The Tools We Use at Self Managed Business

Anthony | February 8, 2020

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At Self Managed Business we test a lot of tools.  We want to figure out what works and use the tool to run our business.

This page contains links and descriptions of the tools, software and hardware we use at Self Managed Business.

Disclosure:  Some of the links you will discover below are affiliate links.  At no additional cost to you, Self Managed Business will earn a commission if you purchase from clicking one of these links and purchasing the product.

We recommend these products because we use them for our own businesses.  (Note: some of these tools will require you to train your team or yourself on how to use them effectively)

Click one of the links below to see the tools we recommend and use at Self Managed Business.
  1. Website
  2. Business Management
  3. Landing Pages
  4. Hosting/Domain Registration
  5. Membership Sites
  6. Email Marketing
  7. Split Testing
  8. Screen Capture
  9. Video
  10. Payment Processing and CRM
  11. Website Development
  12. Productivity
  13. Virtual Meeting/Webinar
  14. Social Media
  15. Graphic Design/Images
  16. Customer Service
Website
  1. WordPress –  Easy, free and very customizable.  We use WordPress for all of our websites and blogs.
  2. StudioPress – Well designed and well supported WordPress themes for building blogs and websites.  Many of the themes are mobile responsive. You can check out our growing range of Genesis based mobile responsive themes on SourceWebsite.com
  3. Theme Forest – Massive selection of WordPress themes.  If you are unable to find the theme you want at StudioPress, head over to Theme Forest.
  4. Google Analytics – We’ve tried the more expensive analytics solutions and we keep coming back to good ol’ Google Analytics.
  5. Sucuri – We use Sucuri to monitor our websites for malware and clean up the website if we get hacked.
  6. BackUp Buddy – Back up your WordPress website so you can restore if your site crashes or gets hacked
Business Management
  1. Google Apps for Business & WordPress – Wordpress – Easy, free and customizable.  We use WordPress for all of our websites and blogs. Get customised email and more with Gmail for work. It also helps employees get things done while collaborating more quickly and efficiently
Landing Pages
  1. OptimizePress 2 – We build landing pages and membership sites using Optimize Press 2.  Pick from a list of templates that are proven to work or build your own.  We use Optimize Press to build most of our long-form sales pages.
  2. Lead Pages – We use Lead Pages to build most of our opt-in squeeze pages and Video Sales Letter pages.
Hosting/Domain Registration
  1. Liquidweb – We’re currently using Liquidweb (product review) to host selfmanagedbusiness.com
  2. Rackspace – an alternative to Liquidweb
  3. Media Temple – For a cheaper hosting solution we have used and recommend Media Temple.
  4. HostGator – If you are just starting out and are looking for low-cost hosting, we recommend HostGator.
  5. GoDaddy – We register all of our domains at GoDaddy.  The interface is straight forward and the price is right.
Membership Sites
  1. WordPress + Ontraport + Nanacast  – We use the Nanacast to verify member access with Ontraport.
  2. OptimizePress – We build the membership pages and sales funnels in Optimize Press.
Email Marketing
  1. Ontraport – Most of our promotional email is sent through Ontraport.
  2. Maropost – we have been reviewing Maropost which is an enterprise level system that allows for sophisticated email list segmentation.
  3. AWeber – If you are just starting out we use and recommend AWeber for its deliverability and ease of use.
Split Testing
  1. Visual Website Optimizer – For simple ease of use in creating split and multi-variate website tests we recommend Visual Website Optimizer.  It’s point-and-click interface and support documentation make it easy to get started testing.
  2. Improvely –  Get Analytics that show how funnels are performing.
  3. Clickmeter – Create and track the performance of links.
  4. Yourls – we have installed Yourls on a separate domain for link tracking
Screen Capture
  1. Screenflow – If you’re using a Mac we recommend Screenflow for creating screencast video.  It’s simple to record and edit from within this program.
  2. Camtasia – For PC users we recommend using Camtasia.  Similar to Screenflow you can easily create and edit screencast video.
  3. Jing – For short form screencast video we use Jing.  You can turn it on, shoot a quick screencast video and shoot a link to a colleague or customer where they can view the video.
  4. SnagIt –  Capture almost anything on your screen, make edits, resize.  It’s a bloggers must have tool.
Video
  1. EZS3 – We use EZS3 to upload and deliver video that we host on Amazon S3.  We can customize the video player and generate the embed code from within EZS3.
  2. Wistia – We use Wistia to add email opt-ins and other calls-to-action to video.  It looks great on every device and has an awsome analytics suite.
  3. HandBrake – We use Handbrake to compress video and convert video from nearly any format into a format we can use.
  4. PowToon – Easily create explainer videos.
  5. Video Blocks – You’ll find a great selection of reasonably priced royalty free video on Video Blocks.  We use them to add a bit of flare to our videos.
Payment Processing and CRM
  1. Ontraport – We use Ontraport to manage our customers and send email
  2. Nanacast – We use Nanacast as our shopping cart for all digital products including membership sites.
  3. Square – We use Square to process credit card payments at our live events.
  4. NMI – NMI is a  reliable payment gateway for any business small or large.
Website Development
  1. Transmit – For Mac users we recommend Transmit for FTP, SFTP and to manage your files on Amazon S3.
  2. Filezilla – For PC user we recommend Filezilla for FTP and SFTP.  It’s free and has great support.
  3. Versions – For Mac users we recommend Versions for version control and tracking changes made to files.
Productivity
  1. Evernote – The ultimate productivity tool for syncing information across all of your devices.  Highly searchable.
  2. Slack – We sue Slack as our pirvate Instant message platform within the office.  You can share google files and create private chat areas.  An alternative to this is the Atlassianproduct known as HipChat
  3. Gliffy – We use Gliffy to draw diagrams and map out plans and flow for  our marketing funnels.
  4. Trello – We use Trello as our project management platform.  We can share files, track progress and collaborate on specific projects from within Trello. An alternative to Trello that we are currently reviewing is Podio.
  5. Google Docs – We use Google Docs to store and collaborate on documents that we use and update often.
Virtual Meeting/Webinar
  1. GoToMeeting – We use GoToMeeting for small meetings where we need screen sharing capability.
  2. GoToWebinar – We use GoToWebinar to deliver and record large webinars to customers and prospects.
Social Media
  1. HootSuite Pro – We use Hootsuite Pro to manage Twitter, Instagram, Google + and occasionaly respond to Facebook customer requests.  We like how simple it is to add Google UTM parameters within Hootsuite and its cloud based.
Graphic Design/Images
  1. Dreamstime – We use Dreamstime to purchase royalty free images for blog posts and other marketing collateral.  They have a very large selection and good pricing.
  2. Adobe Creative Cloud – We use Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, Premiere Pro and occasionally Dreamweaver in-house to create and edit graphics, web pages and video.
Customer Service
  1. Zendesk – We use Zendesk to manage customer service both through email and phone.

 

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About the Author

Anthony

How would you like to attract more leads, convert these leads into paying clients and deliver more value to these clients? Join a team of like-minded entrepreneurs who are generating more money, delivering meaning and have more freedom to live the lifestyle they choose