If you are like me, you are most likely overwhelmed by the massive amount of products and services out there and only want to know the best tool available for wat you need to accomplish.
I've tried so many, I decided to list the best tools and resources I've used and have helped me grow my business.
They go from SEO to Social Media tools as well as books, guides, and e-courses.
Most of these tools offer free trials or are free to use, and trying them out is a no brainer.
Before you continue reading, please take the time to read my affiliate disclaimer.
The Best SEO Tools I've Used
Ahrefs is (arguably) the best backlink analyzing tool out there, this tool is just amazing for link building in general as well as keeping track of your site's backlink profile and health.
They've also recently introduced to their many tools a keyword analyzer, which is incredibly useful.
BuzzStream is the best outreach tool I've used, it's so easy to find influencers in any niche thanks to their "Discovery" tool.
If you want a great tool to help you with your influencer outreach and link building, this is the tool I use and love.
The Best Social Media Tools I've Used
Spark is Adobe's newest product. You can create professionally looking videos, posters, and images for your social media accounts.
Since it came out, I've used it instead of Canva.
It's way faster and easier to create my blog post images.
I recommend you try it out, it's free to use.
Social Media Dashboards
Hootsuite (aff link)
Hootsuite is a social media management system or also known as social media management dashboard where you can manage your Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, WordPress, and YouTube accounts.
You can use their many apps to manage other networks as well.
I use it every day to "listen" and engage with my audience and influencers in my niche.
This is definitely the best free tool available for that.
I wrote a full in-depth review about this tool in case you want to check it out, you can read it here.
TweetDeck is, in my opinion, the best free social media dashboard for Twitter management.
However, just like with any tool, there are good and bad things about it.
Let me explain: TweetDeck is definitely the tool to use for Twitter chats, hashtag monitoring, some influencer monitoring and overall management of your Twitter account (notifications, mentions, followers, DMs).
But, if you want to monitor many influencers at once, interact and get close to them, I highly recommend you use Sprout Social.
Buffer is without a doubt the best free scheduling tool available today.
They support Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Google+, and Pinterest. Its dashboard is very nice and clean, user-friendly and they have a mobile app as well 🙂
This is the scheduler of my choice. 🙂
Pinterest Tools
Personally, I believe that Tailwind is the best Pinterest scheduling and analytics tool available today, Buffer has one too but, it's not as powerful.
Also, I believe that it's way too cheap for all they offer and you can try it for free, no credit card needed 🙂
Btw, your first 100 scheduled pins are free and with my link, you get a month of unlimited use 😉
The Best Website Related Resources
Thrive Themes are the whole website package for WordPress, they offer themes and plugins geared towards speed and high-performance. In fact, I use them on this site 😀
They offer a lead capture plugin, content builder, landing pages creator and the headline tester (the one huge media sites use to find the perfect headline).
I recommend you check them out, their products are very easy to use and they have a world of content where they explain how you can use their products.
Flywheel is a WordPress hosting and management provider created with designers in mind, they offer free migrations, managed WordPress updates, auto-backups, malware monitoring, built-in caching, among other features.
It's worth mentioning that since I migrated to Flywheel, I don't really have to worry about my site being down anymore 😀
Plus, it's very inexpensive for what they offer! IMO 🙂
Namecheap is the registrar of my choice, it's really easy to use and has a very user-friendly interface.
Besides, the pricing for each domain is really cheap in my opinion.
The Best Productivity Resources
Is a service where you listen to peek performance music.
You might be wondering.
What in the world does peak performance music mean?
Well, it's music that has been tweaked in order to help you concentrate and perform better.
You can listen to the music on their website or on your iOS or Android device.
I wrote a massive article about productivity in case you want to read it, it's called "The Only Productivity Resource You'll Ever Need".
Online Courses That Actually Work
There are many online courses available today and even though I haven't taken them all, I've listed only the best ones I've used and feel comfortable endorsing.
E-mail Marketing Courses
This is the first e-course I took and I was incredibly lucky to have found it among the hundreds of thousands out there.
It was created by Anik Singal and he teaches how to build an email marketing business around your passion.
The e-course is really easy to follow and he even tells you how to outsource the stuff you don't know how to do and get it done very inexpensively.
Also, he is giving away his book "The Circle of Profit".
I've read it and it's incredible, I highly suggest you grab your own copy of the book.
It explains the whole business model and his journey with email marketing.
Email Marketing Tools
The email marketing tools I recommend will depend on where you are at right now.
If you are a newbie and don't have a list already, I recommend using Mailchimp, it's free for the first 2,000 subscribers and you can play around with the tool.
If you already have a list of at least 1,000 people, I recommend using GetResponse.
They have built a great tool for people that want more advanced stuff like segmentation.
ConvertKit is arguably the best email marketing tool available today.
If you have 2,000 contacts or more, I definitely would go with ConvertKit, this tools is so good, it's a MUST for marketers and bloggers alike.
Books I loved
Will It Fly? How to Test Your Next Business Idea So You Don't Waste Your Time and Money by Pat Flynn
I had the opportunity and pleasure of being part of the launch team for this book and I've got to say that it was great.
I had access to the ebook before anyone else and could read it as many times as I wanted. In fact, I still have my copy of the book.
It shows you how to properly test your current or next business idea with many examples and actionable advice, in order to know if "it will fly" and not waste time and money.
It's really valuable and definitely, a must have on your bookshelf for constant reading.
Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion by Gary Vaynerchuk
Crush it! is all about finding your passion, building a business around it and cashing in your passion.
Gary shares how he got started and has built his businesses.
Also, this book gives clear and practical tips in order improve your social media interaction.
I highly recommend you read it and keep an open mind while reading it.
It's 142 pages of pure gold 🙂
The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk
The Thank You Economy is told in two parts, the first one being all about engaging with your customers through "incredible heartfelt service and social media".
And the second one though case studies illustrating great jabs (engagement) and how they increased conversion rates.
You SHOULD read this book. It's so good, you can't pass it by.
If you've been following me for a while, you'll notice that I do things very similarly to what Gary shares and I explain in my guides.
Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World by Gary Vaynerchuk
Jab, jab, jab, Right Hook is an update of everything Gary's team at VaynerMedia and him have learned about successful social media and digital marketing through the work they've done with thousands of start-ups, Fortune 500 companies, many celebrities, and a substantial number of entrepreneurs and small businesses.
This book will not only help you understand social media better but, also help you market and build your business with a social approach.
To put it in his words: "You should market in the year you live in".
In other words, stop marketing like it's 1990.
If you want to recommend a tool, book, or e-course let me know in the comment section below.
Thanks!
Jonathan Nuñez
Founder, John's IMSecrets