RECOMMENDED
SERVICES & SOFTWARE
Below, you'll find links to both services and software I use in my business. I hope you find them helpful.
Here are the services I use to register my domain names, host and build my websites and get a free SSL for all my websites for a secure connection every time.
DOMAIN NAME REGISTRATION
Here's where I register all my domain names and you can too. Note, IF you already have domains registered somewhere else, stay with them UNLESS their annual renewal fee (per domain) is more than $15 per year. Save money by registering your domains with me. Also, ReallyCheapNames.com is associated with GoDaddy.com, which gives you access to GoDaddy's 24/7/365 customer support to manage your account.
FREE WEBSITE, BLOG & FUNNEL BUILDER
Need a website or have one built for you? I'm referring and using Systeme.io to build websites today for clients. Systeme.io has a FREE version for one (1) website, which gets you 3 funnels, up to 2,000 contacts, 1 blog (a.k.a. website), 1 course, unlimited students, unlimited email sending, your own affiliate program, 0% transaction fees, 24/7 email support, etc. Systeme.io is user-friendly with fast loading web pages.
FREE SSL, DNS, EMAIL FORWARDING, ETC.
Get FREE SSL for your website no matter where you host your website. Also, they give you the ability to create FREE eMail aliases for your website, such as [email protected], which then forward to any eMail address you want, (i.e., Gmail, etc.). Simply, change the nameservers on your domain to point to Cloudflare's; then point your Cloud flare account to where you host. DONE!
PREMIUM EMAIL FORWARDING (POP + EMAIL ALIAS / FORWARDS)
If you plan on using Cloudflare to point your domain name to either Systeme.io or another web hosting company, if you need eMail services then you can use this service. I do and love it. With eForw.com, you can create simple email forwards or alias accounts to forward to your main email (like Gmail), or you can create POP accounts that let you send/receive emails through your domain name inside your main account, such as Gmail, like I do. (i.e., [email protected]). Plus, this service is very inexpensive. Last I checked it was $19.95 per year.
WORDPRESS SITE HOSTING + CPANEL
If you must have a WordPress website, then I can only recommend HostGator. I say this because your account will come with a free SSL (i.e., $90+ savings per year). Other hosting companies will charge you. Find out before you go with them. HostGator also has cPanel for us web design folk who know what they're doing and want that when working with a client. Rates are great too and super affordable. See website for current rates.
eMail List-Building/Broadcasting, Forms & Events
If you need an email list-building system that can help you send out newsletters and online email messages to a list or if you need and online form builder or event manager that can help you collect money for ticket sales (to your event), here are some recommendations:
EMAIL LIST-BUILDING & BROADCASTING
Sender is easy to use and free for up to 2,500 contacts. You can also import names/eMails without double opt-in or verification. I recommend all my clients use Sender.net and dump MailChimp, MailerLite, and some of the other systems, which I've come to find cumbersome and clunky in use.
WEBSITE CONTACT FORM CREATION
If you need an online form creation tool that's FREE, try JotForm.com. I personally use JotForm's web forms all over BartSmith.com. I also find their form builder tool to be one of the most user-friendly and creative I've ever seen and used. What's more, I love how the contact info (submitted via the form) is sent to my eMail address for convenient review.
EVENT TICKET SALES & MANAGEMENT
Need to create a way to sell tickets to your event? Eventbrite can help. They track ticket sales for events, take payments, send out receipts and other helpful services to help your events go well from start to finish.
Various Online Tech Tools & Services
If you ever need any of the following online tools or services to meet your website / business needs, I know for me, I like to use them from time to time. So, here they are for you and for me. I hope they help:
→ WHOIS.com (Domain Look-Up) Look up a domain's registration date, expiration date, nameservers, etc.
→ StatCounter.com Add a free counter to your website to track visitor traffic, entry/exit pages, and more.
→ Generate Free Barcodes Online This barcode generator can help generate all kinds of barcode sizes and designs.
