softwarewhere you can create designs in photoshop and then import them into this software and render it into a white paper, cd, dvd, computer screen, tv screen, and many other designs. If you want to create beautiful looking lead magnets for your site then you've got to check out this software package here.
To Create Your 3D Ebook Covers
Screenflow is basically the same thing as Camtasia (a screen recording software suite) but it's for Mac users. Yes, there is a Camtasia for Mac version but it's not the same as the PC versionas it has limited functionality so I would recomment Mac users like me to use Screenflow since it's better and cheaper $. Check it out on their website here.
Online Security & Password Protection
Tunnel Bear VPN
Tunnel Bear‘s marketing is a bit cheeky and fun but make no mistake they are a serious provider of VPN services. I have used them for over a year now and I can say that they are a great VPN provider. When I want to keep my information safe when I work remotely at a coffee shop I always use an encrypted connection so that hackers and thieves can't steal my personal information and Tunnel Bear is my go to tool.
Stop trying to remember all your passwords…. just stop it because there is no way you can do it anymore! Ohhh…. you are using the same password for all your website logins so you don't have to remember different ones? Well that is a bad idea -> Just use a password manager to create your secure passwords and just remember your master password with Last Pass.
Membership Site Scripts
Create Your Own Membership Site
It used to cost you thousands of $ to get programmers to build you a membership website Those days are long gone. All you need is the this WordPress plugin to make membership websites that are locked down so that only verified users get to see the content that they have purchased.
To Outsource Work / Find Freelancers
99 Designs is a cool website idea because once you order a design on the site it starts a contest between designers and you choose the best designs for your needs from hundreds of designs. If you don't like any of the designs then you don't have to pay a dime! Check out 99 Designs different offerings here.
Upwork is a freelancer website where you upload your skills or expertise and bid on different jobs. I would recommend you have experience in your field before you jump on here but Upwork is a great site to find new clients and grow your client base or find freelancers.
Fiverr has been good to me…. I have made over $2,000 on the site after all… but Fiverr is a great way to make some extra income online in your spare time. It's amazing how many people you can reach with one gig posting but Fiverr is also a great marketplace to find freelancers to hire to do some small jobs.
Team Communication / File Sharing
This one of my go-to-apps to communicate with friends and family internationally for free. It's a great way to stay connected and some designers and programmers only use Skype for communication so it's a good way to stay connected with your team members or even interview new team members.
This file sharing platform is so easy to use and it just works. I will probably be upgrading to the Pro plan very soon but right now it does everything I need for FREE. With link sharing and even letting me store some files in there for downloads it is another great tool entrepreneurs will love.
Slack is pretty cool because it's trying to replace email and become a better communication platform. In some cases Slack can be the best way to communicate with your team depending on the circumstances. It's kind of like Dropbox with free plans and then you can upgrade to a business plan with more features.
Payment & Accounting Solutions
Yeah… it's pretty basic but Paypal is the easiest way to take payments online. Over 150 Million people have a Paypal accountwhich is why you simply must have a Paypal account to take payments and to send money for different services you may need.
If I have Paypal then why do I need Stripe? Well Stripe makes it easy to take credit card payments on your website assuming you have SSL on the site. It's important to make it easy for the visitor to complete payment for your product or service and Stripe makes it easy to take payments on your site.
Samcart is the all-in-one solution for selling products online. It integrates with other platforms like other payment providers, email marketing platforms, and CRM tools easily and it all works perfectly for selling digital or physical products to your customers. Get your 14 day free trial now and see for yourself.
For Your Podcast
Libsyn is the premier podcasting hosting provider with plans starting at just $5 per month. They have hosted podcasts with over 2.6 Billion downloads since they started which is impressive. You are probably wondering why you need to pay for Podcast hosting – some people just host their audio on their website server but when your site goes down then your podcast audio in Itunes won't work which is why you should host your audio somewhere else which makes Libsyn is a no-brainer choice.
Basically this WordPress plugin helps you integrate your podcasts into your WordPress website easily. You can read more about it on there site here and it also includes full Itunes support so that you can integrate everything that you could possibly ever need for your podcast and you can help integrate the podcast feed url's that Itunes and other podcast hubs can crawl to get your latest podcast episodes.
Smart Podcast Player is used by some cool people – myself included – on pages where I just want to have some audio clips or an interview audio (like when I interviewed Nick Loper from Side Hustle Nation). It integrates with WordPress easily but I should add that it's a paid solution but it works 100x better than anything I have used that was free.
