- RECOMMENDATIONS -
HIGHLY CURATED TOOLS, APPS & SERVICES TO BUILD A SMART CREATIVE BUSINESS PLATFORM ONLINE
WHAT IS YOUR ONLINE
Physical Product BASED BIZ MISSING ?
WHAT TOOLS DO YOU NEED TO BE MORE EFFICIENT?
Go through this extensive list & you will discover new opportunities & start to realize how beneficial these tools are for you to run a SMART Creative Business Platform Online.
WHERE DO YOU WANT TO START?
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full disclosure
This page contains some affiliate links. However, I would never list a product or service unless I absolutely believe it will benefit the growth of your business.
GETTING STARTED
YOUR online STORE
As an online physical product business owner you need the best of the best when it comes to apps, tools & services. All of these resources are leaders in their field. Thousands of online businesses are using them to connect with their target customers, provide services, and create an excellent user experience. Become an efficient, high performing, innovative company.
FIND YOUR BUSINESS IDEA
WE ALL KNOW THE CREATIVE SIDE OF OUR BUSINESSES ARE SO MUCH MORE FUN THAN THE TECHNICAL & MARKETING TASKS, BUT AS BUSINESS OWNERS WE HAVE TO MAKE ALL ASPECTS OF OUR CREATIVE BUSINESS, NOT ONLY WORK, BUT THRIVE! LET'S START YOUR BUSINESS OFF RIGHT. BE SURE YOUR PRODUCT IDEAS LINE UP WITH YOUR IDEAL CUSTOMERS FOR ULTIMATE AND LONG-TERM SUCCESS.
IDEA MAPPING WORKSHOP
THE 4 KEY ELEMENTS TO GENERATE SUCCESSFUL PHYSICAL PRODUCT IDEAS THAT SELL!
Idea Mapping is a highly effective & successful method for getting product & business ideas onto paper in a way that makes sense to you, because the fine details of your idea mapping process & results are always unique to what peaks your personal interests to pursue a business idea. The amazing thing about idea mapping is that it uses both the creative & the logical side of your brain & brings them into harmony. I created this low fee workshop at QuickSource.co to help creative business owners get unstuck & start mapping out a business that's right for them.
FIND YOUR CUSTOMERS WORKSHOP
DISCOVER THE 4 KEY ELEMENTS TO CUSTOMER IDENTITY DESIGN. DON'T UNDERESTIMATE HOW IMPORTANT THIS STEP IS TO THE SUCCESS OF YOUR PHYSICAL PRODUCT BASED BUSINESS.
By knowing the 4 Key elements to IDENTIFY YOUR IDEAL CUSTOMER, you will develop physical product ideas with a clear understanding of your customers needs. It is a simple fact, without a customer, you do not have a business! Your success is built on knowing there's a customer that needs & wants your product. You can make assumptions & just hope someone will buy it, but there's a more proactive & strategic approach that will even strengthen your product concept once you get in touch with WHO you are selling to and WHY they'll buy from you. This is THE KEY to Your Success! Don't miss this step. Take your Self Guided Workshop at Quick Source.co now.
FREE webSITE building platforms
IF YOU'RE ASKING YOURSELF, "HOW DO I START MY OWN BUSINESS WITH NO MONEY?", YOU SHOULD CONSIDER BEGINNING WITH A FREE VERSION ON ONE OF THESE PLATFORMS. BUT PLEASE NOTE: MANY FREE WEBSITE BUILDERS WILL HAVE THIER BRANDING PRESENT IN YOUR DOMAIN WHEN YOU'RE USING AN UNPAID PLATFORM. WHEN YOU'RE ABLE, MOVE TO YOUR OWN, PAID DOMAIN AND INEXPENSIVE HOSTING.
FREENOM
THE WORLD'S ONLY FREE DOMAIN PROVIDER.
Freenom's mission is to bring people online and help the worlds economy. By breaking barriers and integrating free domains with the latest website building and hosting technologies, Freenom makes it easy for any business or individual to build websites and content, at no cost.
JIMDO
CREATE A FREE WEBSITE.
Create a free website with responsive templates, 500MB of storage, unlimited bandwidth. Free plan comes with a Jimdo subdomain. Impress your customers with a beautiful website. Get designs tailored for your industry and all the features you need. No coding required. Start now!
STIKINGLY
SET-UP A BEAUTIFUL WEBSITE -FREE- IN 30 MINUTES.
Build your brand & conquer the world. Zero code or design skills required. Making a website has never been easier. Strikingly is trusted by millions of entrepreneurs & creatives. Many say it is the easiest website editor possible. You just click anything to edit, and publish instantly. Absolutely no code or design experience needed. Strikingly keeps it simple and focused. You honestly can build a beautiful website in under 30 minutes.
webSITE DEVELOPMENT
YOU DON'T NEED A DEGREE IN COMPUTER SCIENCE TO BUILD A CUSTOMIZED WEBSITE, BUT IT DOES NEED A DIRECTION WITH BALANCE AND CONTROL IN ORDER TO CREATE A GREAT USER EXPERIENCE FOR YOUR CUSTOMER, WHICH EQUALS $$$ IN YOUR POCKET!
WIX CREATIVE WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT
WIX IS ONE OF THE BEST KNOWN ALL INCLUSIVE WEBSITE BUILDERS WITH DRAG & DROP DESIGN!
I LOVE IT AND I KNOW CREATIVE BUSINESS OWNERS WILL TOO.
Wix is a classic template website builder and an AI platform rolled into one. You can choose from over 500 industry-specific templates and make use of its incredible drag-and-drop editor. You do not need to hire a developer, you can do this yourself. Or if you'd prefer, use Wix ADI and let Wix design a website for you! It's all a very straight forward user, designer, developer experience. They even offer an easy to use Logo Maker, you see it's a lot of creative tools all in one. Wix is available FOR FREE for as long as you want. If you need professional features like your own domain name or ecommerce, you must choose from one of their premium plans ranging from “Combo” to “Business VIP”. The cheapest ad-free plan with a custom domain name costs $13 per month.
