Build an Online Business

To help you get started with turning your passion to profit and building an online business I have compiled a list of awesome resources that I personally use and recommend.

If you have any questions about any of the resources on this list please do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Build an Online Business

Essential Resources to Get You Started

The first thing you need to turn your passion to profit is to have an online presence.

The resources in this list include everything you need to get setup and start building your business.

  • Namecheap: Namecheap is one of the fastest and easiest ways of getting a domain name. This will get you kickstarted on your journey.
  • Bluehost: Bluehost is one of the best hosting services used by millions worldwide. The Start of Happiness as well as all my other sites run on Bluehost. Plus it’s only $4.95 per month if you use this link (affiliate).
  • WordPress.org: This is the best blog platform that any serious blogger should be using as it is slick, efficient and is highly customisable. A self-hosted WordPress blog also means you completely own all the content that you put onto the site. If you get hosting with Bluehost then wordpress can be installed within 3 minutes for free.
  • Genesis Framework: The Genesis framework is the world’s best theme framework for SEO. That’s why a lot of the world’s biggest bloggers use Genesis! Again, any serious blogger should be utilising the Genesis Framework. It is super-efficient, powerful and comes with a load of premium themes that are highly customisable.
  • Aweber Communications & Email Marketing Software: There are a lot of email list building services out there, but hands-down Aweber has to be the pick of the bunch. Hence why most of the biggest bloggers and online marketeers use Aweber! Again, I personally use Aweber as the functionality, simplicity and reporting capability is second to none.

 

Charging for Products and Services:

Turn turn your passion to profit you will need to charge for the products that you create and deliver. These resources will enable you to start charging for your services from day 1.

  • PayPal: Setup a free account, link it to your bank account and you’re up and running! Simply add a ‘Buy Now’ or ‘Add to Cart’ button to your website and you can start receiving income for your products and services. You can accept payments via email, credit card and from most major currencies around the world. I use PayPal for my personalised services such as coaching and website creation.
  • ClickBank: This is my top recommendation for selling online. Clickbank allows more functionality than PayPal such as the ability for the buyer to immediately download a product, the ability for recurring payments and the ability to allow affiliates to also sell your products. I use ClickBank for our Change Your Life program.

 

Social Media and Online Marketing Tools

  • Hootsuite: This is an all in one social media manager. I use it to manage all my social media accounts including twitter, facebook, google plus and linkedin. You can schedule messages, easily respond to any direct messages or tweets and see all activity on each of your profiles, all on one page! There is a Pro version and a free version.
  • TweetAdder: We all know that time is money and TweetAdder is a tool that just simply saves you time. Although I’m not one to normally automate something like social media, it does make a big difference and saves you from spending hours on the simple side of social media. TweetAdder allows you to setup personalised auto-responders, thank people who retweet you, follow or unfollow accounts in bulk and search for people in your industry.

 

Outsourcing to Help You Run Your Business With Less Time

  • oDesk and Elance: These are the two juggernauts of the online world when it comes to outsourcing your work. Both oDesk and Elance are free to sign up and all you need to do is write a brief job description, set your rates (paid hourly or on completion of project) and submit. Within 10 minutes you will start receiving real applications (seriously… try it!). You can then simply manage your contractors and see the status of their work through your dashboard. I have used both and have some great success with both. Another great tool for freeing up your own time.
  • Virtual Staff Finder: This is an absolutely awesome service if you’re wanting a dedicated, full-time contractor to outsource your work to. There is a small sign-up fee and then ongoing rates depending on your needs. All staff at Virtual Staff Finder are in the Philippines and provide for great quality and reliable work.

 

Improve Your Productivity

  • Dropbox: Dropbox is a fantastic tool for syncing documents across multiple computers. This is great if you’re looking to do business from multiple locations as everything is stored in the cloud. An added bonus is that your documents will also be free from hardware failure! The free account (I use) is great at 2GB of space and allows a lot more for referring people (like I am now). There are also paid versions but you should really only need this if you’re looking to upload a LOT.
  • Rescue Time: This is a free application that is absolutely awesome. Have you ever wondered how you spend your time on your computer? You will probably find that you spend a load of time doing the things that won’t help you turn your passion to profit. This application will monitor everything you do on your computer and provide you all the reports you need to help you find where you are wasting time to help you be more productive. The pro version also allows you to block websites, give you kudos for being productive and a range of other services.
  • Aweber Communications & Email Marketing Software: AWeber is the ultimate email marketing software currently available. All of the world’s leading bloggers use AWeber and I switched to AWeber a few months after starting this site. AWeber allows you to easily embed email signup forms, keep track of your subscribers and break them down into various segments, send automatic broadcasts and a whole lot more. I love AWeber and I don’t think I’ll ever be making a switch. Highly recommend for anyone in business or blogging!

 

Additional Tools:

  • Popup Domination Plugin: If you want to build your following more rapidly then the Popup Domination Plugin can help. I have tried and tested this plugin and it helps to increase your subscription rate rapidly.

 

Ready to Get Started?

Make sure you bookmark this resource list and refer back to it when you need to. I aim to build it up over time with additional resources to help your business or career grow.

Don’t forget to join our community and get access to your free Passion to Profit toolkit which includes additional tools to help you get live a more successful and fulfilling life.


 









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If you need a hand in getting your website up and running, I can create a professional website for you within 24 hours. If you need the assistance, please check out my services!

Let’s do this!

Brendan

About the author 

Brendan Baker

Brendan Baker is Australia's leading personal development blogger and and helps people build and grow online businesses based on their passions. He has created the Launch Your Life Academy and Your First 1000 Subscribers. Connect with Brendan: Twitter, Facebook, Google+

Brendan Baker is Australia's leading personal development blogger and and helps people build and grow online businesses based on their passions. He has created the Launch Your Life Academy and Your First 1000 Subscribers. Connect with Brendan: Twitter, Facebook, Google+

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  10. Paul Claireaux says:

    A lot of people rate mailchimp above A weber.
    I need to choose. Why would you say A weber is better?

    1. Hi Paul,

      I was with Mailchimp when I first started blogging. Mailchimp is great because it is free for the first 2,000 subscribers, however once you reach 2,000 subscribers it becomes more expensive than AWeber.

      I decided to go with a longer-term approach and keep costs down. I also found once switching to AWeber that the functionality and technology is just way better. There is a lot more customisation that you can do and more insights you can pull, such as identifying exactly which forms all of your subscribers are using to opt-in.

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      I hope this helps!

      Brendan

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