Recommended ‘New Business’ Resources

ResourcesThere is more opportunity nowadays than there ever has been in the history of western civilization to market and expand our businesses. However, with so many options out there, in regards to services and products that you can utilize to help grow our business, it can sometimes become a little confusing.

I figured it would be a good idea to put together a list of helpful resources that you can come back to regularly for your 'new business' needs. Because of this, I anticipate updating it often, so I strongly suggest you create it as a separate bookmark (hit Ctrl+D now!), for easy access in the future.

Disclaimer: Some of the links below are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I might earn a commission, or be compensated in some way. However, please note that these are resources, tools, etc., that I’ve either used in the past, or continue to use personally; or come from helpful companies or individuals that I know and trust… That’s why I’m listing them here for you! If you click on any of 'em, thank you!

Virtual Assistants & Outsourcing

Virtual Staff Finder - My VA match-making company. Since inception we’ve helped hundreds and hundreds of entrepreneurs and businesses bring calm to the outsourcing chaos, by finding them the best Filipino VA’s in the country. If you’re looking for a part-time or full-time virtual assistant solution, this is where you need to go.

And, yes… I am biased! It’s a damn good service.

Outsource to the Philippines - This is a collection of all my outsourcing material (video, podcasts, written content) that focuses purely on working with outsourced staff from the Philippines. Everything you need is here.

The Definitive Guide to Outsourcing to the Philippines - My best-selling Amazon Kindle book on the subject of… well, you can guess from the title. Everything covered from where to find Filipinos to work for you, how to pay them, work with them, things to avoid, etc.

Elance & Odesk - Never outsourced tasks before? Start on one of these sites and then look for a more permanent solution, such as the aforementioned Virtual Staff Finder, when you’re ready to take it to the next level.

Building an Online Presence

Bluehost - The best ‘starter’ hosting company around. Not only affordable, but comes with a free domain name, too! Also, their cPanel access is very easy to navigate for tech-idiots (like me!). With ‘one-click’ WordPress installation, you’ll be up and running in no time at all!

WordPress – This is the only way to build your blog and business sites, as far as I’m concerned. Everything I do online is based around the WordPress platform. Easy to use, extremely customizable. Enough said.

Thesis Theme – What does it do? You’re looking at it. Easily the best WordPress theme available, and highly customizable. Very simple to set-up and get going with. Built with SEO and page load speed in mind, the Thesis theme is what I run this site, and many others on.

Marketers Delight – This is what’s sitting on top of Thesis, here at ChrisDucker.com. This premium theme by Alex and the guys over at KolaKube is top-notch, and very easy to play around with, in terms of layout. It focuses on two things – great presentation and collecting email addresses!

Woo Themes – I built my first site, and many others using premium-designed WordPress themes from these guys. They are still some of my favorites. Very high quality, great value and easy to play around with, these are well worth checking out.

Email Marketing and List Building

Aweber – It’s all about the list, baby! If you’re serious about creating a long-term virtual business and making money online, you need to start building an email marketing list – NOW! Aweber is the best piece of kit that I’ve come across for doing exactly this. All of my blogger buddies use it, too!

Selling Stuff Online

Digital Delivery App - This is what I use for selling pretty much all of my stuff online. They have a remarkably easy-to-use dashboard, great additional options, and overall offer their customers the best support Ive come across. I truly love the ease of using this service. Make sure you check it out. Fully compatible with Paypal.

e-Junkie – This is what helped me make my first bits of passive income online, and I still use regularly. It’s cheap, reliable and relatively simple to use. Also comes with a cool affiliate store if you want to sell your products through it, and it’s compatible with Paypal and most other online processing merchants.

Paypal – The big player in online payment processing. You know them. You’ve heard of them. And you trust ‘em! I use Paypal for taking care of all of my online payments. Everything.

Online Video

Splasheo – Have you seen my cool video intro, outro and lower-third animations yet? If not, watch this video, and then check out these guys. Headed up by my online video Yoda (seriously, that’s what I call him!), Gideon Shalwick, this is the service to get your videos look ‘pro’ for very little investment.

iPhone Video Hero - Created by Jules, a 20+ year TV and film veteran (he’s worked with guys like the BBC!), this course shows you exactly what you can do with your iPhone to create incredibly hot looking videos to help promote your business and brand.

GideonShalwick.com - As mentioned above, my online video go-to-guy. I’ve known Gideon for several years and he’s one of the nicest, most genuine people you’ll ever meet. He’s also got some serious marketing chops, on top of his video geek side!

Screenflow – The editing software I use for all of the videos I put out online. It’s only available on the Mac, but is so simple to use, if you’re on a PC you might just start thinking about ‘making the move’ over!

Podcasting

Audio Technica AT2020 USB Mic - This is the mic I use on my own personal podcasts. It’s well priced, a pleasure to use, easy to speak into and makes you sound like James Earl (“Search your soul, Luke, you know it to be true…”) Jones.

Podcast Answer Man – I could try and tell you about how to podcast, in fact I do in the New Business Bootcamp – but, believe me, I aint got nothing on my man Cliff Ravenscraft. He’s the only guy you need to tune into to learn how to podcast properly.

Entrepreneurial Productivity

Dropbox – The quickest, easiest and most reliable way to share documents (written, photos, audio and video files) with your virtual assistants and co-online buddies and partners. I seriously use this thing almost hourly during my work day!

Evernote – Great note collector that can help you become super productive. Available on the web, iPad, iPhone and everywhere else where you need to make a note, clip something to read later and then move on. I love this thing.

Moleskine – The only notepad entrepreneurs should use. Ever.

Mobile Apps (All iPhone & iPad)

Bamboo Stylus – The only stylus I would ever buy now, going forward. I’ve tried a whole bunch of ‘em on my iPad, and this is the only one that really feels and writes like a real pen. Seriously.

Simple Note – It is what it says it is. Let’s you make simple text notes on the go. I use this on my iPhone and iPad, daily. Blog post idea enter your mind? Snap!

Facebook Page Manager – Since I started using this iPhone app, I honestly cant remember using the regular Facebook app to update my Facebook pages – any of them. I love it. And it’s just had an update, making it even faster.

iWriter – Very minimalistic writing app that I use on my iPad. I write a lot of my blog content here, and then bring it over to WordPress.

Bamboo Paper – Man, it doesn’t get any sweeter than this when it comes to jotting down ideas, sketching, mindmapping quickly, etc., on the iPad. Thoroughly enjoy using this baby almost daily.