Why, good day! :::said in an English accent:: Perhaps you might be interested in a delightful list of juicy blogging and online business resources? If so, you’re in luck!
Because that’s what this post is all about.
I’ve got a lovely resource library that’s chalk full of freebies; workbooks, checklists, business plan templates and more! You can click the pretty pink button below to sign up for free access if you wanna.
SUPER SWEET (FREE) RESOURCE LIBRARY FOR ONLINE BUSINESS OWNERS AND BLOGGERS:
GIVE ME TONS OF FREE GOODIES, DANG IT!
I frequently get asked the question, “Hey! What do you use for —–“, so I thought that putting together a list of all my favorite resources might be super helpful!
A couple of these links are affiliate links (because that’s how savvy business owners do it, yo!) however I ONLY recommend products that I actually use and LOVE to pieces.
So without any further delay, here’s a complete list of epic resources for growing your blog or online business!
ESSENTIAL ONLINE BUSINESS GROWING TOOLS
A Step-by-Step Free Blueprint on How to Start an Online Business: Be sure to grab your copy right here so you can learn about the exact tools + strategies that you need in order to start a profitable online business!
Website: WordPress.org is a great place to make a professional looking website. I’ve used WordPress for 10 years now and find it to be simple and user friendly.
Opt-ins, Registration/Landing pages etc: Leadpages Is a drag and drop landing page creation website that syncs up with your e-mail marketing system (whoever you use for that!) and it’s awesome. I love using it to make nifty thank-you pages, registration pages, pop up opt-in boxes, live webinar pages and more. The sky is the limit, really!
Email Marketing: Mailchimp – This is who I use for my e-mail marketing and I’m in love with it. Everything is SO easy, including doing things like automation, creating awesome automation rules, funnels, email courses, tagging people in your list and more!
Even better, they really listen to their customers and are continually adding new and amazing features.
For Planning Out Your Business: The planner I created right her. The initial reason why I created these planners was because I couldn’t find a planner where I could plan out my business, and blog all in one place.
If you want to set achievable goals, stay organized, create a business plan so that you can create actionable steps to reach your goals and kick some major butt online then this planners will be your new BFF!
Online Storage: Drop Box is perfect for storing and organizing screenshots and backing up your website, videos and blog posts! It’s super important to back EVERYTHING up because crap happens. Computers die. And you don’t want to lose everything that you have do you?! (Because that’s totally happened to me before.)
Back it up, yo!
For Creating Docs, Spreadsheets, Surveys etc: Google Drive (and it’s free!) It does spreadsheets, Docs and surveys. I love it because I can start up a Doc on my computer and then go lounge in bed and add more to it from my phone if I feel like it.
FOR HOSTING ONLINE COURSES + MEMBERSHIPS
For Hosting Online Courses: Teachable is where I create all of my courses! It’s easy to use, looks professional, is well organized and I absolutely love it.
(Plus they even have a free plan!)
Definitely check it out right here if you’re interested in online courses.
WEBSITE HOSTING + DOMAINS
Website Hosting: BlueHost is who I use! I’ve heard lots of people make horrible complaints against BlueHost, but honestly I had no complaints with them. It’s cheap and I never experienced issues with my site being down!
Domain Purchasing: Namecheap is where I purchase my domain names. (Fact; I collect domain names like some girls collect shoes!) 😛
PUTTING ON ONLINE WORKSHOPS / WEBINARS
For Hosting Webinars: You can live broadcast with Youtube Live for free! Like … you can LITERALLY put on epic webinars (or “live workshops”, whichever you prefer to call them), for FREE. Just use your Youtube account to broadcast with Youtube Live and you can then embed that Youtube Live video onto a page on your website (which is where you’d send people to watch it.) Suuuuuuper easy. 🙂
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING + AUTOMATION
Automating Social Media Accounts: Hootsuit – Oh man, it’s a total time (and sanity) saver! I love it. Plus, you can customize a plan that works best for YOU.
For Scheduling Instagram: Later is perfect! One of the things that I love most about using it is that you can see, in advance, what your “grid” will look like so you can plan the perfect layout! 🙂 (Oh, and did I mention that it’s free for 30 posts per month?)
For Automating and Growing Pinterest (Which Equals Crap Tons of Traffic): Um … one word (or is it technically two?) Tailwind. This platform is the bomb-frigg’in-diggty and it saves me SO much time and sanity! Not to mention that it literally grew my Pinterest account from 3,000 followers to over 35,000+ followers in less than one year. Plus, you can start with a FREE plan, and paid plans start at just $10/month! Using Pinterest strategically for marketing to grow your online business is something that I teach in depth in my course right here (including exactly how to set up and use Tailwind!)
PDF CREATION
Ebooks, Workbooks etc: PowerPoint – This is what I use to create all my PDFs and it’s easy to use.
More Design Savvy PDFs: In Design is another great PDF creation option, and this is perfect if you love to design in general because you can use it for lots of other stuff too!
To Make PDF’s “Filloutable”: Use PDFEscape if you want people to be able to fill out your PDFs online (instead of having to print them out.) It’s free for smaller sized PDF’s!