Audio & Video Recording/Editing Software
I don't know what you use to record and edit your audio recordings and then for video which you might produce for your YouTube, TikTok and Instagram channels, but here's what I use:
AUDIO RECORDING / EDITING SOFTWARE
This is the audio recording and editing software I've been using for the past 20+ years. It's just available for the PC.
VIDEO RECORDING / EDITING SOFTWARE
This is the video editing software I use. It's available for the PC and the Mac. I love this software for it's ease-of-use and more.
FREE VIDEO RESIZING SOFTWARE
This software helps resize large videos to smaller sized videos. Smaller videos make for faster uploads to YouTube, etc.
Royalty Free Audio & Video Tracks
Need audio and/or video to insert into your media creations? Check out these resources:
ROYALTY-FREE AUDIO FILES
Royalty free music and audio tracks from $1. Choose from over 2,000,000 music tracks, audio tracks and sound effects from their community of musicians and sound engineers.
OTHER AUDIO FILE WEBSITES
Peruse these Google search results for "royalty free audio music and effects." Perhaps, you'll find the right website that best fits your needs for what you're looking for.
ROYALTY-FREE VIDEO FILES
Choose from over 7,000,000 royalty free video stock footage clips, video effects and video templates. Unique videos and stock footage for every budget and every project.
OTHER VIDEO FILE WEBSITES
Peruse these Google search results for "royalty free video clips." Perhaps, you'll find the right website that best fits your needs for what you're looking for.
FREE Stock Photos, Vectors, Video & More
Need pictures, photos, illustrations, vectors or other elements to go into your creations? Check out these resources below:
STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY & MORE
MORE STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY WEBSITES
FREE VECTOR IMAGES & MORE
IMAGE RESIZERS & OPTIMIZERS
Fonts (Find/Download), HTML Symbols & More
I don't know about you, but from time to time, I need a new font or a font a client uses. So, in some cases, I find that font on Google Fonts or I'll have to search for it. I might need a text (or other) symbol that comes in the form of HTML (symbols) or a Font Awesome font element. No matter, below you'll find some handy resources for just about every font need you might have.
→ Googe Fonts Looking for a popular font or a font you saw somewhere? Chances are, Google Fonts has it and you can download it for personal and commercial uses for free.
→ Fontsquirrel.com I've always found FontSquirrel.com to be a quick resource for finding the font I need. Fonts on FontSquirrel.com are free for you to download and use at will.
→ FontAwesome.com (v5) Font Awesome is a font and icon toolkit based on CSS and coding within a website's coding. Looking for a specific icon or image? You might find it here.
→ FontAwesome.com (v4) This page shows the previous (v4) Font Awesome icons available. It is an easier section of their site to naigate to find what you're looking for.
→ HTML Arrows & Symbols Here's where to go to find an arrow or other symbol for your website. Just find what you're looking for, highlight it, copy and paste it into your website copy.
→ Symbl.cc (Symbols) When you need a symbol of some kind, check out this website. Again, search, find, highlight, copy/paste into your web design or even Google documents.
Another website offering a slew of HTML arrow designs is Amp-What.com. Check them out too for what you might be looking for.
Business Cards, Color Copies & More
If you need business cards, color copies, posters or postcards made, here are some great resources for you.
BUSINESS CARD PRINTING
I created my cookie business cards on my computer, uploaded them to my OvernightPrints account, chose my card features (i.e., double-sided gloss, rounded corners, etc.), then my cards were printed and mailed to me within a week.
COLOR & B/W COPIES
Online printing at BestValueCopy.com offers the amazing quality, delivery, and prices to meet your needs for color copies, black and white copies, and other printing needs. Check out what they can do for you and go for it!
ALL KINDS OF PRINTING
If you have a Canva account, why not use Canva to print your retractable banners, business cards, vinyl banners (tall/portrait and horizontal), mouse pads, coasters, calendars, bumper stickers, floor decals, adult t-shirts, kids t-shirts, hoodies, etc.
Online Course Creation Software
If you ever wanted to create and sell an online course, here are two great recommendations to consider building that course with.
COURSE ONLY BUILDING SOFTWARE
Thinkific is a great online course creation tool because you can get started for free, their course builder is very cool/modern, you keep all the money from your course sales, and you can connect it to your website seamlessly. Check their website for current pricing.
