There are several free tools we recommend to start your digital online business. We are NOT affiliates for any of these companies or products – see for yourself when you click on the links – they’ll take you directly to the tools themselves. These are the tools we use and love, check them out.
G-Suite
The Google Suite is a great place to start (for free) in learning online digital tools like G-Docs, G-Slides, G-Sheets, and more. All you need is a Gmail account. Once you sign into your Gmail Account – and you are in your inbox (gmail) – go to the upper right hand corner and click on the dialpad icon. That’s where your G-Drive and G-Suite tools are. You do NOT have to sign up for Google Workspace which is designed for established businesses.
WordPress
WordPress is an open source (free to use) Content Management System (CMS) and website builder. This is absolutely needed to create your own content and OWN your own content. The WordPress community is huge and there is so much documentation on this product that you’ll be able to find the answers. Not to mention – WordPress powers half of websites on the internet.
Trello
Trello brings all your tasks and tools together in one place. We use this tool for new content creation and organization. It’s a great place to store important information in a visually-pleasing way and also connect/share with others who you are working with. This tool is great for productivity. The free version is limited in functionality, but if you are just starting out it’s a great way to organize your business.
MailChimp
MailChimp is the email marketing platform we recommend for beginners. You can sign up for free and use the system for one audience and one email list. You will have to upgrade if you want to create multiple lists (do this later). MailChimp is intuitive and easy to use. It has a range of email templates, marketing automation, and can integrate easily with WordPress (your website).
Canva
Canva – the design tool for non-designers! Canva is very versatile, but the free version is limited. You will get good templates with the free version, so start with them. If you want to upgrade after you get familiar with the tool, you can, but you don’t have to to make money online. Check it out and start designing logos, ebooks, PDF downloads, business cards, and way more!
Payment Platform
You will need some type of Payment Platform so you can actually collect money. Payment Platforms like PayPal and Stripe are good to start with because they don’t charge setup fees or monthly fees. However, they will charge you per transaction and there may have additional costs associated with it if the currency comes from another country. This is one of the hardest things to figure out as a newbie. Eventually, if you’re successful in your online business, you’ll want to get an LLC and a business bank account.
ChatGPT
ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence tool that answers questions and performs tasks by sourcing a big portion of the internet. This tool can help you get started with ideas, content creation, technology, and way more. It was developed by Open AI which is an Artificial Intelligence non-profit research company. Read this blog post: https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt to understand the possibilities.
Social Media
You will need to build an audience that gives you a consistent stream of people looking at your content (whether those are digital products, digital services, eCourses, eBooks, etc.). This is also quite hard for beginners. The 300 friends or followers you have now are not going to cut it. It will give you a starting point, but you’ll need to create an audience around a specific niche (or category/market). Tiktok, Youtube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Linkedin are all free to use.
Things you’ll need that do cost money
Domain Name
You will need to buy a domain name for your website. You will want to check which domain names are available within your niche (or market). Or you can simply just choose yourname.com if that’s available. We recommend using NameCheap. It’s a good way to store your domain names and then you can point them to your hosting provider to get your website online. Available domain names usually cost about $8 to $13 per year (so it’s a very minimal cost).
Hosting Services
You will need to buy hosting services. This is how you get your website on the internet. Hosting services can range a great deal. But if you use WordPress, then we would recommend going with WPEngine or GoDaddy. For good hosting providers, the cost will range from $150 to $350 per year. They will give you an option to pay monthly, but that will increase the overall yearly cost. But do what is right for you – follow your dreams to the extent that you can afford them!