Video Creation Software
When 30,000+ marketers buy a product I usually check it out immediately and my hair is blown back and in this case my fellow marketer buddy Mark Thompson and his team have outdone themselves with the 2nd version of this software. With this software you can create Video Sales Letters in about 15 minuteswhich is pretty ridiculous considering it used to take me hours. Why make it harder on yourself? Check it out here.
I really like VideoMakerFX because it is easy to create those whiteboard sketch videos. Peter Roszak created the software as an alternative to boring slideshow presentations and he was spot on! Create your next mesmerizing video quickly with VideoMakerFX.
Over 55,000 marketers use Easy Sketch Pro and I am proudly one of them. It's a great piece of software that I use to make videos quickly for various projects. Videos are hot online these days & Easy Sketch Pro makes it so easy to create and publish your own sketch videos.
Here's the list of tools and resources I use online.
Tools To Get Your Website Started
WordPress
WordPress is web software you can use to create a beautiful website or blog. Over 60 million websites are powered by WordPress (including this one) because it is constantly updated with the improvements and bug fixes. Download it for FREE on their website here.
Yoast SEO Plugin
The best WordPress SEO plugin needs no introduction with over one million current installs on websites but I must make a mention of this awesome plugin because I use it on all of my websites.
Tools To Get Subscribers & Leads on Your Site
GetResponse is an Easy to use Email Marketing Service
Email marketing is constantly changing and you can't possibly keep up! That's why you need to use GetResponse who has the latest email technology to serve your customers and fans. You can even get a $30 credit with my link so what are you waiting for?
Snappa
If photoshop had a hipster little brother then it would be Snappa. It's an all in one graphic design tool that helps you create premium looking graphics for your blog, youtube, facebook, twitter, and linkedin but that's not all! You can also create infographics, banner ads and much more. Check out Snappa today >
Affiliate Marketing / Affiliate Management Resources
Make Affiliate Income Easily With Pretty Link Pro
If you are using affiliate links on your site then you will love Pretty Link. Here's the basics of how it works in a nutshell – Pretty Link redirects a url from your website to your affiliate link. Your customers are more likely to visit a link that looks like it is to your site versus a weird looking affiliate link. If you have no idea why you should use this software then check out my guide to affiliate links blog post here.
Affiliate WP (Customized WordPress Affiliate Program Management)
AffilaiteWP is a WordPress plugin that allows you to offer your own affiliate management in-house for your products. You can offer whatever commission you want on your products and choose which affiliates you want to accept into your program.
Clickbank (Digital Marketplace & Affiliate Platform)
Clickbank is kind of like an Amazon of digital products where product vendors can upload their products for sale and affiliates can promote those products for a commission. This all happens with what they call a hoplink and affiliates promote their unique hoplink and if people purchase from them then they get a commission.
JvZoo (Digital Marketplace & Affiliate Platform)
JvZoo is similar to Clickbank but better in some regards like you don't have to pay to setup a product for sale on JvZoo. Also you can do more with your products like let affiliates offer their own bonuses automatically to customers and so on.
Amazon Kindle Author Tools
KDP Rocket Review
KDP Rocket takes you behind the scenes of Amazon kindle books and let's you see keyword volumes, keyword difficulty, and keyword competition. Watch my full review here.
To Create Your 3D Ebook Covers
Pixel Studio FX
Designers charge big bucks for ebook cover designs but now you can create them yourself quickly and easily with this new cloud based software. I used to have to pay designers to create my ebook covers but not anymore! In just a few minutes literally ANYONE can crank out awesome looking ebook designs with Pixel Studio FX. If you want to see me do it live then you can watch my video review here.
Ecover Authority
Ecover Authority is a more advanced 3D Ebook creator softwarewhere you can create designs in photoshop and then import them into this software and render it into a white paper, cd, dvd, computer screen, tv screen, and many other designs. If you want to create beautiful looking lead magnets for your site then you've got to check out this software package here.
To Make Screen Record Videos
Screenflow for Mac Users – like me 🙂
Screenflow is basically the same thing as Camtasia (a screen recording software suite) but it's for Mac users. Yes, there is a Camtasia for Mac version but it's not the same as the PC versionas it has limited functionality so I would recomment Mac users like me to use Screenflow since it's better and cheaper $. Check it out on their website here.
Online Security & Password Protection
Tunnel Bear VPN
Tunnel Bear‘s marketing is a bit cheeky and fun but make no mistake they are a serious provider of VPN services. I have used them for over a year now and I can say that they are a great VPN provider. When I want to keep my information safe when I work remotely at a coffee shop I always use an encrypted connection so that hackers and thieves can't steal my personal information and Tunnel Bear is my go to tool.
