When I first started out with online marketing, many times I met small road blocks because I didn’t know how to do something so I’d have to go and learn new skills.
I’ve have spent countless hours trying to hunt down the best tools to achieve particular tasks. So I thought it would be helpful for you if I were to list the tools and resources that I use, some on a daily basis to help grow my business.
Some of these tools are free which is great, however there are also some which are not free and if you decide to purchase I will receive an affiliate commission for a handful of the resources.
This does not mean you pay more for the tool or product, it merely means I receive a referral commission from the company supplying the product or tool.
This list will be added to as I come across more great resources so I would recommend you check this page frequently or bookmark it to your favorites.
Please Note: Some of the links on this page are affiliate links and I will earn a commission for any purchases made here. You will not pay extra as a result of this. Only buy something on this page if you need it for your business and it will be of use and benefit to you.
Video
ApowerSoft
ApowerSoft is a great video creation software tool that allows you to record your screen, record yourself via your webcam and also to create picture in a picture (PIP) videos.
ApowerSoft is free for a limited time, then if you want to carry on using it you can do so but you will need to purchase the software. However, you can continue to use the basic version of the screen recorder after the trial period, which will allow you to record your screen for short videos of up to 3 minutes and you will also not have the picture in a picture function. In my opinion it is a great video creation program an worth the investment. However, bear in mind that the cost of the software is a yearly subscription.
CamStudio (Free)
CamStudioCamStudio is a fantastic free alternative to ApowerSoft. It is great for screen capture videos however, you cannot make picture inn a picture videos using CamStudio and as far as I’m aware there is no software that will allow this for free. As far as free products go though this is a fantastic option.
Images
Pixabay
Pixabay is a great website with loads of images, many of which are free. You will notice that when you search for an image there will be some that will come up with a watermark. These ones are not free however, Pixabay will usually display a wide variety of photos that are free for you to use.
Istockpoto
Istockphoto is another great resource, stocking both images and videos. The stock on Istockphoto is not free but they are mostly exceptional quality so if you are looking for photos or videos to use of a very high quality and don’t mind paying a little bit for it then go here.
Istockphoto also offers a great programme for anybody to make money selling their photos or videos. You can upload your work and it will then be a continual stream of residual income for you for years to come (providing people are buying your work).
However, bear in mind Istockphoto pride themselves on providing exceptional quality and will only accept your images and videos if they meet their requirements so be sure to read their terms and conditions before you upload your samples.
Image Editing
Gimp (Free)
Gimp is a really great alternative to photoshop, I really wish I had discovered it earlier! You can do so much with this tool and I was really surprised it was free when I had a look at it. Bear in mind it will take a bit of getting use to at the beginning if you are not familiar with using this kind o programme as it can really do so much.
YouTube again is a great resource here to find out how to do certain things if you get stuck as there are loads of people who have created videos showing you how to do various actions using Gimp.
If you enjoy using the software and you get to grips with it ok you may also consider using it ot make a bit of money on the side if it is worth your while. Register for an account with fiverr.com and you can make some money making things for people, such as banners, logo’s, headers, ebook covers etc.
Photo Bucket – (Free)
I first started using Photo Bucket to add URL’s to photos as sometimes you will need to know how to do this for your internet marketing business. It really is so simple and all you do (once you have opened an account) is upload your photos and it will assign and display a URL for your photo on the right hand side of your screen. You can then use this URL to paste your photo in places where they require a URL for a photo.
Photo Bucket also offers several other options for you such as storing your photos and basic editing.
Email Marketing & List Building
Aweber
Aweber is recognized as the top auto-responder company available and are surprisingly very reasonably priced.
An auto-responder platform stores your email list information and automates your email campaigns to your list. Having an auto-responder is essential to internet marketing and is the backbone of your business is in building your list.
There are several auto-responder companies to choose from however, I use Aweber as they are largely the company of choice for most internet marketers. They are exceptionally good at what they do and they provide a very professional and reliable service. Aweber are also very reasonably priced and you can try them for $1!
A good alternative to Aweber would be GetResponse. I haven’t personally used them but I hear they are also very good.
Safe-Swaps
Safe-Swaps is a great place to set up ad-swap campaigns with other marketers. Basically, an ad-swap is an agreement between two marketers to mail each others special offer to their list. The special offer is typically the url to your optin page where a person can optin to receive your free gift.
Once your list reaches around 200-300 subscribers you will want to start to do ad-swaps. With Safe-Swaps you can set up ad-swap campaigns with other marketers in your niche in a very safe way. Being a member of Safe-Swaps means you have a profile whereby people can see our list size and also get an idea as to how responsive they are by seeing how many clicks on average you offer from doing ad-swaps.
You can of course see the same info for all the other marketers on the site and you can choose who you would like to do an ad-swap with. Doing ad-swaps regularly can grow your list to literally thousands of subscribers within a few months if done correctly.
Safe-swaps is also a great place to get solo ads. Being a part of the community, you can chat online with other marketers and really get to know them. This can really help with peace of mind when it comes to organising ad swaps or purchasing solo ads.
Domain Registrants
Again you have many options here. The two I use are GoDaddy & Namecheap. They are both easy to use, reliable and their domains are very reasonably priced. Both these companies also make it very easy for you to search for, register and utilize your domain names.
GoDaddy
Namecheap
CPA Marketing
CPA stands for Cost Per Action. By being affiliated with a CPA marketing site you can promote links and receive a commission per ‘action’ that is performed by someone clicking on your link. Basically once you have set it up all you have to do is direct people to click on your links and perform an action. An ‘action’ can be as simple as just clicking on your link to filling out a form or ordering a free product to test for example. The more effort that is requited by your traffic to perform the action the higher the commission is for you.
