My most recommended tools!
If opportunity doesn't come knocking, then build a door. I'm sure you've heard that phrase many times before, right? Well, guess what? The door is already wide open. Because today, you/we have more opportunities than ever before to build a great online business - all thanks to the internet.
There are so many great tools, apps, services, and technology you can use to build your personal brand business, but how do you choose the right ones? Well, luckily, I created this page to help you cut through the noise, by listing some of the best tools in the business.
Disclaimer: Some of the links below are affiliate links to products and services that I'm using to grow my online business. This means if you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase of one of these products or services, I will be paid a small commission for it, at NO additional cost to you. I want you to know that I never recommend anything that I don't use or trust 100% myself. Thanks for your continued support - Fabrizio.
The first piece of your personal brand business website building puzzle is your domain name and some secure, reliable web hosting. For this, I use and 'personally' recommend SiteGround. I have been using SiteGround since 2015, and, having used so many different web host providers in time online, I can honestly say that SiteGround are amongst the very best in the business.
Genesis theme framework is a robust, secure, and powerful theme software for WordPress websites. More over, the StudioPress Marketplace is always packed with some of the best looking and functional child themes available for WordPress, all of which are easily customizable. The Magnet4Blogging theme is a custom design built on the Genesis platform.
The Thrive Themes membership package boasts some of the best conversion marketing tools, WordPress themes, and plugins available for bloggers and entrepreneurs. From building attractive email opt-in forms, to creating powerful landing pages. And, from creating profitable scarcity marketing campaigns, to managing testimonials, it's all available in the Thrive Themes Membership.
When it comes to making your content easily shareable on social media, no plugin does it better that Social Warfare. I've been proudly using Social Warfare since 2015. This is a lightweight WordPress plugin, so it shouldn't affect page loading times, and the pro add-on version comes with a host of useful features, including Twitter counts, Twitter cards, button customization and more.
Being everywhere online can be extremely challenging and time consuming. I use CoSchedule to help me take care of all my blog content, social media, email newsletter and content creation and marketing in one place. I am able to save an enormous amount of time and highly recommend this tool for all serious bloggers, freelancers, entrepreneurs and marketing teams.
Optimizing your content pages and blog posts for better search engine visibility is a critical step in growing your personal brand business website. For this, I use and recommend SEOPressor Connect. This is a feature packed, all-in-one, on-page and site-wide SEO plugin for all self-hosted WordPress websites. It comes with a host of useful options including SEO auditing tools.
Other tools I'm using in my business in 2018
Long Tail Pro - I honestly think that Long Tail Pro will be the most powerful keyword research and planner tool you'll ever use. I use it when creating content that I want to rank high up in the search engines, such as online reviews and tutorial articles. Must-have tool in your marketing toolbox.
HumanProofDesigns - Human Proof Designs is the affiliate marketing hub for bloggers and marketers alike. If you're looking to build a successful affiliate website empire, start by checking out the products and services available from HumanProofDesigns.
Evernote - Evernote is the best productivity app I have ever used. It allows me to make quick simple notes, create to-do lists, write blog post drafts, and even clip pieces of content, drop links, PDF's, videos etc so that I can research later. Using Evernote has immensely helped me to improve my workflow over the years, and I highly recommend it.
Slack - Slack is my favorite 'go-to' client collaboration app. If you are planning on providing a service through your blog or personal brand business some day, Slack is the best app to use for keeping everything and everyone in one organized place.
Focus Keeper - The Focus Keeper app is my favorite productivity timer app for the iPhone. It comes complete with charts to help you track and measure your productivity for the duration of14, and 30 days.
Wave App - I absolutely love the Wave App and I've been using it since the middle part of 2016. Wave is a free financial software for small businesses. You can create and send invoices, connect with your bank account, and receive payments for your invoices, and more. A great app for keeping tabs on your business income and expenses for each and every month.
PayPal - The most popular, most trusted service for processing online payments for your personal brand business. They've been around for so long, who doesn't know what PayPal is?
Payhip - The best place online to sell your eBooks and make money. I love using Payhip because they don't take a huge commission, they take care of EU VAT for you, and you get access to some useful marketing tools for promoting and selling your eBooks online.
