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Discover my favorite tools and resources to support your business in a busy online world.
You’ve probably heard that no one can do this alone. That’s all well and good, but what if you actually ARE starting or running your business alone? 90% of American businesses employ 20 or fewer employees and over half of those businesses employ from one to four employees.* I’ll tell you right now, you absolutely cannot open, and operate, and manage, and run social media, and plan events, and, and, and, without a little help. That’s where the beautiful world of technology comes into play!
90% of American businesses employ 20 or fewer employees. In fact, over half of those businesses employ from one to four employees. – Dun & Bradstreet*
Below is a list of the tools, apps, programs, websites, and people I have relied on in countless ways for multiple businesses to give me the edge I needed. I’m not saying that every business needs all these tools all the time, but both my clients and I have used these tools on multiple businesses with amazing results. Hopefully, you’ll get those same amazing results, too. If you have questions about how a specific program helped me, or if you want to share another resource with me, just shoot me an email!
BONUS: I have also included some of the awesome tools deals and discounts you can receive right through my website! Boom!
WEBSITE HOSTING
GoDaddy
So easy to work with and extremely reputable. I’ve used them for years and they always have smoking deals!
EMAIL MARKETING
ConvertKit
Obviously, I love this system. It’s the one I use for AF Consulting Team. I have definitely upgraded my account, but their free service is great, too, especially for new businesses.
Systeme.io
Creating sales funnels has never been easier…plus, this offers email and a slew of other features that I’m totally in love with. Also, it’s FREE!
ActiveCampaign
This system is robust! It does just about everything you can imagine.
Tarzan Kay
She’s quirky and has some serious know-how when it comes to email marketing. And yes, her emails are awesome!
Kate Doster
This chick cracks me up and has some of the best ideas on what and how to market. Definitely check her out!
BEE Pro
BEE is the best drag and drop editor for email design!
DIGITAL MARKETING & COURSE CREATION
Systeme.io
Creating sales funnels has never been easier…plus, this offers email and a slew of other features that I’m totally in love with. Also, it’s FREE!
Teachable
You’ve heard it a million times! Course creation is where it’s at and this is one of my favorite platforms (and what I use for most of my courses, in conjunction with the Roadmap and Systeme.io). Build a course and start making more passive income!
ActiveCampaign
This system is robust! It does just about everything you can imagine.
Tarzan Kay
She’s quirky and has some serious know-how when it comes to email marketing. And yes, her emails are awesome!
Kate Doster
This chick cracks me up and has some of the best ideas on what and how to market. Definitely check her out!
BEE Pro
BEE is the best drag and drop editor for email design!
MANAGING MONEY
QuickBooks
There is so much I love about QuickBooks that I wrote a blog about it. Read that HERE.
Gusto
If you have employees, I absolutely recommend Gusto for your payroll. It’s super easy to set-up and manage and their customer service is superb!
SOCIAL MEDIA & LEADS
Opus Clip
THIS! This is such a time saver for anyone who has a lot of video content they want to convert to reels. Bonus, it adds captions (in your brand) and even AI b-roll to round out your videos. Seriously obsessed!
Crowdfire
Crowdfire is a social media management platform used by brands, businesses, agencies, and individuals to help drive social media engagement and growth. It’s simple to understand and saves me loads of time!
Social Boost
Organic. Growth. This agency helps businesses, influencers, and individuals grow their Instagram accounts with real people! No bots. No purchased likes. They manually do it. Genius!
- Opus Clip: Opus Clip is a generative AI video tool that repurposes long, talking videos into shorts in one click. It’s AMAZING!!!!
- CapCut: Want to go viral with your IG reels? Check out this simple template creator!
- ManyChat: Automation for Facebook and Instagram. Awesome for engagement and super affordable!
- IFTTT: If This Then That is one of my favorite free tools for scheduling all things—apps, devices, all sorts of creative options here. I use the free plan, but they have some awesome upgrades, too.
- Buffer: I use Buffer and IFTTT like a dynamic duo! Publishing, analytics, engagement platform.
- Tailwind: Schedule all your Pinterest and Instagram posts in a snap! It’s like having a free marketing team!
- Interact Quizzes: Ever succumbed to one of those online quizzes to find out which Disney villain you are? This is how you build one for yourself!
- Later: Another awesome Instagram scheduler. I much prefer the desktop version over the mobile, just FYI.
- QuestionPro: All the surveys! Provides customized surveys with your branding and a lot of tools to make your surveys shine.
- Hello Bar: I love this tool by Neil Patel. It helps me to collect new leads and automate my engagement with them. We’re talking custom popups, page takeovers and sliders, email integration, plugins for WordPress, etc.
BETTER WRITING
RankIQ
If you are at all interested or concerned with SEO, then you NEED this! I have never seen a program as thorough as this and their custom keyword research is like paying a consultant $500 to $2000.
Grammarly
I’m completely addicted to this service! Helps me keep my writing clean and (relatively) spell-checked. Perfect for those Grammar Nazis like me!