Here are just a few great CPA marketing companies to choose from:
Peerfly – Free
Maxbounty – Free
Incent.ly – Free
Payment Processor
Of course, to receive payments in your business you will need to have a payment processor.
Paypal – Free
Paypal is a good one to start off with as it is very easy to set up, very user friendly and anyone can have one pretty much. You also have the added benefit of using the branding of PayPal as it is a trusted and recognized brand.
Some people don’t like using Paypal but I have had no problems with them and have found them very good. Once you start making over $10,000 per month you will most likely need to switch to a merchant account.
Forums
Warrior Forum
Warrior ForumThe Warrior Forum is another must for all serious internet marketer and the main IM forum out there. A great resource for information and tips as well as an excellent place to find reviews on the latest products.
At a one off cost of $10 to join it is well worth the money!
A few other forums you may also like to consider:
Digital Point
Wicked Fire
Fresh Marketing Forum
Please be sure to read the rules of each forum that you sign up to as they can all differ. The last thing you want to do is get kicked off a forum as they can be really great sources of information and traffic!
URL Shortner
Bit.ly is a great site to use to either tidy up or shorten url’s. Especially useful when using Twitter or other platforms where you are limited in the amount of characters you can use.
Bit.ly – Free
Tracking
Tracking is extremely important when it comes to internet marketing as you really need to know where your traffic and your opt-ins are coming from in order to be successful. Without knowing this you could end up wasting loads of time promoting the wrong things in the wrong places.
Don’t delay with your tracking, set it up early on and it will be much easier to manage. Bevo Media is a great website where you can organize all your campaigns and see where your clicks and opt-ins are coming from.
Bevo Media – Free
Outsourcing
Fiverr
I love this site! Fiverr.com is brilliant for all those little jobs you just don’t have time for yourself, or perhaps you are lacking in the expertise to do them yourself. Tasks such as creating banners, designing ebook covers, designing headers and logos for your websites etc can all be outsourced to people on Fiverr.com at a cost of $5 per task which is exceptional value for money!
I frequently use Fiverr.com and the quality of the work is always great. There are many other odd jobs you can get done at fiverr.com and if you have some skills and it is worth your while then you can also advertise your own services here too and make a little extra cash on the side!
Fiverr – Free to open an account
Kunaki
If you want to create your own products that are also sold in hard copy as well and not just as a digital download, then Kunaki is a great place to create your hard copy CD and DVD products. It’s free to use but you of course have to pay for the CD’s & DVD’s that you order.The cost of producing hard copies is by far the cheapest I have ever found on the net and the service and end products are very professional.
Simply sign up for free as a new customer and download their software to create your products. Their software provides you with templates to make your covers and CD/DVD prints etc. Follow the instructions and once you’re done send them your order!
ODesk
ODesk is a great place to recruit freelancers or people to work for you, such as virtual assistants. Here you can find people such as seo experts, web developers, logo designing, article writing, personal assistants and more.
RSS Feed
FeedBurner – Free
FeedBurner is a great free resource from Google. As fas as RSS feeds go, FeedBurner is quite easy to use so I would highly recommend using it. FeedBurner checks the quality of the people subscribing to your blog, acts as a professional distribution and tracking assistant and expands your reach online.
PLR
Master-Resell-Rights
If you are looking for a free gift to promote on your lead capture pages then this is a great place to go. You can purchase ebooks, articles and videos with 100% resell rights. This means you can either offer them for free on your squeeze pages in exchange for subscribers email addresses or even sell them on for profit.
Master-Resell-Rights – Private Label Rights
Resell Rights Weekly
Resell Rights Weekly is a great program you can join for free and receive access to loads of free PLR articles, videos, products and images. Resell Rights Weekly also has a Gold Members option which is not free but you get access to a far wider selection of PLR materials that are also generally very high quality.
Free Advertising Platforms
Craigslist
Craigslist is a great place to give some extra traffic to your site. It generally won’t bring you masses of traffic but it will certainly bring you consistent traffic is Craigslist is popular in your country. Just be careful not to post too many times each day or Craigslist may ban your account. I found I could generally get away with posting about 2-3 times per day. Also be sure to leave a gap of at least 10 minutes between each posting and don’t post more than once per day in the same city.
Hosting
Hostgator
Hostgator is by far the best hosting site I have used. I now use Hostgator for my hosting as do many other internet marketers. Hostgator are reasonably user friendly and there is a massive selection of instructional videos on many aspects of using Hostgator that people have very kindly posted on YouTube.
Hostgator also have a fantastic, very professional and very responsive support team. Another added bonus is that Hostgator are surprisingly cheap in price, starting from as little as just a few dollars per month!
Blogging
WordPress
WordPress – Definitely the blogging platform of choice amongst most bloggers. WordPress is free, easy to use, versatile and they have fantastic support should you ever need it. WordPress.org also have an extensive list of plugins to easily add many great features to your blog. Many of these WordPress plugins are free too!
Elegant Themes
To give your sites a more professional look you may want to consider buying a more professional theme for your sites. Basic WordPress themes are ok to get started but you will soon want to switch to a more professional looking one and also one that everyone else is not using.
Branding is so important when it comes to internet marketing so buying a professional theme can really help you to stand out from the crowd. This doesn’t have to be expensive. I use Elegant Themes as you can have complete access to your choice of around 86 different, very professional looking and easy to use themes that you can upload easily yourself and change as many times as you like. The cost is again very reasonable, especially when you compare it to some other sites which offer a price for each individual theme.
These online marketing tools and resources will be updated regularly as I find new and better tools for us to use, so be sure to check back regularly!