SHOPIFY WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT
THE PERFECT PLATFORM FOR ENTREPRENUERS EARNING THEIR 1ST $100 AND
SEASONED ONLINE BUSINESSES BUILDING MILLIONS IN SALES.
That’s exactly what Shopify is able to do. This platform is practical for "newbie online" sellers to set up their first shop on and have the ability to scale it overtime with enough power to support high performing businesses. Shopify is very easy to use and it’s compatible with many apps that you can use to make your store run more efficiently. Shopify is the leading online shopping cart platform with apps being developed for Shopify first, so you can be sure that you have access to the most current tools that exist for your businesses. Shopify is the most popular platform choice for every online business. so consider using Shopify is the premier choice for power, simplicity and ease to build, launch and grow your business.
weebly
FREE WEBSITE BUILDER.
You'll find an e-commerce platform and marketing tools all in one place. This is a good place to start with a powerful FREE website builder that will grow your business. You'll get access to customizable webpage designs and useful tools to build your website and grow your ideal business. Easily build a free website to help you get discovered and grow your customer base in style.
out of the sandbox
REVIEW THEIR BEAUTIFUL & TRENDING DESIGNS
Out of the Sandbox specializes in developing beautiful storefronts to use for your Shopify store. Pick one of their aesthetically pleasing, intuitive and user friendly Shopify storefront themes to create a stunning website that suits your business’ unique style.
BOLD APPS
SHOPIFYS #1 APP DEVELOPMENT PARTNER
Bold’s apps are designed to increase your sales or help you save time running your store so you can focus on growing it. They offer social media, customer service and sales related apps such as subscription membership apps, sales motivator apps, returns management apps and many others. Integrating any of Bold’s apps will add unique features to your Shopify store so you can interact with your customers in new ways or make life easier for yourself.
tiny png
SMART PNG AND JPEG COMPRESSION TOOL
Why should you use TinyPNG?
First of all, it's super easy to use and it's FREE. Use TinyPNG to shrink/reduce the size of all of your images on your website. This is called compressing your images to allow your website to load at a much faster speed. TinyPNG reduces the size of your image without you noticing a visual difference in the image, so they maintain the integrity of the file. This is a very important step to optimize your website.
cratejoy
STARTING A SUBSCRIPTION BOX BUSINESS? THEN YO NEED TO CHECK OUT CRATEJOY.
Make use of Cratejoy to offer a flexible subscription service & be part of an industry-leading marketplace that will support whatever your business model is while making it easy. With a user-friendly experience you’re able to design your own online store with no coding required & your subscribers will easily be able to manage their own account preferences. Start selling with a service that not only provides customers with a marketplace for hundreds of subscription services but also subscribes to every business that its marketplace offers so customers know they’re shopping from a trusted & verified service. Cratejoy is great whether you’re just starting out or already have thousands of subscribers, so make use of their customizable subscription options so you can sell on your own terms to meet your customer’s needs.
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BUILTWITH
I LOVE THIS TOOL! IT HAS HELPED SO MANY OF MY CLIENTS.
Find out what servers, widgets and platforms were used to build any website. Individual site lookups are free forever. BuiltWith is build lists of websites from our database of 44,628+ web technologies and over a quarter of a billion websites showing which sites use shopping carts, analytics, hosting and many more. BuiltWith has been an integral partner in identifying key market segment opportunities for my clients businesses, my own, and I know it will help you.
domain registrar & Legal
namecheap
DON'T LET THE NAME FOOL YOU. I JUST LEARNED ABOUT NAMECHEAP AND I'M IMPRESSED.
Namecheap & GoDaddy are both good domain registrars in their own right. They have solid security features, flexible domain management services, around the clock customer support and dynamic DNS (Domain Name System) performance. But Namecheap is far less expensive than GoDaddy, and is a highly recommended web hosting service for individuals, businesses and resellers. With a modern interface their website is easy to navigate and user friendly so you know you’re receiving the highest quality service. Not only do they provide affordable access to domains, they also offer the products and services that will help you make the most of your domains. Name cheap is an ideal service for people who want a trusted domain registrar where privacy and security is paramount and customer experience is at the forefront.
NAME MESH
FREE DOMAIN NAME GENERATOR.
Brainstorm and explore unique domain names with this free domain name generator. Use various techniques to smartly modify existing keywords to generate new words that are very brandable. A popular search techniques used is blending or meshing words, this is the most popular way of creating highly brandable names.
GO DADDY
I HAVE USED AND RECOMMENDED GO DADDY TO THOUSANDS OF CLIENTS.
GoDaddy is both a domain registrar AND a website hosting company, and has the tools to help you build your website. This means you can register your domain name, build a website for it, and get it on the web - all in one place. Although, I don't highly recommend their hosting service for an online store. What I do recommend is Go Daddy's excellent and easy to use interface for managing your domain names. Go Daddy is the service I use for all my domain management.
LEGAL ZOOM
GREAT FOR INC. DBA, BUSINESS PAPERWORK
Go to Legal Zoom for everything from registration of your DBA (Doing Business As), or filing for a LLC or Corp. Legal Zoom is awesome because they offer services for you to get the job done at a fraction of the price of hiring an attorney. I highly recommend Legal Zoom.
180 LAW CO.
DO YOU WANT LEGAL ADVICE FROM SOMEONE YOU CAN UNDERSTAND AND MAKES IT'S SIMPLE FOR YOU TO START UP YOUR BIZ LEGALLY?
Well then, you need to meet Aiden Durham! She offers online legal services made easy. She set's you up for success and her services are extremely affordable. You can even sign up for her online workshop "BANISH DIY YOUR TRADEMARK APPLICATION", a one-hour webinar that will teach you how to prepare for, complete, and submit a U.S. trademark application. WITHOUT A LAWYER. She offers several legal advice packages including LLC set ups, legalizing your 1st year in business and so much more.
marketing strategies
Marketing strategy is imperative in getting to know your customers! Not only understanding the the technical part is important, but also the emotional buying one your customers go through. This ensures a tighter customer relationship. A good marketing strategy helps you better allocate your resources and ultimately grow your product sales.
1.) Start an Email Marketing Strategy that is automated.
2.) Video Marketing is one of the most effective tools for growth!
3.) Can you offer a Lead Magnet to grow your email list with a Quiz?
