Hello Friends,
Over the years, we have found a ton of amazing resources for entrepreneurs like yourself to use. Some free, some paid, but all are absolutely amazing!
This page is where we have combined them all together in one easy location. Fair warning some of these awesome tools allow us to be an affiliate partner. This means that if you click and buy their product, we also get paid at no additional cost to you. It is as if your telling the company to buy us a cup of coffee. Something we all love :). If you need more information on our affiliate policies please check out (Page).
We have tried to organize all of these tools as best as possible, but their is always a new awesome tool we haven’t heard of. If you happen to know of an amazing tool that we need to add or review please reach out to us.
Thanks friends!
Email Marketing: From day 1 you should be building your email list. It is still the most powerful tool to growing your business. There are tons of options out there but these stand head and shoulders above the competition.
MailChimp is a free service up to the first 2000 contacts. This is a great tool to start off with for anyone bootstrapping. Overall their free service leaves a lot to want for more advanced users but still a great tool. I highly recommend starting with mailchimp if you are unsure where to begin. Plus their logo is super cool.
Awber when I started my business years ago, Aweber was unique by allowing you to try for 30 days for just a buck! Not a bad deal, try all their features for a buck. Now I believe that they give you 30 days for free. Aweber is one of the oldest and most trusted email marketing providers. Their services are top notch and one I recommend checking out. The difference between the providers comes down to preference and small differences
GetResponse This is the service we use currently. Getresponse’s customer service is second to none and their User interface is one I deeply enjoy using, particularly their auto-responder calendar. One of their unique functionalities that I use ofter is seeing who forgot to double opt-in to my lists. If I notice a large number of single opt-ins I can look at my pages and change how they work. I also send emails one by one to those whom have not opted in. Giving me the opportunity to connect with each of them.
Hosting Websites
Websites need to be stored on a server somewhere. Website hosting can be a major headache if you don’t know what you are doing. There are hundreds of providers for hosting and they all specialize in different areas. Here are some amazing website hosting platforms.
WPEngine: One of the top hosting companies to use is WpEngine, specifically if you are building your website on WordPress. They specialize in WordPress hosted websites and that specialty pays off.
Their customer support is highly regarded. The backend features are versatile and user-friendly. They cost a little more than your standard hosting, but what you pay extra for you more than makeup for in quality and features.
I would recommend this to anybody who is looking to build a serious business on WordPress. They also have one of the best affiliate programs Sign up for the WP Engine affiliate program and receive a minimum of $200 per referral!
Bluehost: Bluehost is a great website hosting service that is extremely affordable. One of the key characteristics of Bluehost that I prefer is their clean user interface, this makes navigation extremely easy.
The other key aspect I enjoy about Bluehost is they are connected with a top of the line CDN or content delivery network. This speeds up the load speed of your website.
Godaddy: Godaddy is the cheapest place to register your domain and get website hosting. You get what you pay for and by that I mean terrible customer service, a bad user interface, and help is from people named “David” with a think Indian accent. But it is super cheap.
MediaTemple: Mediatemple was the premier name is website hosting and is still one of the top contenters. It recently got bought out by Godaddy but their customer support is awesome. We have been using Mediatemple for years now.
Website Templates
Truely in today’s day and age it doesn’t make sense to pay thousands of dollars for your first website. Sure professional designers can make a website look better but to get something up quick and cheap there is nothing better than wordpress templates.
Buy a template, download the zip file, upload the template, install the demo content, and presto in a matter of no time you have a good framework for a bombing website.
For the first timer web builder, this can require some youtube tutorials but honestly speaking whats so bad about learning a new skill. Here are some great sites to get awesome templates
The two places I would recommend are MojoThemes and Themeforest. Both have a great selection of templates that are really well designed. Especially if your looking to build a blog or a corporate brochure website.
If you need a more robust website with a shop functionality. I can not stress enough how amazing shopify is. Their templates and framework are top notch. They have even been endorsed by entrepreneurs like Richard Brandson, Marie Forleo, and Damon Johnson
Blogging Tools
Grammarly: Is like a Microsoft word spellchecker on steroids. This tool is completely amazing as a spell checker with bonus points that it is 100% free. Sure you can sign up for their pro version, and if you could use a constant editor, then I highly suggest it. That being said if you just want a bonus set of digital eyes stick with the free version. Grammarly will never replace human eyes but damn do I love it!
Hemmingway Editor: This free app has a singular purpose. Make your writing bold and clear just like Hemmingway’s. It is 100% free and has a beautiful visual interface. Copy and paste your text into the editor and Hemmingway will let you know exactly what to change.