Toolkit to plan, launch & charge for your online service.
You have the ideas, they have the tools & resources.
Whether or not we end up working together, I know for a fact that you will need from the following list of resources to launch your services online.
Hosting, domain, email, contracts, lead magnets, template designs…
You don’t have to go with all of them, but go ahead and order your starter pack a la carte.
Quick note: some of these suggestions sometimes have affiliate codes, which means that if you end up buying any of their service(s), you get a sweet deal and I get a referral fee for bringing them your business. It’s a symbiotic relationship where I curate great services, they offer chill deals for you, and I get to fill my beer tip jar.
For the moment, I’ve intentionally kept the list short & sweet to not overwhelm you with analysis paralysis so you can get to market, faster.
☝🏽 1. Research
Spy on your competitors, find out what their customers are saying about them, and put your game plan on how you’ll work harder, better, faster to deliver on your promise.
SpyFu
SpyFu makes it very easy to compare your own website with competitors, seeing which keywords you’re missing, and where you can improve.
Thumbtack
While the website is so that you may find local service providers, you can also see how they’re specializing within a niche (e.g. health > nutrition > keto diets) AND what their customers are saying about them.
Trademark Search (TESS)
A search engine that allows you to search the USPTO’s database of registered trademarks and prior pending applications to find marks that may prevent registration due to a likelihood of confusion refusal.
Google Trends
Explore what the world is searching.
☝🏽 2. Design
Create moodboards and bookmark the visual tone of your business. Build your library of visual assets to populate content pages on your website, social media, and print collateral.
Envato (Elements)
Unlimited downloads. Freedom to play, experiment and create. · 56+ million assets. All the creative assets you need under one subscription.
Unsplash
The internet’s source of freely-usable, high-resolution images.
Canva
Create your own designs, customize with drag-and-drop editing and upload your own images. An excellent tool if you know how to use Photoshop/Illustrator, but don’t have the time. Also an excellent tool if you don’t know how to use Photoshop/Illustrator and don’t have the time.
Coolors
The super fast color schemes generator! Create the perfect palette or get inspired by thousands of beautiful color schemes.
☝🏽 3. Launch
You know how you want to have the look & feel of your visual assets and your brand voice. It’s time to give it a home.
Divi (powered by WP)
You will LOVE this power couple more than what Ben Affleck and JLo will ever be able to achieve.
I’ve been using WordPress + Divi for over five years now. Yes, it has its hiccups, but designing on Divi is like buying your plot of land and building your brick-n-mortar bizz however you want.
Webflow
Similar to Canva, where you can either pick from an excellent array of templates if you don’t have time, or know how to design websites yourself, but don’t have time, Webflow is for you.
I myself, like to own my hosting and be in 100% charge of my domain.
However, if you just want another plug & play solution to get your face out there, this will be enough.
☝🏽 4. Maintain
Your website is live. Now it’s time to get organized, book clients, & charge for your services.
Asana
Track, manage, and connect your projects across any team. Get started for free. From lists to boards, to calendars and gantt charts, organize work your way.
Zoom
Zoom’s secure, reliable video platform powers all of your communication needs, including meetings, chat, phone, webinars, and online events.
Calendly
Calendly is the modern scheduling platform that makes “finding time” a breeze. When connecting is easy, you can get more done.
Stripe
Online payment processing for internet businesses. Stripe is a suite of payment APIs that powers commerce for online businesses of all sizes, especially budding & growing ones.
☝🏽 5. Campaign
Let’s automate your pitch and meet them at the right time with the right message. Not everyone will buy from you, at least not right away. Nurture your warm leads.
Mailchimp
I love LOVE Mailchimp. It’s one of the few software firms that doesn’t feel techy at all. They started as an email campaigns provider, but now you can also bring your audience data, marketing channels, and insights together so you can reach your goals faster—all from a single platform.
Wistia
One easy-to-use platform that turns your videos and podcasts into marketing machines. Engage your viewers with captivating videos and turn customers into brand advocates. On-site video has been shown to grow website traffic by 200–300%, boost lead conversion rates by 80%, and increase email open rates by 19%.
Conclusion
As I stated at the top of this post. This is list is by no means exhaustive; but it is geared for service businesses that need an online presence that says what they do, allows the site visitor to book appointments, charge for those appointments, and automate your marketing funnel to nurture warm leads.
Of course there’s way more to this, but this is where you can start. What else should I add? Drop your suggestions below in the comments.
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