Last Pass (Password Manager)
Stop trying to remember all your passwords…. just stop it because there is no way you can do it anymore! Ohhh…. you are using the same password for all your website logins so you don't have to remember different ones? Well that is a bad idea -> Just use a password manager to create your secure passwords and just remember your master password with Last Pass.
Membership Site Scripts
Create Your Own Membership Site
It used to cost you thousands of $ to get programmers to build you a membership website Those days are long gone. All you need is the this WordPress plugin to make membership websites that are locked down so that only verified users get to see the content that they have purchased.
To Outsource Work / Find Freelancers
99 Designs
99 Designs is a cool website idea because once you order a design on the site it starts a contest between designers and you choose the best designs for your needs from hundreds of designs. If you don't like any of the designs then you don't have to pay a dime! Check out 99 Designs different offerings here.
Upwork
Upwork is a freelancer website where you upload your skills or expertise and bid on different jobs. I would recommend you have experience in your field before you jump on here but Upwork is a great site to find new clients and grow your client base or find freelancers.
Fiverr
Fiverr has been good to me…. I have made over $2,000 on the site after all… but Fiverr is a great way to make some extra income online in your spare time. It's amazing how many people you can reach with one gig posting but Fiverr is also a great marketplace to find freelancers to hire to do some small jobs.
Team Communication / File Sharing
Skype
This one of my go-to-apps to communicate with friends and family internationally for free. It's a great way to stay connected and some designers and programmers only use Skype for communication so it's a good way to stay connected with your team members or even interview new team members.
DropBox
This file sharing platform is so easy to use and it just works. I will probably be upgrading to the Pro plan very soon but right now it does everything I need for FREE. With link sharing and even letting me store some files in there for downloads it is another great tool entrepreneurs will love.
Slack
Slack is pretty cool because it's trying to replace email and become a better communication platform. In some cases Slack can be the best way to communicate with your team depending on the circumstances. It's kind of like Dropbox with free plans and then you can upgrade to a business plan with more features.
Payment & Accounting Solutions
Paypal
Yeah… it's pretty basic but Paypal is the easiest way to take payments online. Over 150 Million people have a Paypal accountwhich is why you simply must have a Paypal account to take payments and to send money for different services you may need.
Stripe
If I have Paypal then why do I need Stripe? Well Stripe makes it easy to take credit card payments on your website assuming you have SSL on the site. It's important to make it easy for the visitor to complete payment for your product or service and Stripe makes it easy to take payments on your site.
Samcart
Samcart is the all-in-one solution for selling products online. It integrates with other platforms like other payment providers, email marketing platforms, and CRM tools easily and it all works perfectly for selling digital or physical products to your customers. Get your 14 day free trial now and see for yourself.
For Your Podcast
Libsyn Podcast File Hosting
Libsyn is the premier podcasting hosting provider with plans starting at just $5 per month. They have hosted podcasts with over 2.6 Billion downloads since they started which is impressive. You are probably wondering why you need to pay for Podcast hosting – some people just host their audio on their website server but when your site goes down then your podcast audio in Itunes won't work which is why you should host your audio somewhere else which makes Libsyn is a no-brainer choice.
Bluebrry Powerpress Podcasting WordPress Plugin
Basically this WordPress plugin helps you integrate your podcasts into your WordPress website easily. You can read more about it on there site here and it also includes full Itunes support so that you can integrate everything that you could possibly ever need for your podcast and you can help integrate the podcast feed url's that Itunes and other podcast hubs can crawl to get your latest podcast episodes.
Smart Podcast Player by Pat Flynn
Smart Podcast Player is used by some cool people – myself included – on pages where I just want to have some audio clips or an interview audio (like when I interviewed Nick Loper from Side Hustle Nation). It integrates with WordPress easily but I should add that it's a paid solution but it works 100x better than anything I have used that was free.
Video Creation Software
Easy VSL 2.0 – Create Your Own Video Sales Letters
When 30,000+ marketers buy a product I usually check it out immediately and my hair is blown back and in this case my fellow marketer buddy Mark Thompson and his team have outdone themselves with the 2nd version of this software. With this software you can create Video Sales Letters in about 15 minuteswhich is pretty ridiculous considering it used to take me hours. Why make it harder on yourself? Check it out here.
VideoMaker FX
I really like VideoMakerFX because it is easy to create those whiteboard sketch videos. Peter Roszak created the software as an alternative to boring slideshow presentations and he was spot on! Create your next mesmerizing video quickly with VideoMakerFX.
Easy Sketch Pro
Over 55,000 marketers use Easy Sketch Pro and I am proudly one of them. It's a great piece of software that I use to make videos quickly for various projects. Videos are hot online these days & Easy Sketch Pro makes it so easy to create and publish your own sketch videos.