5 Pieces of Tech You Need as an Online Entrepreneur
5 Pieces of Tech You Need as an Online Entrepreneur
11/08/18
There are so many different sources of information floating around online regarding what it takes to actually start a business. Now, I’m a lucky one and so are my clients because they have created service-based businesses, meaning aside from the business registration and a couple programs there isn’t a large investment to get the business up and running.
But what do you do after you decide on a business name, buy the domain and register your business? That’s the mystery, isn’t it?
And rather than making a long list of all the things you DON’T need I wanted to make you an even shorter list of what you do because after building my own business from scratch and helping so many women do the same, I know that all the bells and whistles aren’t needed.
Today I’m sharing five pieces of tech you need to share your business with the world and start making sales.
*Please note affiliate links are included in this post because I love sharing products I have tested and love.
1. Email Marketing System
One of the most important pieces in running an online business is the power of your own list. Every single entrepreneur should be focused on growing their own list and community and nothing makes that easier than an email marketing system that automates your new subscriber onboarding and makes it easy to stay in contact with your community.
My personal favorite platform is Convertkit (try a free trial) and many of my beginner entrepreneurs use Mailchimp because of their amazing free features.
2. Landing Page Software
Now, note I didn’t say website or website platform - that’s because you don’t need one from the start of your business to share your services and make money.
The reality is building a website takes time and at the start of your business time is serious money. All you need to get started is a simple landing page, sharing your name, email, brand mission. If you have a free offer and opt-in ready to go or a sales page it can be used for that as well.
There are landing page specific platforms like Leadpages, but you can also build a simple Cover Page in Squarespace or a platform like Kajabi (try free for 30 days) which can later become the home of your beautifully crafted and branded webpage.
3. Contracts and Legal Documents
Ok, it’s time to get serious for a minute. I see too many entrepreneurs waiting to get their legal ducks in a row and the reality is they are putting themselves at serious risk.
If you plan on selling a course, signing 1:1 clients, selling packages and more you need a contract in place. I also recommend a Privacy Policy, Terms and Conditions and Disclaimer. My friend and attorney Christy Westerfeld, who is the guest legal expert for my group program Roadmap to Freedom, has amazing bundles and templates available on her site. Learn more at https://christywesterfeld.com.
4. Social Media Scheduler
Your ability to consistently show up for your audience, yes even in the very beginning, is going to help you increase your visibility, ultimately leading you to build a strong community and sign clients.
Entrepreneurs make the mistake at the beginning of just posting when they remember rather than utilizing one of the many tools available to help you streamline your social media content. My personal favorite is SmarterQueue (free 30-day trial) which allows you to post on multiple platforms and within groups, as well recycle your evergreen content for repeat posting.
Additional free options I recommend to my clients include Buffer and Later. The key is finding a platform that lets you do all of your posts at once, making it more time efficient for you and increasing the likelihood you will keep putting your story, brand and services out into the world.
5. Invoicing and Client Portal
Look, if you want to make sales in your business you’ve got to have a way to collect payment am I right? A CRM system that allows you to house your client information, send contracts, invoices (including repeat payments) and more is essential if you want to scale your business and I don’t know, sign a freaking client.
I’m a huge fan of Dubsado, which is always improving and adding new features for its users. It’s a one-stop shop CRM for all the backend you don’t want to do, but you kind of need to.
And that’s it my friends. In terms of tech, this will get you started right away with gaining visibility and signing clients - hello profitability.
However, there are still some business foundations that need to happen to ensure that:
• Your voice is actually heard.
• That the content you create gets engagement.
• That the marketing strategies you test out give you results
• AND SO MUCH MORE
Learn more about building a solid foundation at brandmerry.com/freedom.
And as always please share and comment on this blog post, I love connecting with you!
