TOOLS FOR BEGINNERS
New to the online business game? Here are some fundamental tools you NEED in order to get started with your new service-based business.
Tubebuddy - Youtube Optimization
Tubebuddy will help you gain a competitive edge for competitor research and keyword ranking. We use it with VidIQ. USE CODE: vanessasbuddy for 20% off all licenses
REV - AUDIO TRANSCRIPTION
We transcribe all of our Youtube videos for captions with Rev. We love Rev because it’s easy, fast, and accurate.
Elementor - Website and Landing Page Builder
If you have WordPress, this is Vanessa’s FAVOURITE and virtually free plugin. Elementor can help you build your entire website and create beautiful landing pages that are super custom to YOU. This drag and drop page builder is a game-changer especially for those who can’t afford fancy lead gen software yet. We recommend upgrading to the $50/year plan to unlock even better features.
ConvertKit - Email Marketing
ConvertKit is an email marketing software designed for creators and entrepreneurs that has plenty of user-friendly features to make email marketing and lead collection super simple and virtually stress-free.
Acuity Scheduling - Appointment Booking System
To reduce the back and forth with clients and prospects, having a booking system is key. We love Acuity because you can customize your booking page AND connect it with your Instagram business account so prospects can book you directly on the ‘gram.
VidIQ - Youtube Optimization
VidIQ is great to give you indepth insight on the performance of your videos and how your keywords rank. We use it with Tubebuddy.
Group Leads - Facebook Group Plug-in
Want to be able to save all your member’s responses when they join your FB group without the manual hassle? Or do you want to automate sending your freebie to anyone who joins your FB group? Well, you’re in luck because Group Leads helps you automate EVERYTHING when it comes to accepting, filtering, and nurturing your Facebook group member requests!
Namecheap - Domain Hosting
We love to buy our domains from Namecheap. The hosting solutions provided by Namecheap are less expensive than GoDaddy, yet still offer better features.
BrandUp Brand Shop - Pre-made Logo Shop
If you’re launching a new biz on a strartup budget, these semi-custom logos are the perfect solution to build your visual branding affordably and in a matter of days. You get the complete brand package, with a logo, color palette, brand fonts and custom brand guide PDF.
LATER - Instagram Scheduler
Later is our preferred marketing platform for Instagram to help us plan our captions and feed directly on Desktop without any tech hassle. Use the code “VANESSA100″ to get your first month free on the Premium annual plan. **Please note, this coupon code expires on Dec 31st 2020
Siteground - Site Hosting
We created our website with www.wordpress.org and hosted it on Siteground. It’s a reliable webhost that allows our site to run smoothly with no kinks.
Last Pass - Password Security
As a business owner and content creator, security is incredibly important, especially when you have A LOT of logins! We keep all of our logins safe with Lastpass.
Canva - Graphic Design
For our basic social media needs, including cover banners, YT thumbnails, and packshots, our entire team relies on Canva to bring our brand to life.
wave Accounting - Accounting Software
A free accounting software that lets you invoice your clients and also track your income and expenses. The best part? It’s free.
Gsuite - Data Storage
GSuite it what our team uses to create all our professional emails and host all of our internal team documents.
Zoom - Video Conferencing
Zoom is a powerful platform that allows you to host meetings in an effortless way. We love using Zoom to record our calls, film our course lessons, and more.
OneDrive - Heavy Duty File Storage
OneDrive has the BEST plans for file storage (1TB of storage at an unbeatable price). We use OneDrive to store all of our Youtube clips and course content. Plus, you get FREE Microsoft Office with your plan.
TOOLS FOR NEXT LEVEL GROWTH
Ready to go next level in your business and scale FAST? Here are some tools I invested in to take my business to multiple 6-figures.
BENCH ACCOUNTING - ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE
Bench is a bookkeeping software that includes REAL bookkeepers to help track your expenses and income. You get direct access to your bookkeeper and they work hand in hand with your tax accountant. Vanessa absolutely loves Bench and cannot reccommend them enough if you want to take your finances seriously. Get 20% OFF your first 6 months with Vanessa’s link exclusively.
