Additional Resources
These resources include tools and programs may be great resources for you. I have researched, tested or used all of these resources and feel comfortable sharing them with you. There are many options for all of these products and/or services and you can easily search for them in your favorite browser.
These are my favorites and I will continue to add to the list as I find new ones. I am also open to any suggestions of things that you have found useful. After investigating it a bit, I may add it to the list.
I think these resources are extremely helpful in saving time and money. Most of these resources are free or of minimal expense.
Tip: You can search “how to______” and then click on YouTube and there is most likely a video on what you want to learn.
Note: The internet is dynamic and pricing mentioned in this document cannot be guaranteed
Blogs and Websites
http://en.wordpress.com/features/ Software you can use for a blog or creating a website, hosting with them is (free), limited function, but a good place to start if you want to explore and don’t want to invest in hosting, many free themes to choose from.
http://wordpress.org/ Same software (free) and pay a fee to host it somewhere else. Has more capabilities (unlimited really), can add a shopping cart, membership, forums, etc. It is one of the best platforms to build a website with, as Google favors the WordPress format. Many free themes to choose from. You can also download premium themes for a fee.
https://lp.leadpages.com/ Lead Pages. Easy, high-converting landing pages that can stand alone or be added to your website or Facebook. Standard plan is $25/month, paid annually.
Here are some of the Premium WordPress theme sites:
Premium Themes for WordPress sites:
http://www.elegantthemes.com/ Premium WordPress themes for $69 a year to access all themes or $249 lifetime
http://www.woothemes.com/ Premium WordPress themes, buy individually
http://themeforest.net/ Premium WordPress themes, buy individually
Royalty-free images
99 Photo Club https://shop.stockphotosecrets.com $99/year (200 royalty-free images - including high res)
Creative Commons https://creativecommons.org/ free and public domain images
Build it Yourself
Free download to create websites, easy to use, making it ideal for non-technical computer users who want to create an attractive, professional-looking web site without needing to know HTML or web coding. Good for a landing page, works very similar to Microsoft Word. Is WYSIWYG program. (What you see is what you get)
http://bluegriffon.org/ Free download. WYSIWYG software. Good software to use when formatting a Kindle book. Works with Mac and PC.
Domain Company
All domain companies are resellers of the domain. There are several to choose from. Many will do hosting as well.
Go Daddy, HostGator, BlueHost, Network Solutions, etc.
Hosting Company:
There are many hosting companies to choose from.
Check pricing and service, read reviews (just search “_X__ reviews” and see what people are saying about the company and service)
Examples: Go Daddy, HostGator, BlueHost, Network Solutions, iPage, etc.
Membership Software
http://www.s2member.com/ Free membership site software that you can download, add to WordPress. Can upgrade to purchase the pro package(one-time fee) $89 for 1 site and $189 for unlimited sites allows you do a few more things, like accepting credit cards, etc. The free version uses PayPal for transactions.
http://member.wishlistproducts.com/ membership $197 (1) $297 (multi). I have not used this, but is very popular.
Auto-responder system
http:/aweber.com (AWeber) This is an auto-responder email service. Price depends on how big your list is. They are a very reputable company and have great service.
http://www.getresponse.com(Get Response) Lesser cost than AWeber and can turn off the double opt-in function. This is handy when you have people sign up at an event and you don’t want them to have to confirm again.
http://mailchimp.com free up to 2000 subscribers and 1200 emails, additional pricing is on website.
Online Communication Tools
These are the systems I have used and really like them. There are many services with varied prices.
http://www.freeconferencecall.com/ Free conference call, teleseminar service, there are ads present
http://www.anymeeting.com/ free and paid web conference, ads on the free version
https://zoom.us/ video conferencing (free and paid version)
http://instantteleseminar.com/ There are a variety of paid plans. Great support and service.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ Blog Talk Radio, free and paid version. They have great support and service. Free for basic radio show; upgrade to premium for additional functions, prime time, etc.
https://www.libsyn.com/ Podcast hosting service, flexible pricing, distributes content
http://www.skype.com/en/ free internet and inexpensive phone call. Skype’s available on your computer, mobile, tablet, TV and even from your home phone.
http://voipcallrecording.com/ free download - recording software for your Skype conversations
https://plus.google.com/hangouts Google Hangouts, free. Need a Google Plus account to host Hangouts
Video and Audio Software
http://www.audacityteam.org/ Free software for recording and editing audio
http://www.avs4you.com/ Software for recording and editing, costs about $50
http://aws.amazon.com/s3/ Stores videos, (for classes, etc.) no start- up fee, inexpensive to store videos
Screen Capture
https://www.techsmith.com/jing.html screen capture, still images and video, free. Works with PC and Mac
Screen Capture for Windows PC
http://camstudio.org/ free software for recording screen capture
http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.html software for recording, costs about $300
Screen Capture for Mac
Screen Flow is part of the Macintosh Apple operating system
Video Distribution Channels
http://www.youtube.com/ Easy to upload video, add annotations, minor editing, is free
http://aws.amazon.com/s3/ simple storage service on the cloud, can host private video audio or other media on s3, very low cost. You pay for the space you use, no monthly fee.
http://www.viddler.com/ starts at $42/month
https://vimeo.com free version
Miscellaneous
http://filezilla-project.org/ Free program to upload content to your website from your computer and creates own url for content uploaded.
http://imageshack.us/ Free, makes a URL for your image so you can easily upload it
http://tinyurl.com/ Makes a url shorter and easier to use in email, twitter, etc.
http://www.formatit.com/ makes text narrower
http://www.irfanview.com/ convert and resize images. This free software does a bunch of cool things.
https://bubbl.us/ free mind maps
http://www.zamzar.com/ file converter, free version.
http://smallpdf.com/ pdf converter, free
http://www.123contactform.com/ add a form to your website, free version
https://hootsuite.com/ schedule social media posts/tweets, free version
https://app.socialpilot.co/ schedule social media posts
https://www.dropbox.com/official-site Dropbox cloud storage (free, pay to increase storage size)
https://www.boxcryptor.com/ secure cloud storage(free, pay to increase storage size)
http://www.eventbrite.com/ Eventbrite: gives you all the online tools you need to bring people together for an event and sell tickets. (free to use)
https://bitly.com/ The new way to bookmark, organize, and share the things you care about online. (free)
https://www.transferbigfiles.com/ Transfers file too big for email. Free version
https://relaythat.com/ Create professional graphics (free and paid version) currently only uses Google Chrome Browser
https://www.canva.com/ Graphic design software (free and paid version)
http://www.dafont.com/ Royalty free fonts for logos, etc.
Resources to Help You
http://fiverr.com/ Jobs people will do for $5 (inexpensive way to create banners, transcribe your audios, do illustrations, etc.)
https://www.upwork.com/ Hire online free-lancers, price is variable
http://www.guru.com/ Hire online free-lancers, price is variable
http://www.idictate.com/ transcription service, prices vary based on amount transcribed
http://www.justanswer.com/ Experts answer questions, helpful with literary law, chat with an attorney. They have a disclaimer, as you are not retaining them as legal counsel.