Here you’ll find the tools that I use in my business. Many of them are free! Some (marked with an asterisk *) are affiliate links that will pay me a small commission with no additional cost to you. I have no ownership or other interest in any of these resources, and only provide them for your information and education.

TOOLBOX TOPICS

Blogging  |  Website Design  |  Creating Graphics  |  Styled Stock Photos  |  Social Media Making Videos  | People I Follow

Blogging

Asana – This is a free desktop & mobile app that’s designed for project management. I use it for an editorial calendar.  I can re-use my blog writing template to keep each post on track, from having the idea, to creating graphics and promoting it.

Asana for Bloggers – With this inexpensive course, Asana *finally* made sense to me! I’d heard such great things about Asana but couldn’t really figure it out until this course. In minutes I was up and running!

Bitly – This is the link shortening site I prefer.

Click to Tweet – I use this ingenious little site to create links to use in blog posts so readers can simply “click to tweet” a pithy quote or stat.

CoSchedule Headline Analyzer – I cringe to read my headlines before  discovering this handy site! It’s completely free and will improve your headlines – and stretch your creative muscles to get that “green number.” (Try it to see what that means!)

Answer the Public – If you ever need a nudge for what to write about on your blog, how about finding out what people are asking about? This free site combs the Internet to find real queries and questions on literally any topic you can think of. Just type in your keyword and you’ll have content idea overload!! This is one of my secret weapons!

Creating Graphics

Canva – I have the paid version of Canva, but the free version has a lot of same features! I use Canva literally every day in my business to create all sorts of graphics, from business cards to infographics.

PicMonkey – I use PicMonkey mostly to modify photos. It has a more robust photo editing capability than Canva. Sometimes  I use it for graphics.

PlaceIt – This nifty website will instantly place your image in a laptop, iPad, iPhone, or any number of different mockup scenes with or without people. Low cost!

The Noun Project – Any icon you need, they’ve got it.

Website Design

Divi Theme from Elegant Themes – This is what my site is built on. Pretty simple and easy to use, even if you don’t have a lot of website experience.

Divi Tutorials – These tutorials saved my bacon many times  when I was creating the site you’re on right now!

Styled Stock Photos

Each of these stock sites has an amazing, creative woman photographer at the helm. Most of them have a freebie when you sign up for their email list, and/or a monthly freebie photo for their subscribers. Each has a distinct style and varying price points for memberships and photos or bundles. I used SC Stockshop photos on this website, and I’ve also used the others on my blog and social media.

SC Stockshop

Haute Stock

Styled Stock Society*

Wellness Stock Shop

Jana Bishop Collection

Rosemary Watson

Kate Max

Ivory Mix

Social Media

Later – I use the free version of this to schedule on Instagram. The blog is great for staying up to date on Insta changes, too.

Planoly – I use the paid version of this for two other Instagram accounts.

Social Splash –  A great crash course on using social media to market your business.

Making Videos

Screencast-O-Matic – This is a free resource to create screen cast videos.

Animoto – A low annual fee for simple video creation.

Handbrake – When you need to convert a video file to a web-optimized format or size, this free software is a necessity.

Crowdcast* – I looked high and low for a reasonably-priced, easy-to-use webinar solution, and I finally found it! As a bonus, you can save your webinars to YouTube to re-purpose your video content.

Feeling overwhelmed?

I know that creating and running an online business can feel like a lot. If you’d like some help, why not set up a complimentary call with me and let’s see how I might be able to help you streamline your online business and take a few things off your plate.

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