Online Business Tools & Resources
to propel you forward in your spiritual business journey!
Essential Business-Growing Tools
Mailchimp was my beginner email marketing platform. They have a free plan (which I used) where you can have up to 2000 Subscribers. They also have pay-as-you-go options, which work out to be cheaper for low-volume clients, whilst also giving you some included extras such as automation and integration options. The platform is super easy to use and they have an amazing section for email templates making it very easy to curate good-looking emails effortlessly.
Convertkit is my email marketing provider that I currently use now, and I’m IN LOVE with it! It’s super easy to use for setting up email sequences, automation, tagging people in my list, and more! However I won’t lie, it is on the pricey side of email marketing platforms. And yes I admit, it’s harder to make your emails look visually good because they don’t have any visual email templates you can build off of like mailchimp does (i miss that) because it’s a bit more tech-savvy. Ultimately though, I found Convertkit as the perfect platform for me for my needs of creating sales funnels, setting up automation, and cross-platform integration.
I switched over to Convertkit from Mailchimp when I was ready to invest lots in my email strategy building.
Leadpages is a super handy drag and drop landing page creation website tool that I use for creating nifty registration pages, email opt-in boxes, and thank-you pages. It automatically syncs up with your email marketing system (whichever email provider you’re signed up with) so you can track and systemize your lead-generation sign-ups.
Namecheap is where I purchased all my domains and hosting packages from. It’s an awesome place to purchase a domain as well as site hosting for reasonable prices. They have an awesome knowledgebase on their website where they give you simple step-by-step instructions on how to do the technical overwhelming jazz. If that doesn’t do it’s justice, their customer support is phenomenal! If you can’t do something from your end, they can do those things for you from their end! The only downside to Namecheap is that you have to purchase your Domain, Hosting Package and SSL Certificates all separately.
(I would only recommend Namecheap for those who rank at level 10 for tech-savviness and know how to do web development & web design from the inside out!)
BlueHost is the domain & hosting platform I set up all of my web design clients with. Bluehost is the easiest and by far the best WordPress Hosting + Integration Platform on the market. It’s super easy to navigate and to actually set up the website hosting is only a matter of a few simple steps. You can transfer your domain that you bought from elsewhere to Bluehost and they provide an SSL Certificate to your domain for FREE! The best part about Bluehost is that your domain, Hosting Package and SSL Certificates all come together in one payment unlike how with Namecheap, you have to purchase everything separately.
GSuite is where I host my all of my company domain emails (name@lightworkmedia.com) for my team and me. And the best part is once your domain and your email is set up, you’re inbox looks exactly like your normal Gmail. We also use the account to collaborate together and share client files in a secure environment. I recommend getting the basic plan (that’s the one I have and I love it.)
AUTOMATING SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS
Buffer is the platform I use for managing all of my social media content in one sitting. I have been using for several years now – and have taken it from one job to another. I think it is so simple, easy to use and really offers anything that a small business needs for social media management at an affordable price. Because I constantly am editing photos and content on my computer, the paid plan lets you schedule posts on instagram, so that way you’re not restricted with posting photos on your instagram account using only your phone!
DIY Content Creation Tools
Adobe Spark is an easy-to-use content creation app built for non-designers that makes it easy for anyone to create impressive social media graphics, promotional videos, and single-page websites. The best part about Adobe Spark is that is comprises three separate design apps built into one program: Spark Page, Spark Post, and Spark Video. For those looking for a low-budget beginner-level tool that produces beautiful visuals, Adobe Spark is a great fit.
Canva is a free alternative for easy-to-use content creation apps. Canva solves a lot of design requirements problems & helps with in-housing graphic design for simple daily needs like social media and also presentations. Canva saves efforts and money for small and medium businesses that are running social media and some marketing all by themselves.
ShutterStock is a great content library for high-resolution images, especially for large-format designs (billboards and other print media). They offer a variety of subscription plans to meet various user needs, making its pricing model more flexible than some other high-res photo options. With Shutterstock’s huge library of 263 million images, videos, and audio files, you won’t be disappointed in the selection.