COURSE + CART + AFFILIATE TRACKING
ThriveCart is another great online course creation tool and a shopping cart and comes with a built-in affiliate tracking program that pays your affiliates automatically when you say so. Talk about hands-off in lots of ways. Check their website for pricing specials.
Self-Publish Your Book, eBook & Hardback Book
Here's where and how I self-publishing (and print) my paperback books, my Kindle eBooks and any hardcover books all through Amazon.com and KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing). Also, below, are links for you to be able to download a paperback book cover templates (front/back/spine) as well as check your costs and profits for the different type of book you want to publish through KDP based on page count and a few other bits of criteria.
SELF-PUBLISH BOOKS + EBOOKS HERE
Here's where I print and distribute all my paperback books, Kindle eBooks and now hardback books. What I like about KDP is you can upload an unlimited number of manuscript revisions (without charges) and order proofs of your book for what it costs to print the book, which is based on page count. What's more, you can also take advantage of their online digital proofer, which let's you see where you might have errors in your manuscript. Then, make those changes before you submit so you're approval is high. Also, you're linked right into Amazon.com for sale. That's a plus. Lastly, with their Expanded Distribution, you can sell your book through 20,000+ other online book retailers. Nice, huh?
DOWNLOAD KDP TEMPLATES HERE
When you publish your books through KDP, you can take advantage of their cover template generator when it comes to designing your book covers.
These custom sized, downloadable templates help you create print-ready paperback covers with programs like Canva, Adobe Fireworks®, Adobe Photoshop® or Adobe InDesign®. You can use any software that will open a PNG or PDF file and save a PDF file.
You'll download these files and submit them to KDP with the exact dimensions, layout, and bleed measurements.
CHECK PROFITS & COST OF BOOKS
How much will your paperback book cost to print? How much profit will you make when you sell your book? Refer to KDP's online printing cost and royalty calculator for those answers. Just provide some basic details about your paperback book and click the Submit button to calculate those numbers. Using this online KDP calculator helps you determine how much you might sell your book for (to determine your profits) and how much your book will cost you (to purchase author copies) so you know how much your book will cost (based a lot on page count, black/white or color interior, etc.).
Book Publishing, Cover Design & Photo Editing Software
Happily, I dumped Adobe's monthly subscription (extortion) payment plan for Serif's Affinity software bundle which was a lovingly one-time payment. I've replaced Adobe InDesign, Adobe Fireworks and Adobe Photoshop with these Affinity software programs and you can (and should) too. Don't be a slave to paying monthly FOREVER for software you'd rather pay ONCE for and own it for LIFE. Affinity software has come a long, long way since a few years ago. I'm very happy now that I'm using Affinity over Adobe software products.
INTERIOR PAGE LAYOUT SOFTWARE
I design and lay out the interior pages of all my books now and my clients' books with Affinity Publisher. I used to use Adobe InDesign. Well, no more. It's so nice to just pay once for this software program and own it for life. You can too.
BOOK COVER DESIGN SOFTWARE
I design all of my book covers and those of my clients' books with Affinity Designer. Very easy to use, very creative features and easy-to-export into hi-res PDF files or other formats of your choosing.
PHOTO EDITING SOFTWARE
While I do use this software program much, it is an excellent replacement for Adobe's Photoshop.
Home/Office Wireless Internet Service Provider
Who do you have for your Internet service at your home/office? I use T-Mobile Wireless Home Internet and I couldn't be happier! Check this out ...
I don't know about you, but my previous TV cable/Internet provider had me locked into a 2 year contract with TV services I didn't want just so I could pay less for Internet. What a crock! Hence, I was paying roughly $170 a month when you include taxes and fees for two services (TV + Internet). When I broke away from the bundle and just paid for Internet, that bill came to $78 per month roughly. I was still not happy.
Well, one night in disgust, I did some research online for a more affordable Internet service provider. That's when I found T-Mobile Wireless Home Internet. Their call center had just opened (at 4:00 A.M. PST) and I was up to make the call and place my order immediately upon finding out what they offered and for how much.
