my favorite business tools

resources

Tell me TheCyberhustler & Glamber Alert aren't some of the most beautiful blogs you've ever seen when you know they are! Well they were built on Showit! After seeing other sites that were built on this platform, I had to have it! You'll have the freedom to conjure pure magic without coding + it has Wordpress integration!

Design chic emails with ease! Enjoy a free 30-day trial when you sign up & %50 off their subscription price for life when you use THECYBERHUSTLER. I have never found it easier to have a mailing list. In fact, the 18 years I've owned websites, I'd always start one & get overwhelmed. With Flodesk, it's been CAKE.

No design skills whatsoever? Well with Canva, you... CAN! I design professionally but I still use Canva to create beautiful eBooks & social media graphics on the fly. It is free to use but you should def upgrade to Pro for full access to all they have to offer like the ability to save your brand kit(fonts & colors).

Automate your Pinterest strategy & grow your organic traffic by scheduling pin posts via Tribes that puts your content in front of the most amount of eyes in the shortest amount of time. If your blog is brand new: no biggie! Pinterest is more of a search engine so it's easier to be found. Try Tailwind free for a month!

It's THE e-Commerce platform to build your store on & arguably one of the best content management systems on the market. Celebs like Kim K(Skims) even use it as do I for iRockstarz & soon, here. I def recommend Shopify to anyone that would prefer not to handle much maintenance/code. Try it for 14 days free!

Get your branded email address for as low as $6 monthly with Google. It probably never occurred to you to mind but a yahoo, gmail, or etc looks very basic & unprofesh for businesses. Opt for name[@]yourbusiness.com as it conveys trust & legitimacy. I have 3 of them for 3 of my brands. Try it free for 14 days!

Are you looking to start your own blog or business website? BlueHost offers shared hosting for as low as $2.95 monthly when you subscribe for a year that comes with a free domain. Sweetest Dreams Slumber Co. is 1 of the websites I built there for Dallas-based friends of mine that do beautiful teepee rentals.

Virtual businesses addresses for the low low! I purchased mine because I work in cyberspace. As a home based business, it's just unsafe to use this address on my shops or email siggys. I also love that iPostal1 receives & forwards my packages to my home which is especially handy when I collaborate with brands.

IMO, basic graphic design skills are a major key to success. Teaching myself to use Photoshop & other Adobe programs changed my life. What I love most about them is that the possibilities are endless. Canva is badass but I doubt it will ever be as robust as the suite of goodies in Adobe Creative Cloud. Try it free for 7 days!

I can't even begin to ponder how many HOURS I've spent on this marketplace spending hella coin on design assets! It's a gold mine for fonts, mockups, social media templates, website themes, stock photos, & more. Maybe don't bother setting a budget before you go on there because that never works for me haha!

Another "all the things" market for assets such as themes for Shopify/Wordpress, plugins, video/audio effects, icons, stock footage/photography, royalty-free music & so many other goodies! It's one of those places you shop if you like to be unique & don't mind investing in your brand to ensure that it is.

I hardcore preach brand consistency and when your stock photos are sourced from many different websites, it won't be long before your branding turns into a big ole mess. With Haute Stock, a professional cohesive aesthetic is guaranteed. My favorite thing about them is their photos feature women of color like myself. RARE.

If you like premium business cards that last & represents the luxe factor of your business with quality paper options, Moo is the place. This is where I have mine printed and my favorite thing about it is being able to print gold foil in prominent spots on the card. My LeCocoDecor biz cards always received hella compliments!

Want to open an online store without any inventory? For years, I've used this print on demand company to print, package & ship my custom designed merch on autopilot. From t-shirts to mugs, it's so many products to choose from. They integrate seamlessly with e-commerce platforms like Shopify & Woocommerce.

I know, I know! A music subscription isn't a business tool, right?! Wrong! It is when I use it! I need music like I need air & I have a huge musical scale with notes tattooed across my lower back to prove it! Vibes must be created when creating. Whether I need motivation or to mellow, there are unlimited bops for every mood!