4.) Pick A Social Media Platform to promote your biz and go all in! Consider a collaborator.
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marketing a product based business
FOCUS FUNNELS
DON'T LET THE WORD FUNNEL SCARE YOU. THIS COMPANY IS DIFFERENT... THEY ARE PRO'S AT MARKETING PRODUCT BASED BUSINESSES.
For 10 years FOCUS FUNNELS has been perfecting the art of building physical product based brands and eCommerce businesses online. When they join your growth journey, you join a team and marketing agency like no other. THEY MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN MARKETING!
email marketing
SET-UP FAST EMAIL
THERE ARE A FEW TOP OPTIONS WHEN IT COMES TO SETTING UP AN EMAIL FOR YOUR BIZ.
The most popular choice is Google Apps for Business which will allow you to host your domain email (name@yourdomain.com) using the classic and familiar Gmail email dashboard. However, there's a service called FASTMAIL. FASTMAIL only offers email & calendar, and they do it very well. Top tech advisors say their spam filters are just as good as Google’s, the interface is cleaner, and emails are easier to manage with folders as opposed to Google’s Tag system, and everything feels better. EMAIL YOU CAN FEEL GOOD ABOUT ... PRIVACY, CONTROLS & FEATURES YOU'LL LOVE.
convert kit
THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST AUDIENCE BUILDERS FOR CREATIVE BUSINESS OWNERS.
Convert Kit is a powerful email service provider that allows you to share what you love with your followers and set up automated communication to build your business. I use Convert Kit in my coaching business and I have clients that use it to share their creative process through email marketing. Collect leads, send out emails, connect with your community and allow your business to flourish with this well priced email marketing tool.
FLODESK
AS A DESIGNER, I'M SUPER EXCITED ABOUT THIS EMAIL SERVICE PROVIDER.
Email marketing just got a makeover! Beginners and experts use Flodesk to create email campaigns that grow their business. Flodesk has stunning pre-made templates, allowing you to customize your brands style. You can customize the colors, fonts, and content of layout blocks. This can make your emails look truly unique. NO MORE BORING EMAILS:) If there's one thing I can say for Flodesk, it's that it will make your emails look better than they ever have before. It's easy & fun to use, so get creating something special.
KLAVIYO
A HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THIS EMAIL MARKETING PROVIDER FOR ONLINE STORES.
Klaviyo is PRICEY, but remember email marketing can make up 30% or more of your revenue. Klaviyo prides themselves on creating a specifically targeted, personalized experience that is more engaging for your customers that will ultimately increase your business’ revenue. This is something existing & growing online businesses should consider as their biz grows to the next level. I don't recommend this if you are just starting out. You can integrate Klaviyo with all popular shopping cart platforms so you can accurately track your return on investment, and it makes creating beautiful and responsive emails a simple process.
When your busiess is ready for it, get Klaviyo to enhance your customer’s user experience and see your customers coming back for more. It really is that good!
PRIVY
JUMP START YOUR ONLINE BUSINESS GROWTH WITH PRIVY
Capture more emails & easily convert 1st time visitors into customers with Privy's integrated suite of world-class web conversion and email marketing tools. This is the tool I personally have used on my physical product based online businesses for Fair Trade & Handmade Fashion Accessories. This tool is free to use and a no brainer to sign up.
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MAIL-CHIMP
JUMP ONE OF THE MOST WELL KNOWN & EASILY INTEGRATABTLE EMAIL MARKETING TOOLS.
Mailchimp is free up to your first 2,000 email subscribers & allows you to create organized marketing emails to send to your subscribers. Email captures are one of the most effective ways to optimize sales conversions for your business and MailChimp with all its tools and resources can help you make highly effective emails that will grab your customer’s attention. Create from pre-designed templates, manage your subscribers into categories, deliver emails how you want to, track the analytics and more, MailChimp are experts in what they do and make the process easy for you from beginning to end.
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VIDEO MARKETING
loom
SHOW IT, SAY IT, SEND IT! Record video messages of your screen, cam, or both. Faster than typing an email or meeting live. This is a more efficient, expressive, effective way to communicate. NOTHING TO SCHEDULE. NOTHING TO TYPE. Send quick videos when calendars won’t line up and you don’t have time to type a wall of text. BEE YOURSELF. As fun or formal as you'd like... in as many takes as you need. FUN FACT: people retain more information via video these days than via the written word. You can try Loom for FREE.
SCREENCASTIFY
MILLIONS OF PEOPLE USE SCREENCASTIFY to record, edit, and share videos. It's so simple, you'll get the hang of Screencastify in the time it took you to read this teeny tiny sentence. Screencastify is a free Chrome extension that lives in your browser. Hooray! They've got tons of options for sharing your videos, including integrations with Google Drive and YouTube. Install the extension on your computer and see what the hype's about.
SCREENflow
VIDEO EDITING AND SCREEN RECORDING. Easily create stunning videos with SCREENFLOW. Video is everywhere. You’ve watched it, you’ve shared it, why not create it? ScreenFlow is an award winning and easy to use video editing, screen recording and sharing tool from Telestream. Telestream offers extensive services in video and marketing solutions. If you're committed to go all in on video, this premium service may be a great solution for your product based business. Telestream would love you to join their video revolution!
