When building an online business there are some basic tools and resources you must utilize to effectively leverage your time and scale your business. I will go through these tools and only recommend what I have used and know to personally work well. Check back regularly as I will continue to add tools and resources that will help you.

1. Domain Name

Registering a domain name will add professionalism and credibility to your business(ex. yourbusinessname.com). I use Namecheap because it is simple, problem free and costs about $9/yr. Go Daddy is also very popular among marketers.

2. Autoresponder

If your involved(or going to get involved) in a home business and don’t use an autoresponder, you are leaving a lot of money on the table. An autoresponder provides a means for you to stay in contact with your customers and potential customers and continue to build relationships with them. Remember, not everyone buys the first time they visit your site.

You can upload your own autoresponder to your hosting account, but for less than $20/month I would recommend a 3rd party service like Getresponse or Aweber (you can try either one for free) because of the high deliverability rate they achieve and they are responsible to be in full compliance of the spam laws which lets you concentrate on building your business. *Update, after months of testing, I have switched my autoresponder service over to Imnica Mail as I find it gives you the most bang for your buck (you can get started with a list size up to 5000 for $9/month).

3. Capture Page/Squeeze Page

A lead capture page is a page made to catch the attention of the reader, making them want to go deeper into the site to find out more information. The page has a form on it where the reader must usually put in their name and email (your autoresponder) to get more information. Many home businesses provide you with lead capture pages for you to use, but I recommend you have your own to stand out from the crowd.

You can build your own(I use Kompozer software, it’s easy and free) if you have the skill or have someone build you one(check out the Warrior Forum or Elance for cheap outsourcing).  Also, you can get a turnkey capture page system(Google it). Here is a pretty slick one that is free and even allows you to embed your autoresponder into it, it’s called Prospect Blazer, go check it out.

4. Webhosting

A web host is a company that has computers (servers) that are hooked up to the internet 24/7. Okay, here’s the deal, you don’t need this right when you start, but having a hosting account gives your business that professional feel. So to get your web page onto the internet, you’ll to need to find some reliable and inexpensive web hosting.

I use Just Host, it’s reliable and cheap(less than $4/month).  Bluehost and Host Gator are also popular with internet marketers.

5. Blog/Website

Remember, your business should be built around you and not you around a business. A blog and website are crucial in “getting your message out”. Quite frankly, I would suggest starting with your own blog over your own website because of the obvious benefits.

  1. You can actually run your business from your blog.
  2. Search engines love blogs, they get indexed quicker.
  3. Your building your brand while you blog.
  4. Blogs are free and easy to build and maintain.

The best blogging platforms to use are WordPress and Blogger, go open an account and get familiar with them. Also, if you want to build a free website yourself try Yola.

6. Audio/Video Services

Adding audio and video to your sites is proven to increase conversions up to 400% over a static web page. So using these services to grow your business is a no-brainer. Free video sharing sites like You Tube, Viddler, and Vimeo should be used for driving traffic to your website because of their viral nature.

Paid services like Amazon’s EZs3 and BYOaudio give you complete control in the management of all your media files and are very easy to use. The players are customizable which gives your site a more professional look.

There are more tools and resources that I will continue to add, but this will get your business going strong.