Small Business Tools For Running Your Online Business

When starting an online business, a list of tools to help you start an online business can be the difference between starting or not starting.

After running an online business for over three years, I have tried a lot of products that have worked.

And I have tried some that have not worked…for me or my business.

This week, I have decided to share my top 10 resources and tools for starting an online business.

 

My Ultimate List Of Small Business Tools For Running Your Own Online Business

1- Canva

For those of you who are not graphic designers – like myself, Canva has been a life saver.

Canva is the ultimate drag and drop tool to help you design just about anything.

You can use Canva to create all of your social media templates, opt-ins, brochures, logos and eBooks.

It has hundreds of thousands of templates available that you can choose from.

Or you can design your own.

This software allows anyone to become a graphic designer.

And better yet…it is free to use.

There is paid option as well, but there is enough in the free version to give you what you need when you are starting out.

 

2- Kajabi

Kajabi is an all-in-one platform that can help you with your landing pages, digital products and marketing campaigns.

Kajabi has 3 very distinct purposes – products, offers and marketing.

Although Kajabi is a little more expensive than some other platforms such as Teachable and Thinkrific, you do not pay for commissions or hosting with Kajabi.

AND…

it looks pretty.

Some of the main features of Kajabi include:-

• Landing Pages
• Unlimited Marketing Emails
• Anywhere between 10,000 – 100,000 contacts
• Allows up to 20,000 members to sign up for a class
• One website included
• No transaction fees
• Unlimited Webinars and events
• Assessments like quizzes and surveys
• Chat support, and 24/7 chat support for pro plans

 

3 – Active Campaign

One must for any business- whether it is online or not- is an email marketing platform.

An email marketing platform is the most effective way to communicate with your tribe.

There is proof that customers prefer email as their communication channel to receive promotions and offers from businesses.

Email marketing is also proven to have a better return on investment than any other communication channel.

There are a number of email marketing platforms out there. My preferred option is Active Campaign.

Active Campaign has a number of key features that sets it apart from the rest. These include:-

• Deliverability – Active Campaign won’t let just anyone send emails from their platform
• Building Forms
• Email Automations
• Contact Profiles
• Extensive and comprehensive reporting
• Integrations with other 3rd parties

 

4 – Stripe

Stripe is an international online payment platform that accepts credit card transactions.

It has a different fee structure to payment platforms like PayPal which online entrepreneurs like.

It is free to set up a Stripe account and you can set it up in a couple of minutes.

I have both Stripe + PayPal as payment options for my customers

 

5 – TryInteract

Quizzes are a fantastic way to collect email addresses as an opt-in.

Who doesn’t love a quiz?

You can entice potential customers to complete a quiz, and ask for their email address in exchange for their results.

There are a few different platforms that you can use to design a quiz however, my go-to is TryInteract.

TryInteract gives you options to either use existing templates that you can tailor to your own needs, or to create your own.

The choice is yours.

There are different types of quizzes that you can set up using TryInteract. These are:-

• Assessments
• Personality Quizzes
• Scored Quizzes

Each will give you a different outcome.

TryInteract also integrates into your email marketing platform and your website.

 

More Small Business Tools For Running Your Own Online Business

 

 

6 – SmarterQueue

Running a business means working smarter, not harder.

A key to this, is to ensure that you have automation as part of your business model.

Like your email marketing platform, your social media scheduler is important to help keep you present on social media – when you can be doing other things.

SmarterQueue is the platform that I use to schedule my FaceBook and Instagram posts.

The main benefits of SmarterQueue include:-

• You can share your content in a matter of seconds to your social media platforms
• You can grab content from the internet from SmarterQueue
• Choose your own categories to organise your posts and your own posting plan
• Quality reporting to help improve your social media engagement

 

7 – ShowIt

There are hundreds of thousands of themes available out there for you to use for your own website.

I am currently crushing on my ShowIt theme.

The beauty of ShowIt is that is allows you to drag and drop elements into your pages, as well as replicating key elements across all of your pages to create consistency.

It also allows you to customize your mobile website and desktop website design independently of each other.

ShowIt connects to WordPress which allows you to add your blog to your website.

The online support and community are also AH-MAZING as well.

 

8 – Divi By Elegant Themes

If I wasn’t using Showit, my go-to theme is Divi By Elegant Themes.

Divi features a drag and drop functionality. Divi themes are also responsive – which means that it loads on all devices.

This means that if you are a novice at WordPress like me, it will do your coding for you.

There are thousands of Divi themes available, designed to match any type of profession, blog  or service.

 

9 – BlueHost

BlueHost is my go-to in regards to a hosting platform.

There are so many benefits and features of BlueHost that makes it the number 1 platform for website hosting.

My top benefits/features are:-

• It is affordable
• All terms and conditions are spelt out in plain English and are easy to understand
• Customer support is outstanding
• BlueHost integrates with WordPress easily
• There are many features included such as unlimited bandwidth, email addresses and so on.

 

10 – Tailwind

Tailwind is “the” tool to have to help you with your Pinterest scheduling.

There are a number of benefits to using Tailwind to help you manage your time with Pinterest.

If you are like me, and can lost in Pinterest, Tailwind is a great tool to keep you on track.

Why I love Tailwind:-

• • It saves you time
  • Tailwind helps to increase the reach of your website and your blog
  • It can help you reach people who may not know your website i.e. new readers and customers
  • Tailwind helps you to schedule your pins at the right times
  • It has options for all people in business- whether you are a brand new business, or an experienced one.

 

There is my top ten small business tools for running your own online business.

What are the tools that help you run your business?