Freelance and Content Creator Resources
Recommended resources to start and run a freelance or other online business
Resources to help you start and grow a successful online business.
These are the products and courses I recommend to help you start and run a successful business that makes money.
I only recommend products I love and use that have helped me take my business to the next level. If you purchase through my link, I may make a small commission at no expense to you.
Writing Tools and Resources
Grammarly Premium was one of the first tools I paid for in my business, and it’s totally worth what I pay every year. You will pay a lot less in the long run if you can afford the yearly payment.
It was $29.99 a month if you did it monthly, but It’s only around $150 a year. Now, in the beginning, I started monthly and then bumped to quarterly until I could afford to pay for it once a year. It’s in the top three tools I invest in each year.
ProWritingAid is another great editing tool. And they have a ProWritingAid academy that is really helpful for helping you improve your writing.
Legal Tools and Resources
Every website and blog needs a privacy policy, terms and conditions, and a disclaimer. In fact, it is a major legal issue if you are missing any of these pages. Luckily you can get them all separately or in this legal bundle for a much lower price than hiring an attorney to draft one for you. Amira, my favorite business lawyer, offers these inexpensive templates on her website.
This freelance contract is another one of Amira’s. If you plan on offering services, you must have a freelance contract in place because it gives you legal recourse if someone refuses to pay you.
Email Marketing Tools and Resources
Whether you plan on starting a blog or freelance business, selling products and services through your email list allows you to diversify your income. Convertkit is one of the top email service providers. And it even has a free plan you can start with.
Blogging Tools and Resources
Your about me page is a prime piece of real estate on your website that allows you to connect with your audience, but despite being your about me page, it needs to be about your audience. This training is amazing, and she gives you a plug-and-play template where you just fill in the blanks.
Becoming a Blogger is by one of my favorite bloggers, Cate Rosales. She keeps this course updated with the latest best practices and is a very helpful resource for starting a successful blog.
Her Facebook group has more than 30,000 people in it, and she partnered with another favorite blogger of mine, Sasha Lassey in the mentorship group below. It’s the perfect course for beginners who want to start their blog off the right way.
I mentioned Cate and Sasha above. They are the dynamic duo behind this inexpensive mentoring group that can help you take your blogging business to the next level.
Each quarter they have a different theme to help you in critical areas like getting more traffic to your website, affiliate marketing, and more. It’s nice to have someone on your side that can help you navigate all the things you need to know to grow your business.
Website Themes and Resources
Now I just said that I traded Divi for Astra, and I did. But if you’re brand new to WordPress, Divi has a built-in drag-and-drop editor that makes it easy to build custom pages on your website.
So, if you’re looking for a theme that makes designing easy, Divi by Elegant Themes is an option.
Social Media Tools and Resources
Pinterest is a great place to get traffic for your website – if you have the right niche. Not all niches do well on Pinterest. With Pinterest, you need to know how to use it correctly, or you could get suspended, which can have devastating consequences.
So, to learn how to use Pinterest the right way, take this course my favorite Pinterest expert, Nadalie Bardo created. Pinterest Popular is an in-depth course that will teach you the ins and outs of the platform, how to grow your account, and get more traffic.
To grow on social media, you need to add social share buttons to your website. Social Warfare is one of the most popular social media sharing plugins for WordPress. It’s easy to use and customize.
Organization Tools and Resources
Not everyone loves a paper planner, but I just happen to be a fan. The Living Well Planner was created by Ruth Soukup, a seven-figure blogger who knows just what you need to be productive.
This planner helps you break large projects into smaller tasks that allow you to step things out until you reach your goal.
My other favorite planner is the Erin Condren Life Planner. It has a monthly layout and weekly layout that makes planning a breeze.
This planner even comes with cute stickers, and you can buy plenty of fun accessories to make planning fun.
Accounting
FreshBooks is the perfect accounting tool for small businesses like freelancers and bloggers.
The software is easy to use and also inexpensive. With my link, you can get it for 70 percent off when you sign up for three months.
Web Hosting
So, hosting can be a touchy subject as many bloggers recommend the products that give them the highest commissions. Bluehost is one of those, and while I tell new bloggers it’s fine to use (because it is for new bloggers), I also tell them that they will want to change eventually.
Name Hero is one I changed to, and I like them and SiteGround (I’ve used both). Name Hero is the cheaper of these two, and it’s the host I use now.
SiteGround is another good host, and while they are a bit more expensive than Name Hero, they give you a better price if you purchase a year of hosting or more. SiteGround is a better choice than Bluehost.
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SEO Resources
SEO is a must for all bloggers and freelancers, whether you want to get more traffic to your blog or get more clients.
Stupid Simple SEO is one of the best SEO courses out there. SEO is critical to our success, and this is one of the best courses you can take.
Once you learn SEO, you’ll need a keyword research tool to find keywords you can easily rank for. You’ll never get traffic if you write blog posts on keywords you’ll never rank for.
KeySearch is an inexpensive keyword research tool comparable to Ahref’s -which starts at $99. Use the coupon code KSDISC to get KeySearch for 20 percent off the already low price of $17.
Debbie Gartner's SEO Books and Training
Debbie Gartner has some eBooks on SEO that are lower priced than Stupid Simple SEO if you can’t afford it right away. They actually accompany the course well.
2-Book Bundle of Easy Backlinks and Easy On-Page SEO
3-Book Bundle of Easy Backlinks, Easy On-Page SEO, and Easy SEO Revamp
Video Recording and Editing
Videos are an important part of being an entrepreneur in today’s world. So, you need the right software to record and edit your videos. Screencast-O-Matic is the perfect inexpensive software to screen record, or record yourself, and edit those videos.