CAmtasia
A VIDEO MAKETING TOOL
Camtasia is a nifty piece of video software for PC and Mac users that allows to record on-screen activity, edit/modify content and then share the video on various platforms. Camtasia screen recording software is feature perfect, smart, and quick to learn tool. It allows you to quickly create videos in which you display slides, or whatever is on your computer screen, while you narrate in the background. If you want to create screencast videos from your website, then Camtasia is an excellent & well priced tool to get the job done. Luckily, If your budget is super tight there are plenty of free Camtasia Studio alternatives with positive feedback from other providers you can Goolge search.
design wizard
DESIGN WIZARD'S BLOG POST OFFERS VIDEO EMAIL MARKETING TIPS YOU NEED TO KNOW. Video and email are two powerful marketing tools, so what could be better than combining the two? If you’re planning to deliver a creative, insightful and, most importantly, effective campaign, then video email marketing need to be front and center. LEARN why video email marketing is so important in this blog link.
creating lead magnets
inTERACT
MAKE A QUIIZ TO GENERATE LEADS FOR YOUR BUSINESS. Interact is a tool for creating online quizzes that generate leads, segment your audience, and drive traffic to your website. It is built for businesses and has all the features you'll need to create your own lead generation quiz that grows your company. My clients have created some really cool quizzes in fashion, candle scents, home decor and more. People LOVE interacting with these quizzes and its a great way to advertise on social media to gain subscribers to your email list. Let's see what you'll come up with. Give it a try!
customer service
speak pipe
TECHNOLOGY IS IMPROVING & STREAMLINING OUR WAYS OF COMMUNICATING WITH OUR CUSTOMERS. Speak Pipe allows you to receive voice messages from your audience directly on your website. It makes it super easy for your website visitors to contact you, leave feedback & testimonials. It's a voice messaging system perfect for the busy business owner that still wants to personalize their customers experience. Visit them & see it in action with your very own FREE demo. Speak Pipe will increase your interaction with your customers in an easy to use and engaging way. Give it a try.
WORK WITH INFLUENCERS
SHOUTCART
IS WORKING WITH INFLUENCERS A PART OF YOUR MARKETING PLAN?
If so, check out INFLUENCER MARKETING by SHOUTCART. You will Discover Top Influencers in your niche. Shoutcart screens qualified influencer applicants for authenticity and scores them for you so that their data base is an all in one place to shop for the most appropriate shoutout for your brand. They provide tracking and statistics for every campaign, know exactly what's working and maximize your results! Set your product based biz up for success and get the exposure you need.
find a collaborator
grin.co
MORE THAN AN INFLUENCER MARKETING TOOL, GRIN.CO IS THE #1 CREATOR MANAGEMENT PLATFORM FOR CUSTOMER ADVOCACY MARKETING. GRIN is the world’s first creator management platform, turning brands into household names through the power of authentic content creator relationships. From fielding applicants to communicating with your influencers, GRIN provides all the tools you need to nurture authentic brand relationships at every stage of your influencer marketing campa
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING TOOLS
later
ONE OF THE BEST MARKETING PLATFORMS FOR INSTAGRAM
Visually plan, schedule, and analyze posts for Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter. Plan a week of Instagram posts in 20 minutes. Spend less time posting and more time growing your business. I personally love the drag & drop
unum
VISUALLY PLAN & CREATE CONTENT for Instagram and Instagram Stories with UNUM drag & drop space features. You can unify your brand and your story from one place. Unum is a solid app for planning Instagram posts ahead of time and even posting in clever patterns. Toss in the built-in image editor along with the ability to manage multiple accounts and it becomes pretty useful, particularly for professional Instagram feeds.
pingroupie
PINGROUPIE IS A MASSIVE GROUP PINTEREST BOARD DIRECTORY with a massive amount of Group Boards listed in your business category. You can find boards ranging from over 2.7 million followers, to 251 followers. This directory's advanced search features can help you discover Group Boards that are the best fit for your business. Look for Pinterest boards that have the most pins.
Check to see if there are multiple contributors, which shows just below the Pinterest Follow button. If there are, then congratulations you just found a Pinterest group board! Pingroupie makes it really easy to find the boards you should be advertising your business on for FREE.
tailwind
TAILWIND IS THE SOCIAL MEDIA SCHEDULING TOOL THAT GETS REAL RESULTS IN LESS TIME. It is a PINTEREST approved paid app that allows you to grow consistent & smart marketing strategies on both Pinterest & Instagram. You can schedule an entire weeks worth of Pins & Posts in less than 20 minutes. This is the automation you need. Without Tailwind many of my clients are spending too MUCH of their valuable time doing this. Tailwind offers power-up features to customize your growth. Take advantage of the low monthly package that is best for your business. Over 500,000 members can't do without Tailwind, and I agree... it's an amazing tool.
HAPPY SCRIBE
IF YOU'RE CREATING VIDEO CONTENT TO SELL YOUR PRODUCTS, YOU NEED THIS! Happy Scribe is a transcription platform where online marketers can upload their video presentation and get it automatically transcribed from speech to text in just a few minutes. This added text subtitles to video has proven results to increase engagement with your customers globally. It's also great to transcribe your Vlog content to post with SEO rich words to increase your conversion rate.
SEO driveS traffic to your website
When it comes to generating new traffic, you can’t beat good old fashioned SEO. And once those visitors have landed, the key to converting them is to understand how they interact with your website. These tools will help you tackle both.
google webmasters
LEARN ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF SEO. This is where you learn to make great sites! Read the SEO start guide & make sure your site is mobile friendly and more. Create a high quality website by taking these courses to improve your site's content and user experience. I learned so much from taking the time to do this when I started my
DEAD LINK CHECKER
CRAWLS THROUGH YOUR SITE TO IDENTIFY BROKEN LINKS FOR YOU TO FIX.
This is a FREE broken link checker. There is no getting around it, broken links can damage your websites rankings and usability. Dead Link Checker crawls through your website, identifying broken links for you to correct. Broken links do damage by stopping search engine website crawlers in their tracks, damaging your rankings by preventing Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc. from indexing your web pages. Broken links also negatively affect user experience and will increase your customers bounce rate by redirecting visitors to an error page. ​
google analYtics
HANDS DOWN, YOU NEED THIS!
Web analytics service that tracks and reports website traffic, giving you valuable insights on your readers and customers. Get a deeper understanding of your customers. Google Analytics gives you the free tools you need to analyze data for your business in one place.
LSI GRAPH
THIS IS A KEYWORD GENERATOR AND SO MUCH MORE!
For a better idea of which keywords you could use for your physical products, run your keyword through LSI GRAPH to generate a list of related keywords. This tool crawls the internet to find which pages are ranking the highest on search engines for your selected keyword. Then it lists the most commonly used keywords on those pages. This will give you an idea of what is currently performing well on search engines and can be used in your product titles or product descriptions.
google KEYWORD PLANNER
KEYWORD PLANNER HELPS YOU RESEARCH KEYWORDS FOR YOUR SEARCH CAMPAIGNS.