GRAPHIC DESIGN + STOCK PHOTOS + DIY APPS
Professional Looking Graphics & Documents Canva is free and AWESOME. You can use it to create professional looking blog post image templates, social media graphics, webinar slides and a crap ton more! Plus it’s super addicting. 😛
Color Pallet Inspiration: Design Seeds is also free and PERFECT for getting inspiration. Need to create a color pallet for a design? This site is amazing to browse! (Plus you can create your own too!)
Fonts, Graphic Elements and More: Creative Market (it’s super addicting, you’ve been warned!) 😛 There are SO many goodies on this site- it’s dangerous! Fonts, mockups, design elements … it’s like the ultimate toy store for creative entrepreneurs.
For Awesome FREE Stock Photos: Styled Stock Society Oh um … they happen to have lots of free stock photos in their resource library for bloggers and creative entrepreneurs right here. (I’m totally obsessed with their photos!)
E-COMMERCE STUFF
For Online Payments: Paypal is what I use to take payments, make payments, send invoices and all that jazz.
Alternative for Online Payments: Stripe is another payment platform. I’ve heard wonderful things about it!
Online Store: Shopify is yes, another payment platform where you can also create a website. Perfect for people who plan on selling lots of things, like if you want an online retail store!
Marketplace to Sell Your Goods: Etsy is a marketplace for you to sell your lovely goods! It’s easy to join, easy to use and super cheap.
GETTING CONNECTED WITH YOUR PEOPLE + MASTERMINDS
For support, Tips, Brainstorming, Feedback and More: My Facebook Group for Lady Bosses is where it’s at! 🙂 It’s really important to have a support system as you work to kick ass online. You can join my free group we’re all super fun and supportive, I promise! 😛
Video Calls & Podcast Recordings: Skype is free and great for connecting with clients and team members around the globe! You can see each other on each other’s devices … hehehe. (I don’t know why I find that funny!)
For Privacy Protection + Calls: Google Voice (Free!) Don’t want to give your phone number out to prospects or random people? Calls still go to your phone but the number is “masked.” Perfect right? Yes, I thought so. 😛
VIDEO AND PHOTO MARKETING TOOLS
Video Editing, Recording and Screensharing: Camtasia is what I use to record my online course videos and it’s awesome! It records you, your screen (or both at the same time) and is really easy to use. You can add effects, captions, transitions and more.
Video Recording: Your smart phone. Don’t laugh! 😛 Both the iPhone and Android take pretty great video if you have good lighting, a tripod and a microphone.
For Taking Photos + Videos: Canon 6D – This is one of the cameras that I use for most of my photos and I love it! It also does really well in low light situations. Another less expensive option would be the Canon Rebel T6 which I’ve heard a lot of good things about from lots of different bloggers, photographers and entrepreneurs.
Video Storage + Hosting: Vimeo – Vimeo Pro can be used for video “storage” as well as a host for any video courses that you might want to create! Plus, the videos play in 1080 HD so they are nice and clear. Suh-weet.
ORGANIZATIONAL TOOLS
For Planning Out Your Business: The planners I created right here (which I mentioned above!) The initial reason why I created these planners was because I couldn’t find a planner where I could plan out my business, blog and life all in one place (I was seriously using THREE different planners!) I created this to be fun, quirky all-in-one planners. (There’s even a section for your business plan, ideal client etc.) If you want to set achievable goals, stay organized, create a business plan so that you can create actionable steps to reach your goals and kick some major butt online then these planners will be your new BFF!
To-Do List App: Wunderlist is what I use and it’s FREE. You KNOW I love a good to-do list! You can create lists, reminders, etc. and access them from ANY device. Plus you can also share/collaborate with others. AND … it makes a satisfying “ding” sound every time you check off an item! (Ah, the sound of sweet satisfaction!)
For To-Do Lists, Bookmarking, Notes and More: Evernote also free. Okay … I’m kind of obsessed with this one too! You can record ideas, write up blogposts in the “notes” section, make checklists, set reminders, share content … the possibilities are endless for using it to grow your business! If you search “Evernote Scott” on YouTube he’s got several free trainings on using Evernote for business.
Digital Planners: Asana and Trello are my favorite digital planner option if you prefer digital planners over tangible ones! They’re also free. They’re great for when you have a lot of projects to get done and perfect for “assigning” tasks to virtual assistants and team members!
Online Planning: Google Calendar is also free. Just login to your Gmail account and Google search “Google Calendar” and you’ll find it there. Super easy to use. You can make a “public” shareable calendar (which is great for sharing with other people) or use it for personal use. Use it to set up appointments and follow-ups PLUS you can color code everything! Color coding is the BEST. You can also have it set to send reminders to your phone and to do pop-up reminders on your computer. You can even have it send you an email to remind you of a special appointment! Syncs up with iCal on your computer or iPhone. So yeah … it’s pretty juicy!
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
Creating a Solid Brand: My free branding resources right here. Having a strong, personality-filled brand is what will make you stand out and allow you to attract the right type of people! Plus let’s face it, branding is super duper ridiculously fun!
DID YOU FIND THIS POST OF RESOURCES TO BE HELPFUL? IF SO, YOU CAN MAKE MY DAY BY SHARING IT ON PINTEREST! 😀
Sharing is caring, after all! 🙂
And I’d really appreciate it, too.
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Ehem! If you’ve got any blogging or business resources that have changed your life that aren’t included on this list, feel free to drop me a line below in the comments. Is there a resource on this list that is your favorite?
And now, time for some quality cat-petting time.
To Your Success,
Martine