NOW, I pay $50 per month for my Internet service and the best part? Unlike cable Internet service, my Internet is wireless (not hard wired). What's the difference? With land lines connecting to your house, those companies have problems and interruptions of service ALL THE TIME! ("There's an outage in your area. We should have it fixed in the next 6-9 HOURS!") YIKES! You've experienced that before, right?
Well, so far, I have nothing but good things to say about T-Mobile Wireless Home Internet. I even got my mom T-Mobile Wireless Home Internet for her house and her neighbor's house. Both ladies are now saving $300+ each per year having switched to T-Mobile Wireless Home Internet!
So, if you want, MAKE THE SWITCH LIKE I DID and DITCH your current TV/cable/Internet provider. Call your current TV/cable/Internet provider and ask if you're in a contract and/or how you can cancel your service. Don't do it, though, until you order, receive and test your T-Mobile Home Internet equipment. Keep in mind, with the Internet and YouTube and other TV apps, you can get all the TV shows and movies you want via Roku or a Fire TV stick through your Internet and YouTube. You don't need "cable TV" anymore. That's an old way to get your TV. So, do as I did and "cut the cord!" (i.e., your cable TV service)
Call T-Mobile Wireless Home Internet at 844-839-5057, place your order, and get your equipment mailed to you. When you receive it, set it up and test it for 5 days or so BEFORE canceling your current (soon-to-be former) Internet service provider.
Once you see how much you love T-Mobile Wireless Home Internet, then call up your current (soon-to-be former) Internet provider and cancel those overpriced services. I did just that and I'm EXTREMELY HAPPY I made the switch to T-Mobile Wireless Home Internet.
Cell Phone Carrier Savings, Phone Services
Who's your phone carrier? I use MintMobile and pay $15/month (when I pay annually). It's so nice to get one bill per year. Compare your cell phone service to what's below and start saving money like I did.
$15/MONTH CELL PHONE SERVICE
I pay $15 a month for my cell phone service. What do you pay? My mobile provider was robbing me of $100's of dollars EVERY MONTH. Now? I don't see a bill for a whole year because I pay a whopping $180-ish for the WHOLE YEAR. That comes out about about $15 a month.
MintMobile also offers a referral program where you can refer others for a commission. This also minimizes your bill.
STOP PAYING $40-$80 a month per cell phone line. I even get better quality of service when I set my phone to WI-FI CALLS, no more dropped calls, etc.
Use my referral link and you'll get $15 added to your Mint account when you sign up, and I'll get $$$ too. It's a win-win deal for us both!
BUSINESS PHONE# LINKS TO YOUR CELL
I use GoDaddy's SmartLine as a second phone number, which I've assigned to my business. I like it because I can put this phone number on my website (for business/media inquiries) and not my personal cell phone. For approx. $12.95/month, I've got a business-dedicated telephone number to give out to the public. Then, with the app, I can text with SmartLine and take/make calls from that second phone number all from my personal cell phone. Pretty convenient, if you ask me. Here are a few more features:
• Choose a local U.S. phone number.
• Customize your voicemail greeting.
• Set business hours your phone rings.
• Caller ID shows your business number.
• Includes unlimited calls and texts.
GOOGLE PHONE# LINKS TO YOUR CELL
If you're looking for a separate (and free) phone number you could use for your business and link it to your phone for calls, voicemail and texting, look no further than a Google Voice number.
Google Voice is a telephone service that provides a U.S. phone number to Google Account customers in the U.S. and Google Workspace customers in Canada, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the contiguous United States.
Google Voice is free for personal use for any user with a Google account. However, it has no free trial for paid plans for small businesses and organizations.
Shipping Supplies & Buy Postage Online Services
From time to time, I ship books and other products to family, friends and clients. Well, I need shipping supplies and a way to print postage online so I don't have to wait in line at the post office. So, here's what I have and I've been using for years.