Search and analyze keyword ideas for your Google ad campaigns, or just use to help you brainstorm and optimize your content for search. You can use this free tool to discover new keywords related to your business and see estimates of the searches they receive and the cost to target them.
Keyword Planner also provides another way to create search campaigns that’s centered around in-depth keyword research.
google optimize
TEST DIFFERENT VARIATIONS OF YOUR WEBSITE & TAILOR IT TO DELIVER A PERSONALIZED EXPERIENCE THAT WORKS BEST FOR EACH CUSTOMER & YOUR BUSINESS.
Your website is your store window. Engage your website visitors like never before. Create personalized experiences and run website tests — for free.
long tail pro
THE FASTEST & MOST EFFICIENT KEYWORD RESEARCH TOOL. Long Tail Pro helps you easily find less competitive keywords that can get you tons of high-converting online traffic to your website regardless of your niche. This tool is constantly being improved and if you are NOT familiar with WHY you MUST add KEYWORD RESEARCH into your marketing plan, you must visit Long Tail Pro today. This app is worth the price because it will pay off on the massive amount of traffic you will learn to drive to your website.
AHREFS
THIS IS THE BEST PAID TOOL ON THE MARKET to grow your search traffic to your website, research your competitors and monitor your niche. Ahrefs helps you learn why your competitors rank so high and what you need to do to outrank them by utilizing SEO strategies. Don't let this intimidate you, because it's one of the best things you can learn how to do and make your business a success with tons of loyal fans finding your brand organically.
SIMILAR WEB
DISCOVER TRENDS AS THEY HAPPEN.
Discover your competitors’ website traffic statistics, sources and even their online marketing strategies. SimilarWeb's innovative marketing intelligence empowers businesses to make better decisions. Understand your market, your competitors, and your customers.
UBERSUGGEST
THIS IS A FREE KEYWORD RESEARCH TOOL with 3 searches per day, more than that is $29 and up a month. If you want to drive more traffic to your website, Ubersuggest shows you how to win the game of SEO. Just type in a domain or a keyword to get started. It's really simple to use and provides a basic search result. It will not include all the analytics a paid tool provides, but this tool will not disappoint an entreprenuers just getting started with SEO. It's a great FREE tool to get started with.
answer the public
THIS IS A COOL SEO TOOL, THAT IS DIFFERENT FROM THE REST. You get instant, raw, search insights direct from the minds of your customers. There are 3 billion Google searches every day, and 20% of those have never been seen before. They’re like a direct line to your customers’ thoughts…
Sometimes that’s ‘How do I remove paper jam’. Other times it’s the wrenching fears and secret hankerings they’d only ever dare share with Google. I enjoy the visual layout of search phrases that are currently being asked online. You can discover top trending topic searches to use for blog titles, Pinterest posts, and general SEO with up to date knowledge. Discover it for FREE with 3 searches phrases per day.
KEYWORDS everywhere
SEO TOOL, KEYWORDS EVERYWHERE IS A FREE GOOGLE CHROME and Mozilla Firefox extension that pulls search engine data for 16 different websites. That's right, It isn’t just for Google, but also pulls from: Google Search Console, Google Analytics, Google Trends, Google Keyword Planner, Google Search, YouTube, Amazon, eBay, Etsy, UberSuggest, AnswerThePublic.com, Soovle.com, KeywordShitter.com.It specifically displays the search volume and competition level for keywords. Imagine never having to tab back and forth between Google’s Keyword Planner or Ubersuggest and your website again.
MILES BECKLER
SEO IS CRITICAL TO YOUR BUSINESS. If you want to start by becoming familiar with what SEO is and why you need it... this is the absolute BEST GUY to walk you through it, Miles Beckler. You offers and incredible amount of FREE training on his You Tube channel. He breaks SEO down into simple steps to understand and begin implementing today.
the art of attracting your dream customers online
QUICK SOURCE OFFERS A 55 PAGE GUIDE TO GET YOU STARTED DRIVING TRAFFIC TO YOUR SITE RIGHT NOW. This guide covers an overview of the secrets to driving traffic to a physical product based businesses website. If you have an online business, the thing you MUST MASTER to grow your company right now, is THE ART OF ATTRACTING CUSTOMERS TO YOUR ONLINE BIZ. The person that knows the steps required to get customers to come to their online store is the MOST VALUABLE person it that business. You NEED to learn these SKILLS.
seo review tools
IF YOU'RE LOOKING TO IMPROVE YOUR CURRENT SEO EFFORT, you'll find a host of resources available on this website that can be a game changer for your SEO. Everything from internal link analyzers, to keyword suggestion tools, and website authority checkers. This site will help you with your content and SEO strategy. Use these simple, effective and FREE tools today to make the most of your online business.
GET CREATIVE
Design-product-packaging
You can save money when you are first starting out online by taking your own photos & designing your own logo using editor tools that provide a professional polished & finished result. There are so many great apps available, no need to hire an expensive designer. Impress yourself with the amazing creative skills and imagination you can apply to your unique online selling platform and packaging.
DESIGN FREEBIES & TEMPLATES.
There’s no need to design everything from scratch. From icons to PSD templates to pre-made infographics, to "done for you" product photography- even non-designers can create gorgeous designs using free assets from around the web.
CREATIVE TOOLS
PIXC
AN ONLINE PHOTO EDITING SERVICE
Pixc removes the distracting and unappealing backgrounds of your product photos to make them look professional, crisp and clean at a very affordable price. This service is perfect for entrepreneurs who have the ability to take their own product photos but may not necessarily have the budget for expensive backdrops or photo editing software. Let Pixc do the leg work for you and reap the results of quality product photos that will entice your customers.