Kajabi - Course Platform
Kajabi is the ONLY course and membership platform we use to host all our programs. It has all the features you need to create, market, and sell your digital product. The best part is that Kajabi makes it so easy and effortless. Our students love navigating Kajabi as their course platform as well!
Thrivecart - Payment Checkout
Thrivecart allows us to optimize our checkout pages for conversion and is packed with many sales features that drive revenue for our business. Get a lifetime license with Thrivecart using Vanessa’s link exclusively.
Gravy - Payment Recovery
Gravy is the secret sauce to recurring revenue retention for businesses with subscriptions and memberships. Imagine having a 24/7 engagement team that contacts customers or students within hours of a failed payment, updates billing information and saves the clients you worked so hard to win. That’s Gravy!
LeadPages - Landing Page Builder
We now use Leadpages to build our landing pages due to the features that help optimize our pages for conversion. Leadpages makes it so easy to build our opt-in pages, sales pages, and everything in between.
Dubsado - Client Management
Keep track of your client workflow, send contracts, and automate the entire onboarding process with Dubsado. You’ll look like a total professional to your clients and the best part is that you’ll no longer need to spend time sending documents back and forth.
Active Campaign - Email Marketing
We currently use Active Campaign for all our email marketing needs. Active Campaign is a powerful all-in-one solution for marketers and sales teams that automates not just email marketing, but everything from sales emails to lead scoring.
99Designs - Graphic Design
Our course slides and all of our professional graphic needs (such as Vanessa’s Youtube cover banner!) are done with 99Designs. 99Designs connects you with highly skilled graphic designers at reasonable prices. We love it because the turnaround times are amazing for projects on a time-crunch and the designers are top-notch! Save $20 with Vanessa’s link exclusively.
Transferwise
Instead of using PayPal (which has ridiculous fees!), Vanessa’s entire team uses Transferwise to pay contractors, wire money internationally, receive money, and so much more. Transferwise has been a game changer in how our business transfers money and we have saved hundreds and thousands in fees alone!
BrandUp
Vanessa’s brand and web design agency, BrandUp specializes in building brands and websites for scaling entrepreneurs. From brand positioning, to brand messaging and visual logo design, to building custom websites and sales pages on Kajabi and WordPress- they are a one stop shop for priming brands to scale.
HelpScout - Customer Support
Instead of having multiple inboxes and emails that get lost, Helpscout allows our team to transfer emails to the right team member easily, and helps us keep track of all our support tickets so none of our students and audience members feel left behind. Receive a $50 credit when you use Vanessa’s link exclusively.
Easy Webinar - Webinar Platform
We host all of our free trainings using Easy webinar which makes the automation process seamless not just for our team, but for our audience.
Deadline Funnel - Countdown Timer
To drive urgency for our prospects to act fast on our limited time offers, we use Deadline Funnel to activate countdown timers that help us increase conversion.
Slack - Communication Platform
Vanessa loves to use Slack to communicate with her clients and her growing team. Slack keeps things organized within the business by seperating all of our conversations in unique channels. Get a $100 credit with Vanessa’s link exclusively.
Olark - Chatbox
We use live chat boxes on our pages where our team can directly help our prospects navigate any questions they may have about our products and services.
Screenflow - Screen Recording Software
Vanessa loves to use Screenflow to record her screen for YouTube videos!
Repurpose House
Repurpose House turns every type of content whether audio or video into multiple content pieces of various dimensions so you can explode your socials without doubling your work. Use code VANESSALAU20 to get 20% off your sign up fee with Repurpose House.
SNAG MY HOLY GRAILS
Curious to know some of my all-time favourite products that have kept me SANE in my business, from snazzy content-creating tech tools to lifestyle products? Look no further, I’m sharing all the deets below.
MY FAVOURITE BOOKS
Here are my all-time favourite books that have helped me level up my business and my mind.