Adobe Stock is an ideal content library option for Creative Cloud users. One of the main benefits that Adobe Stock provides is the ability to easily find an image you like and then instantly import it across the different Creative Suite applications you already use (if you have a Creative Cloud License). The amount of photos within Adobe Stock is nothing less than amazing. The images are curated, so you will never have to worry about low quality stock photos. The only disadvantage is that Adobe Stock doesn’t offer audio files unlike how Shuttershock does.
Audacity is a free, open source audio recording and editing software. Audacity allows you to record multiple sources simultaneously, and an unlimited amount of audio tracks per session. The interface may look old-fashioned, but it’s easy to navigate and has all the tools for simple edits and produce a professional-sounding project. I use it for small minor audio edits or if I’m recording something that’s low-budget.
Teleconferencing Technology for Online Workshops & Meetings
HOSTING ONLINE MEETINGS/VIRTUAL LIVE ROOMS
Zoom is a free easy-to-use online video conferencing and meeting software that integrates video conferencing, simple online meetings, and group messaging into a single cloud-based platform. Zoom delivers high quality video and audio over its servers in an easy-to-use fashion that won’t cost your company an excessive amount of money. Even Zoom’s paid plans typically are priced on the cheaper end of cloud-based teleconferencing softwares.
E-commerce & Payment Platforms
INVOICING & RECEIVING PAYMENTS
SamCart is the ecommerce cart platform I currently use to manage all of my product checkout pages for my services and packages. SamCart is by far the best custom sales checkout platform out there considering the fact that it gives you the creative freedom to make really gorgeous custom branded cart pages. Not to mention, their customer service is truly world-class. The Grow Plan is the one I use because it comes with the custom branding. It’s the primary payment software I use to collect international payments and I have my Stripe account integrated with it.
Stripe is the payment software I use to manage all of the people who have subscriptions with me as well to manage payment options. Stripe in my opinion is the best e-commerce payment platform option for taking international payments especially if you are someone like me who works with people online all around the globe!
Square is the payment platform I like to use for sending one-time invoices to my clients. I’ll admit, I’m not a fan of it when it comes to monthly payment plans. However, the thing I love about Square is that it’s super convenient to bring for taking transactions at tradeshows, and live events such as seminars and retreats with it’s wireless terminal machine to sell things in person. It’s deposit processing speed is very FAST as well which is a bonus.
HOSTING AN ONLINE STORE
SamCart is what I actually use for managing all of my products and my online shop. Because I am such a SamCart nerd, I feel it’s easier to create a product sales page on my WordPress site, and then creating payment buttons that redirect to the SamCart link where they can checkout for that product… Rather than trying to turn my site into a payment system that I have to manage on my own incase there’s any payment glitches.
Shopify is another payment platform where you can also create a website. I recommend using Shopify for people who plan on selling lots of things on their website, like if you want an online retail store!
LIVE EVENT MARKETING + TICKETING
Eventbrite is my event marketing platform I use to manage my event ticket sales for all of my paid in-person live events. I find it super easy to set up (and it’s totally free by the way). My favourite thing about eventbrite is they do payout for all of your ticket sales every month through direct deposit. Plus any Eventbrite fees that may be included don’t get ticked off your ticket sale price, which is a huge bonus!
Productivity & Organizational Tools
DIGITAL PLANNERS
Trello is my go-to digital planner option if you prefer digital planners over tangible ones! They also have a free plan. Trello is great for when you have a lot of projects to get done, and you need a place to braindump all your business ideas and organize your online business life in one sitting! Along with the Trello mobile app, you can make changes to your organized trello boards on your phone while you’re offline, and it will automatically sync those changes in your account once you’re connected to internet!
ONLINE CALENDAR
Google Calendar is my primary online calendar I use. To be completely honest, I am obsessed with my Google Calendar (for managing business and family life).
StayFocused App Block is a mobile app you can download on your phone from the Googleplay Store on Android devices. It tracks for you how much time screen time you’re spending on your phone, the number of screen unlocks, how much time you spend on which apps, etc… My favorite part about the app is that I can customize specific hours and days when I’m working, so my phone will force me to stay locked out during those work hours.