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PIXELMATOR PRO
FOR MAC USERS ONLY
Pixelmator for Mac is a powerful, fast, and easy-to-use image editor. It lets you enhance and touch up photos, sketch, draw and paint, add text and shapes, apply dazzling effects, and more. Pixelmator is somewhat compatible with Photoshop documents. Pixelmator Pro offers a single enterprise pricing license for all users. You can purchase it from the App Store against a single-time payment of $59.99.
dropbox
MANAGE ALL OF YOUR CREATIVE IMAGES IN ONE PLACE & NEVER LOSE A FILE AGAIN
Dropbox is an online storage system that you can sync across all your computers and devices so you have all the documents, photos, and videos you need wherever you are. When you sign up you get 2GB for free, and you’re able to keep your files for yourself or share them with your employees and team, even if they don’t have Dropbox. Dropbox is great for teams because everyone can edit a shared file without the hassle of emailing large art files back and forth. If your entire business is online, like many entrepreneurs, make Dropbox a part of your workflow, never lose a file again and let this file managing service work for you.
TRELLO
IF YOU ARE PLANNING A DESIGN PROJECT OF ANY KIND & ARE LOOKING FOR AN EASY TO ORGANIZE SYSTEM that will make planning, organizing and developing your ideas faster than you ever imagined...then you will be excited to get to know TRELLO. There are so many creative design templates available to use. When working with teams there's no more starting from scratch. Give your team a blueprint for success with tried-and-true templates from the TRELLO community. TRELLO lets you work more collaboratively and get more done. TRELLO's boards, lists, and cards enable you to organize and prioritize your projects in a fun, flexible, and rewarding way. Sign-up for FREE.
TAILOR BRANDS
CREATE YOUR BRANDS LOGO
Design your logo using a fun & interactive logo making service. There are a series of tools and design detailed adjustments to allow you to create a logo you love that's professional & accurately represents your business. Perfect for the entrepreneur on a budget who simply cannot afford to hire a graphic designer to design a logo for their company. This service does just that plus it offers presentation, printing and branding services to meet all of your potential creative business related needs.
outline-matic
SELLING A PHYSICAL PRODUCT? THEY'VE GOT YOU COVERED.
A great place to go to for logo designs and packaging design for physical products. What I like about them is that they'll do unlimited revisions on your designs until you are satisfied all at one rate. This is a great choice for busy entreprenuers seeking excellent Design Services. Outline-matic offers design services in Packaging, Logo Design, Info Graphics, Enhanced Brand Content, Ebook Design, Photography Lifestyle Images and converting your photos onto clean crisp white backgrounds for an ultimate professional brand.
CANVA
IF YOU'VE GOT SOME CREATIVE SKILLS... YOU MUST TRY CANVA! It's My Go To Tool.
Canva is a simplified graphic-design tool. It uses a drag-and-drop format and provides access to photographs, vector images, graphics, and fonts. It is used by non-designers as well as professionals. The tools can be used for both web and print media design and graphics. I personally use it for EVERYTHING... honestly, everything! I have designed millions of dollars in royalty physical product designs on Canva. They offer great training, so if you're ready to design: Products, Packaging, Create Vendor Specs for your product line, Design Ads, Create Personalized GIF's for Social Media, Design Your Brands Product Sell Sheets, Catalogs, Flyers, and so much more! Easily start creating your designs today!
CREATIVE MARKET
FIND THE PERFECT CREATIVE ASSETS TO BRING YOUR PROJECT TO LIFE
Search fonts, graphics, themes, photos and more! Not only is Creative Market fun & inspiring to browse, it is the top design resource for creators. They pull together amazing themes in design that allows your imagination soar. You can enhance your website and social media platforms, find graphics to develop dynamic sell sheets for your product lines, and most of the design content you must purchase, although some of it is free. Everything they offer is highly customizable for your own needs so use Creative Market today to save money on hiring your own graphic designer and make use of their talented pool of designers to get exactly what you want for your business’ website, product sell sheets, catalogs, and social media, when you need it.
SOONA
GET PRO VIDEOS AND PHOTOS IN 24 HOURS!
Welcome to fast casual content creation. What is Soona? Their content creation platform makes it possible for ecommerce stores and marketers to create pro photos and videos in 3 easy steps. Here’s how it works: 1.) Order & plan your photo shoot from your laptop in a matter of minutes, 2.) Join your shoot, 3.) Shop your photos & video clips during your remote shoot and your order will be delivered in 24 hours. It's that easy! I recommend Soona to every start-up that is looking for help with creating quality, one-of-a-kind content.
biteable
JOIN OVER 5 MILLION MARKETERS WHO LOVE BITEABLE.COM VIDEO MAKER.
Never run out of footage & animation again. Biteable has 800,000+ real-life stock footage clips, and gorgeous animations. It's so easy to use that you can make better video than your competitors over your lunch break. This is a cool platform. You can sell more of your products with stunning videos. The future of great marketing is VIDEO, so check out Biteable studio today.
PANTONE COLOR FINDER
THIS IS FOR PRODUCT & PACKAGING DESIGNERS SPECIFYING PANTONE COLORS. This is a great tool that makes it easy for me to select Pantone colors & provide digital direction to my vendors while I'm on the go, which is most of the time. As a globe trotter & product designer I need easy reference to Pantone Formula Guides. I was really excited when I discovered this tool and I think you will be too.
0 to 255
FIND A VARIATION OF ANY COLOR. 0 to 255 is a color tool that makes it easy to select, lighten and darken colors. It’s been used by over two million people since it launched in Spring 2010. To use it, click a color in the color grid or enter a color’s hex code and 0to255 will give you a list of lighter and darker colors from black to white. Then, simply click the color you want to use and the color’s hex code will be copied to your clipboard. Easy-peasy.
DESIGN INSPIRATION
A MEMBERSHIP PINTEREST RESOURCE TO CREATE BEAUTIFUL VISION BOARDS. Pinterest made this exclusively for designers—a resource to help you discover, share and save your favorite designs from around the web.
easel.ly
THOUSANDS OF INFOGRAPHIC TEMPLATES.
The FREE way to change boring infograhics into something really special. Easelly is a simple infographic maker that lets you visualize any kind of information. There’s a secret the 3 million people who have created infographics with Easelly already know... People don’t use infographics just because they look nice. People use infographics because they get results.
PACKAGING RESOURCES
REFINE PACKAGING
CUSTOM BOXES MADE EASY!
Create beautiful branded packaging for your physical products with Refine Packaging. They offer high-quality shipping boxes and packaging that can be difficult to find elsewhere. Refine Packaging makes it simple for businesses to design and order custom boxes and affordable packaging online. Get quality retail packaging boxes, custom cosmetic boxes, bakery boxes, wholesale printed boxes and more for any product you need. They can customize packaging to suit your business.
