This post is for you if you wondering which online business tools to choose. The 5 most used tools in my business are discussed in this article. Are you  sifting through the countless website hosting providers, email management services, stock photos sites, graphic design apps, and maker machines to market and/or build your products?  You may be feeling overwhelmed with the options, and feeling paralyzed with which direction to go. Deciding on which online business tools you most need is an important decision.  This article is intending to reduce your indecision, and support you in your new business.

While it will not cost you anything more, I do mention tools for which I earn a small affiliate income from if you choose to purchase them using my link. However, know that I recommend these tools only because I personally use them, and have for multiple years; I depend on them.

Recommended Online Business Tools

1. Siteground Website Hosting

When I built my first website in March 2014, I used another popular website host. However, during my initial year, I bgan seeking another host. The clear  choice, I transferred over to Siteground. I continue to value their reliability, speed, and the ability to host multiple websites at an affordable price.  Having  heard exceptional things about their customer service reassured me. Subscribing to their best-selling plan, GoBig, allows me to host unlimited websites. It also provides back up copies. I have remained on that plan for several consecutive years.  They offer two other plans – a StartUp plan for 1 website, and a GoGeek plan for higher-use needs.

Since then, I appreciate the frequent tutorial videos that they offer to expand my knowledge of website management. They also have many resources on their website that provide guidance. Their customer service has always been responsive and helpful.  However, I have not had to reach out to them in the past few years as everything has continued to operate seamlessly, removing worry.

They offer frequent deals that one can take advantage of for significant savings.  At the time of this article, they are running a temporary savings of 73%! So, at this time, the GoGeek plan is $6.69 per month.  Or, if you are just starting out and do not see a need for more than one website, the StartUp plan may meet your needs. That plan special is runnng at $3.99 per month, at this time.  Note – prices may change, so please check current pricing on their website.

Notable Features:

• Their customer service satisfaction rate is at 98%.
• They are officially recommended by WordPress.org – the most popular, community-driven sitebuilding software worldwide.
• Easy and fast website building!  They offer your choice of sitebuilder, premium features, and the support you need to launch your site.
• Already have a site, but looking at other options?  Get free automated WordPress migration with an easy to use WordPress plugin or a professional website transfer done by their experts.
• They offer fully managed sites with auto-updates, but provide you the option to schedule.  Security is a top priority.  They have a team of dedicated security experts keeping track of daily software vulnerabilities on a server and website level.

2.  Mailerlite Email Management

I love Mailerlite!  They have a user-friendly interface that makes it so simple to get started. They have excellent tutorial vidoes that also support you with getting started easily and quickly. The other wonderful feature is that they allow you to build your subscriber list up to 1000 people before they charge! This supports new business owners with not having to incur expenses until they have a subscriber base that enables them to earn some revenue.  The other feature that was a game-changer for me is that they allow you to set up automation sequences. The previous email service I used for several years offered that as well, then they pulled back and only allowed you to send out 1 email on their free plan. Having the ability to set up an automated sequence is crucial to establish a relationship with your new subscriber!

Mailerlite is a responsive online business tool, as it has added the ability to set up landing pages and even create a website using their platform. While I do not personally use these features, it seems like a no-barrier way for a new business owner to create an online presence. This also expedites and simplifies the ability to create a marketing funnel to launch and sell your product or service quickly.

Integration with numerous other online business tools, is helpful and is important for you to know. This will simplify your time and efforts behind the scenes!

If you have not yet explored this email management service, I highly recommend that you do!  I have been pleased wtih their deliverabilty rate as well, which is also cruicial. You want to be certain that your subscribers are receiving the content and resources that you are sharing with them.  Go checkout Mailerlite now!

3. Canva

This is the most essentail online business tool that I use every day! Canva is a graphic arts tool that uplevels your creative skills immensely, while reducing your time remarkably. They offer a free plan, and a Pro plan.  I started with the free plan to check it out, but almost immediately moved into the Pro plan, as the price is so affordable and the advantages are substantial.

Canva’s Pro plan is only $12.99 a month and you can have 5 team members on this plan – yet all of your creations are private. You can share and collaborate. The features that were most important to me as a sole proprietor however, were that I could save my brand assets (and up to 100 brand kits). This means that I do not have to reenter my brand color codes and fonts each time I use the platform. This is a huge savings of time and is so convenient for me!

