The Digital Entrepreneur's Toolbox

Want to know what tools I use to run my websites along with all of my other online businesses? Well, here they are...

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Advertising & Retargeting Networks

If you've never heard of “Retargeting” then you can read more about it on the Wikipedia Article. They do a better job explaining it than I ever could.

If you want to scale your business quickly, you need to find sources of targeted traffic and here's some of my favourite advertising platforms:

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Analytics & Tracking Tools

Choosing the right analytics tool for your business is a key factor to ensure you have all the information you need.

Here are two that I've used and recommend...

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Communications

Being able to communicate effectively with people from all over the world is crucial with online business! There are always new platforms coming out, but I always come back to the tried and tested ones:

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Copywriting & Content

If you want to build a successful website you need unique content. Period.

But even if you love writing, the sheer volume of content that needs to be produced can be an overwhelming task and that is where these next resources can really help you out...

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Email Marketing Tools

There are a number of good Email Marketing tools out now, they've definitely come a long way since inception.

The great thing is that once you know your way around them, you're good to go - no need to be a designer!

Here are two great options that I use and highly recommend...

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General Tools

Sometimes it's the little things that make all the difference - and here are just a couple that I swear by...

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Graphics & Image Sources / Tools

<span>A picture tells a thousand words as the saying goes - and using images is a big part of creating effective websites, articles and sales pages.</span>

<span>One thing to be mindful of with images is... be very careful not to just grab a picture from Google and assume you can use it! There are copyright issues on most pictures, so it's going into dangerous territory.</span>

<span>The good news is that there are a LOT of sites that you can find free images for, or pay a small fee - and there are literally 1000's to choose from!</span>

<span>Here are my top picks...</span>

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Market Research

If I had a penny for every time I got an email about some new “Market Research” tool with magical powers able to instantly uncover hidden niche markets and hot product ideas with the click of a button... you get the point.

The tools listed below are the ones I use and have for many years now and not the latest “hot offer”. These are mature, robust tools that deliver on their promise to deliver accurate, quality information that you can use to make major business decisions...

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Membership Site Tools

If you are going down the path of having a membership site, finding the right tools at the beginning of your journey is going to save you a lot of time and money.

There are a number of options available, and all vary in what they offer; essentially, you want one that works with your systems, that your customers love using, and that makes learning fun. Simple, right?!

Here are the ones I recommend...

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Outsourcing & Crowdsourcing

After I sold and retired from my last company I made myself (and my wife!) a promise that my next company would be 100% virtual. So for the past 3 years I have tested countless outsourcing platforms, systems and services.

In that time I’ve lost some money and have been ripped more than once. But through that incredible learning curve I’ve managed to hire incredible people and get an enormous amount of work done without ever having to hire a single ‘employee’. Here are the tools I used to do that...

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Page Builder Tools

Finding the right Page Builder tool for your business can make your life a whole lot easier; there are quite a number of them around but they vary in complexity and ease of use.

Here are two that I've personally used and recommend...

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Pay-Per-Click Marketing Tools

If you want to scale up your pay per click campaign, the right tools can make all the difference in the world.

Here are the ones I like:

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Payment Processing

Collecting payments online is something that we all hope to do with our online businesses; it's important to use reputable, reliable and well known providers as your customers are putting their trust in you.

Here are the tools I use for payment integration and automated processing...

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Product Sourcing & Development

The following is a list of tools and resources to help you develop and build your product on time and on budget or alternatively, find someone else’s product to sell and just take a cut of the profit.

Either way, when I am developing products, be it physical or electronic, for any of the niches I am involved in here is where I go...

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Project & Team Management

As an entrepreneur it’s up to you to manage your time effectively and once you start growing your team, whether in a traditional office format or virtually (my preferred choice these days :) this becomes even more important... and difficult.

Over the years I have tested countless new programs and technologies and here is what I think are the best today:

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Search Engine Marketing

Ranking well in Google and Bing isn’t as simple as throwing some keywords on your website and hoping for the best. You need the right tools to support your efforts and unfortunately there are more bad SEO tools on the market than there are good SEO tools.

Every year I spend thousands of dollars testing the latest tools to see if they live up to their hype. Most of the time I am disappointed but occasionally I find a tool or resource that delivers on their marketing promises and I add them to my SEO arsenal.

Here are the ones that made the cut...

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Shopping Carts & CRMs

Different digital businesses have different needs and if you are going to have a multi-product website, you may need a shopping cart.

Today, shopping carts have become very good and easy to use, with great features and functionality. The shopping carts that I recommend here are intuitive, so you do not need to worry too much about the user experience.

And as your business and customer volume grows, you'll need a robust CRM system to manage the marketing campaigns of your multiple products.

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Social Media Tools

With the staggering growth of social media, there has been equal growth in the market for social media management tools and separating the good from the bad has cost me a ton of money and time. Although I know this list will change and evolve, here are the tools I am using today...

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Video Creation & Marketing

Video is everywhere online and will inevitably make its way into your Internet business. The good news is the tools to create, edit and deliver your video online are getting easier and easier.

Here are the video tools I use every day in my business...

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Webhosting Companies & Domain Registrars

Over the past 20 years, I’ve used hundreds of web hosting companies and choosing the wrong one can cost you a LOT of money.

Here’s the ones I put my trust in to run my business:

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Wordpress Tools & Resources

I love Wordpress; I run countless websites on it including this one, and below are the tools and plugins that I can't live without: