My Favorite Resources

I created this Resource Page to share what tools, services, and sites to go to and use. I personally know how stressful and frustration it is to make a choice on what to use or buy. With all the tools and services available out there, it’s real easy to get overwhelmed. Sometimes you just need to hear something from a friend or trusted adviser to help you decide. Hopefully this page will do that.

I’ll be adding more to it as I learn and test out new things. In future posts I will reference this page quite often, so I recommend bookmarking it for your own personal reference and convenience. Make today a great day.

Web Hosting

If your goal is to start an Online Business, Blog, or even a brick & mortar business, you will need to have a website. You will need to have a hosting service if you want to create a website that you own. If you use one of the free sites, you will not own the site. There is a saying in online marketing,

“Don’t build your business on borrowed land.”

Your business must be owned by you. You can use other tools to market your business (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. However, they own the content that is on those sites. If they choose, they can cut you off. Own your website Domain and website. This is the company I use and recommend.

SiteGround

I recommend using WordPress sites. They are easy to configure and are well known and easily maintained.

You can use a free WordPress site at WordPress.com however, depending on what you want to do, you may be limited. I wanted to be able to add specific plugins for several tasks and the Free version won’t let you add plugins.

I highly recommend getting a hosted site at SiteGround and use WordPress.org instead of the Free Hosting on WordPress.com.  You will have more flexibility to do what you want. SiteGround makes it very easy to set up a site.

WordPress requires the use of Themes. There are hundreds of Themes to choose from. Select from a reputable, well known Theme developer. You can get recommendations from many WordPress users. If your goal is to start a Podcast, I recommend:

Appendipity Themes from my friend Joey Kissimmee.

I use the old Podcast Theme on my podcast currently. It is no longer on the market, but their new Podcast Pro theme is great and I will likely upgrade soon.

 

  It and many other WordPress themes require the use of the Genesis Framework. Genesis Framework is the parent theme and Appendipity and other themes are the child themes. Basically, they use portions of the Genesis theme for many of their functions. The Genesis Framework is a well known and respected theme from StudioPress. The Genesis Framework is about $60, but is a great investment.

Audio Recording

Audacity

I use Audacity to record my Podcast Audio files. It is a great tool for Windows computers. It offers a lot of great tools within the application. I used it the first time I had a podcast in 2004/2005. It worked great then and it is still easy to use and oh, it’s still FREE! I don’t think there is a product website, but you can click the link to download it. There videos all over YouTube to offer instructions on how to use it.

 

Email Marketing

Creating an email list is very important for bloggers, podcasters, online marketers and anyone with a goal to market themselves on the Internet or to build a community. There are several email marketing tools and platforms available that work really well.  There are several things to consider before you select an email marketing platform for you:

• Number of members
• Number of emails to send
• Automation needed
• Ease of Use
• Budget

Mail Chimp

 

 

 

 

 

I use Mail Chimp. It is a great platform that is easy to use and provides great how-to videos showing setup and configurations.

 

Landing Page Software

LeadPages

I use LeadPages to create awesome landing pages. They are an excellent company, lead by excellent people.

 

You can easily create landing pages, squeeze pages or sales pages that work with WordPress and non-WordPress sites. LeadPages will help you convert viewers into subscribers or buyers.

 

 

Media Hosting

Libsyn – Liberated Syndication

If you are going to produce a podcast, you will need to host your audio or video files somewhere. I have been using Libsyn to host my podcast audio files since I started my podcast in 2015. When I was podcasting in 2004/2005, this wasn’t available. It has great, simple integration to iTunes, SoundCloud, Facebook, and many more.  It is so easy to configure. I love using Libsyn. I have not had any problems using them and highly recommend them for audio. They can also host video.

YouTube

You should be familiar with YouTube. It is the number 2 search engine behind Google and the #1 How-To search engine. If I want to learn how to do something, I search YouTube.

 

Tools

Evernote

Evernote is a great tool for keeping notes, clipping websites, articles, etc. It is a PC application, an App.  I use it frequently to catalog all of my notes. One of the best things about Evernote is that it Syncs with all of your devices. I can write myself a not on my iPhone App version and have it ready for syncing on my home PC or vice versa. I use it every day. I use the Basic version, which is FREE. There are other options depending on the amount of use you need.

Google

What can I say? The best search engine around. One of the best companies around. There is so much more to Google than just search. I use GMail, YouTube, Google+ (no, it’s not dead), Google Drive, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Forms, Google Sheets, Google Maps, Google Analytics, Google Translate, etc. They offer so many tools for businesses and consumers alike. What’s not to like?

Check out these tools and let me know what you think.