BUY POSTAGE ONLINE AT USPS.COM
Because my time is valuable, and yours too, I prefer not to stand in line at the post office to buy postage for my Priority Mail boxes/envelopes. Instead, I use USPS' Click 'n' Ship, which allows me to pay and print postage online. Once you create a free account, simply enter the address where the box is being shipped to, pay for postage, print the label, then tape it to the box. Then, run down to the post office, drop it in the big bin and you're done. No waiting in line, EVER!
MY FAVORITE "QUIET" MAILING TAPE
I love this mailing tape. Why? Well, not only is it strong, but it's also QUIET! It doesn't make that loud screeching noise when you pull out a new bit of tape. Trust me, when you mail lots of boxes or envelopes (of anything) it's nice NOT TO HEAR that usual noise tape screeching in your ear. That said, I've got two links here. You can buy either a single roll or a pack of rolls. Save money and buy a lot if you want.
BOOK MAILER / PADDED ENVELOPES
If you mail books to folks who buy your books from your website, for example, people via media mail like I do, then you might want to have some padded envelopes on hand. Since there is such a variety of colors and sizes, I thought you could just take a look at the search results I found on Amazon.com. Take your pick, stock up and remember to use USPS' Media Mail service option when mailing books to your family, friends and customers. You save money on postage when shipping media mail.
CLEAR ENVELOPES
If you mail books to people via media mail like I do, here's a cool way to promote your book while it's in route to your intended recipient. Use a clear envelope to show off your book via its front/back cover. Affix postage and a mailing label on one side while leaving the (other) clear side to display your book's front or back cover for the world to see! Remember to use USPS' Media Mail when mailing books. You save money on postage.
PACKING PEANUTS
There are several different types of packing peanuts to choose from as well as quantity. Take a look among these search results and choose your preferred brand, type, quantity and price. I like to keep lots of packing peanuts on hand when shipping my cookies all throughout the country as well as other products.
BUBBLE WRAP
Depending on what you're mailing, you might need some bubble wrap. Well, here ya go! Choose from among these Amazon's search results for "bubble wrap." See what you can find, the type of bubble wrap you want, within your budget, etc. There are lots of varieties. Pick what you like.
FREE "SMALL" SHIPPING BOX
These are nice to have on hand when shipping small items that won't fit in an envelope. For example, I've shipped a lot of cookies with this Small box. Shipping this box comes with free tracking when you pay for postage online via Click 'n' Ship. Choose from 1-5, pack of 10 or pack of 25.
FREE "MEDIUM" SHIPPING BOX
These are nice to have on hand when shipping a lot of stuff to someone, but you don't need a large box to do it. For example, I've shipped a lot of cookies using these boxes. Shipping with this box comes with free tracking when you pay for postage online via Click 'n' Ship. Choose from 1-5, pack of 10 or pack of 25.
FREE "LARGE" SHIPPING BOX
Another FREE shipping box from the USPS. These are nice to have on hand when shipping A LOT of stuff to someone. Shipping with this box comes with free tracking when you pay for postage online via Click 'n' Ship. Choose from 1-5, pack of 10 or pack of 25. If you need a TALLER (large) box, here's one that 8.5" high compared to this one that's 6" high.
FREE USPS CUBE-SHAPED BOX
Great for when you're shipping small items to someone within the USA. Postage for this box is based on WEIGHT and DISTANCE from where you're shipping from to where you're shipping to. This IS NOT FLAT RATE box (rate). So, if you ship within 2-3 states from where you live, the cost for postage can be cheaper than Flat Rate. If you ship cross country, it could be more expensive than using a Flat Rate box.
FREE ENVELOPES, LABELS & MORE
What else do you need? Priority Mail envelopes, Express envelopes, tube boxes, labels, stickers, stamps, window envelopes, commercial invoices, domestic return receipt forms, large mailing cartons? You should see what's available for FREE from the USPS. Check it out and shop away! Everything is mailed right to your door.
WEIGHT SCALE (90 LB. LIMIT)
This is a great scale to have when you ship a box or envelope that ISN'T FLAT RATE! and you need an exact weight to determine postage costs. Simply weigh your box or envelope and use that exact weight when purchasing postage online via Click 'n' Ship.
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