The ability to magically resize a design into multiple other sizes, fitting the varied social media platforms and multiple other uses, saves so much time! The other advantage with the Pro plan is that it has a background remover. So, I cancelled another graphic arts app that I primarly used for the background remover feature. This provides convenience and saves me money!  I have used free resources to remove backgrounds, but I am often disappointed with the end quality.  I have experienced improved results since using Canva’s background remover.

So Many Advantages!

Having immediate access on the Pro plan to over 1 million stock photos, vidoes, audios, and graphic assets offers tremendous value to online business owners. Additionally, the convenience and the time savings not sourcing quality photos, vidoes, and audio elsewhere is substantial! It  has over 600,000 ready-made templates with new ones being added daily. This offers fabulous inspiration and allows you to create professioanl graphics by just adding in your brand colors, fonts and logo.

If that was not enough to convince you, Canva Pro also provides 100GB of Cloud storage!  Organizing your content into folders for easy-access storage saves time. You are also able to schedule content for up to 8 platforms. (Comparatively, Canva’s free plan provides 5GB of free cloud storage, and has over 250,000 templates, and also has hundreds of thousands photo and graphic assets for your use.)  With either plan, you will wonder how you existed without Canva helping you through each day!

As an online business owner with no prior graphic arts skills, Canva quickly eliminated the barrier of not knowing how to use Adobe products. With Canva I am able to create valuable marketing assets. Examples include, social media graphics, marketing pins for PInterest, e-books, and book covers, blog post graphics, ad assets, logos, video thumbnails for YouTube, and so much more! Canva was a gamechanger for me – and it will be for you too!  You can go here to sign up – and be sure to thank me later!

4.  Cricut

An online business tool that may not come to the forefront of others’ lists is the Cricut. The reason that I have included this, is because many online business owners are also makers. They sell on online marketplaces, (like Etsy or Shopify). Others maintain subscription box memberships, or make their own branded products they sell on their websites.

Purchasing my Cricut 3 years ago, has made money and saved money!  Imagine using a machine that allows you to create a graphic design with fonts of choice, and then cut that out onto a variety of materials. Think vinyl stickers, vinyl letters, leather, wood, and more. You can even press your own mugs and tumblers. It also does intricate projects like embossing. Their newest model, the Maker-3 offers the ability to not have to cut on a mat, so now your designs are not limited in length.

Many individuals are making a lucrative living designing and making apparel, personal and home decor products and selling them online. If you are not familiar with the Cricut machine, you can go check it out here – you will be amazed at that their machines can do!

To give you an example of what is possible, I invite you to visit my daughter’s Etsy shop, 15xDesigns.  Her business relies on her Cricut machine! If you like what you see, you can subscribe to recieve notices of new designs and other updates . Yes, she also uses Mailerlite to communicate with her subscribers.

5.  SheBold Stock Photos and Graphics

I have been subscribing to this stock photo site for a few years. She is a sole proprietor and I love the energy and passion she brings to her business! She continues to grow and expand. She now offers a variety of pre-made graphics (social media and e-books, etc.) that online business owners need. Just recently, she began offering stock video assets as well! Her approach is personal. She is striving to meet the needs of her subscriber base and is often surveying what is wanted/needed.

Subscribing to this service is valuable to me. She is a BIPOC female business owner, and her photo assets allow the opportunity to represent diversity within my marketing and other content. Rather than use the same few stock photos that represent persons of other cultures, this online business provides more options to choose from.  I am appreciatiive of the quality photo and grahic assets that she provides each month.

By joining her monthly subscription, you will recieve quality photos and graphic assets, that are unique and not over-used across the internet. Further, you will be supporting diversity and a female owned small business.  You can look into what she offers here.

Summary

There you have it!  5 Online Business Tools that are sure to reduce your overwhelm, save you time, and be sensitive to the small budget of most new business owners. I hope that this helps give you some direction, and reduces your stress and indecision. If you are interested in learning about other recommended resources, you can visit my Resources page. Wishing you success as you begin your new online business journey!

P.S.  Starting a new business is exciting, but can also be isolating and intimidating. There is so much to learn and know! Your questions may seem endless. If you would like the advantage of a community of like-minded entrepreneurs to network with, I invite you to join our private community. Join Trapped to Untapped Online Business Community here.