PACKLANE
CUSTOM PACKAGING CAN TURN YOUR BRAND INTO THE TOTAL PACKAGE
Full customization, instant quoting, and fast turnarounds! Branded packaging is becoming the most utilized form of a memorable experience for customers, so let your customer’s last touchpoint be a lasting one with custom packing boxes from Packlane. With your choice of box sizes, small minimum orders and state of the art printing, branded packaging is a no-brainer when you see the customizable magic you can create with Packlane. Perfect for startups and small business, or any company wanting to wow their customers with exceptional packaging, get creative with Packlane today.
ULINE
ULINE IS AWESOME FOR ALL YOUR PRODUCT PACKAGING NEEDS!
You can get almost all of your physical product based business packaging needs here... and they are very reasonably priced. Uline is the best starting point for all your product packaging needs whether it's bags, boxes, bubble wrap, custom products, tags, labels, or tape, Uline is the leading distributor of shipping and packaging materials in North America. Known for reliability and quality, Uline is a one-stop-shop for any packaging your business may require. Start with Uline now and their service will be able to support your business as it scales and grows throughout time.
PAPERMART
PACKAGING FOR LESS FROM A COMPANY YOU CAN TRUST
PAPERMART has been family owned and operated for over 100 years! 99% of their orders are shipped the same day. Now, that's service you can rely on. Buy in bulk and save 10%-15%. The is the complete packaging supply source you've been looking for.
stock photos for commercial use
PIXABAY
STUNNING FREE IMAGES & ROYALTY FREE STOCK PHOTOS
Over 1.7 million+ high quality stock images and videos shared by PIXABAYS talented community. Their categories are set up for ease with searches. I find this to be my go to site for stock images.
unsplash
GREAT PHOTOS FOR EVERYONE
One of the internets primary sources for stock images and photography. Artists & Designers find the unique styles they are looking for to properly represent their brand.
selling, PRODUCTS & SOURCING
Printful
CREATE AND SELL CUSTOM PHYSICAL PRODUCTS ONLINE FULLY AUTOMATED
Easy print-on-demand drop shipping and fulfillment warehouse services.
If you’re looking to create a creative online business that is fully automated with no risk nor investment in stock or inventory to manage, then Printful is a dream come true for you! Drop shipping is the way to go and Printful can help you drop ship your physical product designs: t-shirts, sweaters, leggings, totes, posters, mugs and more. Tried, tested and true, Printful is the obvious answer for anyone looking to start their own t-shirt business, make their artwork into sellable prints or are just looking to create fun and quirky mugs, it’s easy to use and can be integrated into Shopify and Bigcommerce so all you have to do it set it up and step back and relax.
MERCH by amazon
SELL YOUR DESIGNS AS AMAZON PRODUCTS, REACHING MILLIONS OF CUSTOMERS WORLDWIDE WITH NO UPFRONT $$ OR COST TO YOU
How does it work? Simply upload your artwork, choose a product type and color, and add a product description. Create a product page on Amazon and when customers buy your product, they'll handle production, shipping, and customer service — all with no upfront costs. To be considered you must fill out an application with your experience and background.
WORLDWIDE BRANDS
AN INCREDIBLE SERVICE THAT ALLOWS YOU TO LOCATE & CONTACT WHOLESALE VENDORS FOR PRODUCTS YOU WISH TO SELL. How does it work? It's one up front fee, then you use the service for life. If you don't like going to trade shows, cold calling suppliers or hitting the internet to just find unreliable and questionable businesses- then you can feel rest assured because Worldwide Brands is the way to go. They will save your time.
GLOBAL SOURCES
IF YOU WANT TO IMPORT YOUR GOODS FROM ASIA
GLOBAL SOURCES is a good place for you to start. Going through the massive list of suppliers can be intimidating on this site, but it's a great place to learn about new vendors and global trade shows taking place. You can gain an incredible amount of solid leads if you put in the time to do the research on this platform.
sourcing products in the USA:
data-axle
YOU MUST GO TO YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY TO ACCESS THIS FREE RESOURCE
From everyday research to new business ventures, DATA-AXLE library patron users leverage our data for growth and success. Got questions? Call 800.808.1113 or email reference@data-axle.com for answers.
Visit our FAQ page for more information on subscriptions and logging in.
INTL' WHOLESALE TRADE SHOWS
canton fair
THIS IS THE TRADE SHOW THAT THOUSANDS OF PHYSICAL PRODUCT BASED BUSINESS OWNERS ATTEND EVERY YEAR. Over my 28 years as a product developer, I have attended Canton Fair over 16 times. The fair is enormous and vendors prepare several months in advance to show manufacturing or sourcing capabilities. It's a great way to meet vendors face to face if you don't mind traveling to China. There is a word of caution, you must be very mindful in qualifying the vendors you meet if you truly want the best price. You want to work with a factory directly, not a sourcing agent if it's the best price you are going after. I can consult you through this process.
DOMESTIC WHOLESALE TRADE SHOWS
americas mart atlanta
THE NATIONS #1 PRODUCT DESTINATION.
AmericasMart Atlanta is a leading wholesale marketplace housing the nation’s largest gift product mix complemented by a broad selection of home accents, décor, tabletop, gourmet, area rug and fashion apparel merchandise. Its 14 annual markets and shows serve specialty retailers, designers and major buying groups from every U.S. state and more than 70 countries.
LAS VEGAS MARKET
THE LARGEST & MOST COMPREHENSIVE Furniture, Home Décor & Gift wholesale market.
Physical markets are essential to business and building business relationships. It is also a great place to find inspiration and discover market trends. Stay informed on the latest industry news with Las Vegas Markets remote news digest. They highlight unedited, “as-is” stories from home furnishings trade and shelter publications, along with curated content from thought leaders, experts and trendsetters. There’s no substitute for an up-close and in-person Market experience, but if you're unable to attend, enjoy the people, products, and places captured in Las Vegas Market video gallery.