Hemingway App
Succinct and compelling writing.
CREATING GRAPHICS & PHOTOGRAPHY
Canva
Create business cards, logos, Instagram posts, you name it! Love, love, love this! I upgraded to the pro version because that’s how much I love it, but you can do soooo much with just the free version!
Adobe Photoshop
I’m a bit old school and since I started digital graphics with Photoshop, I will always start there. I love this program for editing my photos.
- Miro: Visual collaboration platform, also great for Vision Boards!
- Pexels: An amazing source for free stock images!
- Printed Mint: I love this company for all things custom retail! Shirts, journals, cups, plus beautiful packaging!
- She Bold Stock: Stock photos with personality! Bright, happy, and full of style!
- ColorPick Eyedropper: Sample colors from any site!
- Coolors: This color palette generator can help you establish a theme, but more importantly, can make sure your color scheme is easy on the eyes.
- Afterlight: This app is great for mobile photograph editing, especially for amazing filters!
- Lightroom: Love! Lightroom is incredible for editing, organizing, and storing all your photos. A must for photographers!
- Namelix: This is a business name generator in case you need some inspiration.
- Death to Stock: Another great site for high-quality images! Their basic membership is roughly $12/mo, but if nothing else, I recommend signing up for their newsletter–they periodically send you free images right to your inbox and you never know how you can use those!
- Styled Stock: Ladies, this one is for you! Soft imagery, beautiful styling, and plenty of positive feminine energy make this site fabulous! Bonus: their search bar lets you hunt for keywords, genres, categories, and even colors!
ORGANIZATION & PRODUCTIVITY
Motion
How much do I love this app for increasing productivity?! Motion increases productivity by 137% using automation and AI that intelligently plan your day, schedule meetings, and build the perfect to-do list. YES! Worth it!
ClickUp
200,000+ Teams Manage Tasks, Docs, Goals, And Projects In Clickup To Be More Productive. An All-In-One Suite To Manage People, Projects, And Everything In Between. This is the system we use to keep everything in order for The Pursuit of Badasserie!
- Calendly: This is a great scheduler for your calendar and meetings.
- OnceHub: This is a definite scheduling upgrade! Excellent for onboarding.
- Acuity Scheduling: Another awesome scheduling tool from Squarespace—perfect for coaching clients, podcast interviews, and business phone calls.
- Google Sheets: Free online spreadsheets you can access anywhere.
- Google Drive: A safe place to back up and access your files from any device, anywhere. I probably use this ten times a day.
- Google Calendar: Does anyone NOT use Google calendars?
- Google Keep: Free note taking app.
- Trello: Trello is all about helping your team work more productively.
- Things 3: Plan your day with the most minimalist task manager app I’ve found. It’s easy to use and no-nonsense.
- Asana: This free app helps you manage projects and communicate with your team. Also awesome for all those to-do lists.
- LastPass: Did you forget your password again? Store them all here so you don’t have to remember them all.
- Authy: Protect yourself with double password protection.
- Mile IQ: Accurate mileage reports and logging for all your business and personal needs. A MUST for taxes!
- Coschedule: An incredible system for marketers, in particular. Organize all your marketing in real-time or automation.
- Zoom: Virtual meetings, webinars, and educational tools. Reliable and easy to use!
LEGAL
WaiverKing
Online document and waiver storage. Great for fitness businesses wanting an online waiver.
Nolo.com
Legal help, simplified. This site offers a ridiculous amount of products and information to help you run the legal side of your business.
SPA & WELLNESS SPECIFIC
fitDEGREE
Ooooo…I stumbled upon this software and LOVE it! Affordable, easy to follow, and just what you need (not a bunch of stuff you don’t, but have to pay for anyway). Customer service is fast and friendly, too. Follow the link and be sure to list “Amanda Furgiuele” in the box for how you heard about them!
Mindbody Online
Still one of my favorite booking and payment processing systems for the health and wellness industries. Love their customer service and all the integrations! Not going to lie, a little on the pricey side for the options out there, but their system offers a lot of all-in-one features.
- Virtuagym: For personal or business use, this company is gaining popularity as a one-stop-shop for virtual training, live workouts, and management software systems.
- Trainerize: A terrific way to increase member engagement with video calling and on-demand services.
- Exercise.com; Manage your entire fitness business in one place. See how it compares to MindBody and Trainerize!
- Perkville: An excellent rewards and referral program to incentivize your clients.
BANKING & BUSINESS HELP
Dun & Bradstreet
Ever heard of the DUNS number? You need one! The Dun & Bradstreet D-U-N-S® Number is a unique nine-digit identifier (like a business social security number) that may help evaluate potential partners, seek new contracts, apply for loans, and so much more.
Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links, and I will earn a commission if you purchase through these links. Please note that I’ve linked to these products purely because I recommend them and they are from companies I trust. There is no additional cost to you.