My Resources

resources

Tim "The Toolman" Taylor

Everyone has different ways to get the job done. Tim “The Toolman” Taylor had his sidekick and I have mine. Although I might have a bit more. Below are the Tools and Resources that I use or have used in the past to help my various websites off the ground and grow from there.

Please acknowledge that some of the links below are affiliate links to products that will earn me a commission. The list below are however items that I have used personally. These resources have helped me gain various insights and advice which I think is important. 

Blogging

  • WordPress: The #1 CMS platform for bloggers and small businesses. Free and highly flexible.
  • WordPress Plugins: Download any plugins, widgets, or customizable elements for your WordPress blog.
  • Junkie-Themes: A great range of flexible and professional WordPress themes which I have used on various websites.
  • StudioPress: The theme that I previously had was a StudioPress theme
  • THESIS: Is the current framework i am using on this site. It has given me a lot more flexibility and the support is amazing and they are giving out new tips and tricks all the time.. for free..

Hosting

  • Hostgator: The marjority of my websites are hosted on Hostgator. I like it because of the easy to use, 1-click automatic WordPress installation, and excellent customer service. The best feature is the ability to chat with your customer support. This is priceless!
Domain Registration
  • Namecheap: I’ve used this domain registrar a few times and very easy to deal with. They also offer a free service called “Free WhoisGuard Protection” where your account details are not shared or publicly available.
  • Crazydomains: Great service for my .com.au domain names which is pretty much where I use them for. Great bargains for domains I would recommend them any day.
  • Transip: A Dutch based registrar which I use to purchase my .nl and .nu domain names. Transfers from TransIP to TransIP clients is free which is an added bonus.
  • GoDaddy: I’ve had several domains with GoDaddy but they are an email machine which gets annoying. Hard to transfer away from them and layout could be easier.
  • MijnDomein: Another Dutch registrar where I have a few domains left but I will be transferring them to TransIP in due time.
  • JustHost.nl: The third Dutch registrar which is actually very good. Run by a friend of mine and she is really focused on service which is  great feeling and works great.

Affiliate Networks

  • Clickbank: Another digital products retailer. Probably the most popular. Decently priced, but comes with an amazing affiliate program for your products.
  • Paypal.com: Paypal is just ok for selling your own products through them, but you’ll need an account anyways to configure with and accept payments from the above shopping carts.
  • PayPro.nl: This is a smaller Dutch network focussed on eBooks. Great for smaller niches.
  • TradeTracker: TradeTracker is one of the largest affiliate networks within Europe. They are growing rapidly had have a very large range clients. Small and big ones so it suits every niche.
  • Daisycon: Also a Dutch based network with a large range of products and offers. They also have an iPhone app so you can check your sales on the go.

Keyword Research

  • Market Samurai: The number one tool for keyword research available, hands down.
  • Traffic Travis: This is useful if you want to have a basic (free) version for your Keyword Research.  You can download the free version of Traffic Travis or have a look at the professional version.
  • WordTracker Free Keywords Tool: Spits out a number for the popularity of a keyword of your choice. Search volume numbers can be compared to find the perfect niche, or to choose keywords for your blog posts.
  • Google Adwords Tool: A tool to help you decide what keywords to use for your Adwords campaigns. You can also check to see the popularity of certain keywords and the competition for ads for those keywords as well.
  • Seo Keyword Ranking: An excellent tool to keep track of the keywords you’re working on. Excellent interface and really easy to use.

Advertising Stuff

  • Google Adsense: Make money by placing relevant ads on your website that are generated from advertisers using Google Adwords. This is free to use, but you have to register for an account.
  • Google Adwords: If you want to begin advertising on Google, you can select keywords and locations and you pay each time someone clicks on your advertisement.

Email Subscriptions & Marketing

  • Aweber: The easiest email client that I have used. It is also the most popular among bloggers and Internet Marketers. This is what I use to my email list on my websites.

Testing Results

  • Google Analytics: Google’s free website tracking and analytical tool. A must have for anyone with any type of website.
  • Get Clicky: Get Clicky is just like Google Analytics, only it is build for people who want a more easy to understand dashboard. Unlike Google Analytics, Get Clicky shows you real time results of what is happening on your website. Your first site is free.

Outsourcing Work

  • Elance: Hired service for just about anything you can think of.
  • Odesk: Another outsource website for freelancers, IT companies, programmers and web designers from abroad.
  • Freelancer: Another website where you can hire “Freelancers” to complete certain tasks.
  • 99Designs: This is a unique website that you can use if you need a logo design. You let designers fight for your business instead of you chasing designers.
  • Fiverr: Select a wide range of services for only $5 dollars. Ideal for short tasks you want to outsource.
  • EasyPLR: This is a great resources website if you are struggling for high quality content.

Legal Stuff

  • Easy Policy: Easy Privacy policy lets you quickly set up a google adsense compliant privacy policy for your blog with only a few clicks.

Books

For Screenshots

  • Snagit – for screenshots, drawing and notes. Easy to use program which also integrates with easy Send option via outlook. Made for PC.

Internet Business Courses

  • Cloud Blogging: If you have no idea where to start, or how to start with Internet Marketing, then Cloud Blogging is your course. I’ve mentioned Glen Allsop from Viperchill.com a few times on my website and I’m a frequent visitor and commentator on his website.
  • Cloud Living is also written by Glen Allsop. The Cloud Living book is really the first book that I read and started to make sense of this affiliate marketing game.
  • 31 Days to Build a Better Blog by Darren Browse, the guy behind Problogger.com which is one of the biggest blogs in the world today. The book is for people who really just started a blog or have a blog but lack the direction of where they want to go.
Twitter Management 
  •  Hootsuite: If you are a fan of Twitter and you have more than one account or people working with you, HootSuite is your program. Limit of 5 account on the free version.
  • Tweetdeck: Use it for one website and easy to setup. My preference is still HootSuite but that is just a personal thing.
  • TweetAdder: An awesome tool if you want to get more RELEVANT followers on twitter. Search your target audience and contact them directly.
Backups
  • Mozy Online Storage; This service is one of the best (and affordable) around. It automatically updates / backups your files so you don’t loose anything if something happens to your computer.
  • Box.net: The benefit of Box.net is that it is build for collaboration projects. Sharing documents is just a little bit easier than with Dropbox.
  • Dropbox: It is a great product and I mostly use it to sync my documents on my iPhone and various computers. I use it more for personal use.

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