THE BEST online learning FOR CREATIVE ENTREPRENEURS
CREATIVE LIVE
ANSWER YOUR CREATIVE CALLING. ONE CLASS CAN CHANGE EVERYTHING.
Sign up for free access to on air classes led by the world's top experts. Honestly, the creative community is stronger with you in it! I personally strive to help the creative community thrive and so does Creative Live! They are just fantastic! No matter what you are looking for...mastering your craft, leading with your passion, or discovering something brand new... these creative online classes, taught by the world’s best, are sure to inspire you. Whatever your level or passion, Creative Live will help you take big leaps, fast. This is the go-to platform for 10+ million creators. If you want daily creativity , global inspiration, and on-the-go learning then this is the place for you.
IF YOU'RE A CREATIVE ENTREPRENEUR & YOU'RE SERIOUS ABOUT DEVELOPING YOUR SKILLS TO BE SUCCESSFUL ONLINE, HIGH-QUALITY ONLINE COURSES ARE WORTH EVERY MINUTE OF YOUR TIME.
work with me at quick source
FIND THE COURSE & COACHING THAT IS BEST FOR YOUR CREATIVE BUSINESS!
I'm here for you every step of the way. The world is waiting for you to deliver your unique gifts and talents - are you ready to make the commitment? GAIN MORE CONFIDENCE & GET THE SUPPORT YOU NEED TO BECOME YOUR OWN BOSS! Let me show you how to become a full-time entrepreneur and ACCELERATE
YOUR CREATIVITY! It's time for things to fall into place for you. Discover a unique approach you can start using today to identify the biggest money making opportunities that exist around your personal interests... AND HOW TO THEN TURN THEM INTO STREAMS OF INCOME!
YOU HAVE TO SHIP IT
SHIPPING & FULFILLMENT
Listen, shipping costs are rising and you need to set up the proper shipping methods to build a PROFITABLE physical product based business. Find the answers to all your shipping & fulfillment problems.
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SHIPPING & FULFILLMENT
PACIFIC CUSTOM BROKER
ARE YOU PLANNING TO IMPORT GOODS FROM ANOTHER COUNTRY?
You need a reliable customs broker. A customs broker acts on your behalf to help you bring your good into the country (USA, Canada). They will complete the necessary paperwork and obtain all the licenses for you. Pacific Customs Broker is both a US Customs Broker & Canadian Customs Broker with a high level of expertise directed to both one time non-commercial goods importers and high volume goods importers.
If you need any information about obtaining clearances for ports, clearances for modes of transport, pre and post entry compliance expertise, trade compliance consulting and more, Pacific Customs Broker is the agency to direct all your questions.
Fulfillrite
CONSIDER FULFILLRITE TODAY TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR SHIPPING & FULFILLMENT NEEDS
This New Jersey based co, Fulfillrite, is a great choice for small to medium sized businesses interested in working with a family owned shipping & fulfillment service that is passionate about helping entrepreneurs. Fulfillrite specialize in fulfillment for many types of online physical product based businesses such as gifts, fashion accessories, heath & wellness, books, technology and more so they’re bound to have a shipping and fulfillment solution for your specific business. They pride their service on being fast, simple and easy with no long term contracts, real-time inventory tracking and worldwide shipping so you can be sure you’re receiving the best service possible.
shipstation
FOR HIGHER VOLUME BUSINESSES SHIPPING 100'S OF PACKAGES A MONTH
ShipStation is likely the answer to all your shipping & fulfillment needs if you're moving a lot of packages every single month consistently. ShipStation is compatible with all of your online selling channels, you can manage and ship right from your phone, it’s integrated with all the major shipping carriers and you can automate pretty much everything. ShipStation makes shipping easier for you, so check them out today if you want a more streamlined and efficient shipping process for your business.
shippo
THE MOST BEGINNER FRIENDLY SHIPPING LABEL APP FOR YOUR ONLINE STORE
Access the best possible product shipping rates from top carriers, like USPS, UPS, DHL, and start shipping in minutes. No code. No volume requirements. Shippo provides access to tools like address validation, multi-carrier support, API tracking, batch label creation, discounts and international shipping, plus it’s easily integratable with your store which means orders automatically import. There are no monthly fees with Shippo, each label just costs the price of postage plus five cents so you won’t be overcharged excess fees and can get your package from one place to the next with as little hassle as possible. If you’re new to shipping, Shippo is a great place to start as it’s free, easy to set up, integratable with your store, simple to use and low cost.
shippING EASY
TIME TO SEND BUILT-IN SHIPPING SOFTWARE
Every time you ship, you gain valuable data — data that’s currently being wasted by your built-in shipping software. ShippingEasy puts that data to work to help you create powerful and effective marketing campaigns and inventory automation to give you the leg up. Easily print labels and automatically update your shopping cart with this awesome tool that seamlessly integrates with the United States Postal Service, UPS and FedEx. It's a 100% FREE up to 50 shipments per month.
SHIPPING CARRIERS
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
SINCE THEY ARE THE CHEAPEST shipping carrier and most of our items are lightweight, we use USPS for the majority of our orders. They aren’t the most reliable but are by far the cheapest if your package weighs less than 2 lbs.
FED EX
SINCE IF YOUR PACKAGE EXCEED 2 LBS, FedEx is our carrier of choice. As soon as you open an account, you get 15% off shipping which makes it cheaper than UPS out of the box. If you ship high volumes, then you can negotiate for better pricing.
DHL
PLAN TO USE DHL FOR INTERNATIONAL SHIPMENTS, because they handle customs and everything for you. All you have to do is sit back, relax and pay the customs bill.
handling shipping & returns
THE UPS STORE
THE UPS STORE IS AWESOME BECAUSE you can sign up for a mailbox that has a real physical address. If you don’t want to use your own address (if you run your business out of your home) or if you just want to use a separate address, then opening a UPS store mailbox is ideal. It's great, they will email you whenever you have mail.
usps po box
A PO BOX IS A POOR MANS UPS Store mailbox. And the great thing is they are also 10X cheaper than UPS. The disadvantage is that everyone knows that a PO Box is not a real physical address. In addition, PO Boxes can only receive mail from USPS. FedEx and UPS do not deliver to PO Boxes.