RESOURCES
This page is created for you to use when you’re looking for worthy tools to help you create a business and life you love. This page gets updated all the time so make sure to bookmark it for later use. Enjoy!
RESOURCES
This page is created for you to use when you’re looking for worthy tools to help you create a business and life you love. This page gets updated all the time so make sure to bookmark it for later use. Enjoy!
Before you read on know this… the list below is pretty large, but all of these tools, apps and resources play a huge part in my life so that’s why I use them, some of them took me years to stumble upon. Without a doubt, I wouldn’t be able to do what I do in my life and business if it wasn’t for all of the resources below. Trust me when I say this… they’re worth their weight in GOLD!
My Most Recommended
Out of all the tools, software, products, services and gadgets I use these ones are my most loved and used ones that I can’t live without.
Drip: is a great tool that every internet marketer shouldn’t be without. When I first started an online business I didn’t have an email marking account and I lost a lot of money, but I did learn why having one is so important. I’ve had many email service providers in the past and this one is hands down the best in my opinion. The service is much more powerful because it allows you to create highly targeted workflows based on actions from your subscribers among other things.
Center: is a powerful tool that integrates with all of your favorite business and marketing apps and automates actions between them. If you’re looking to grow your ROI then this tool is a MUST! I highly recommend you head over to their site and watch their demo videos because you will see first hand how powerful this tool can be for your business.
LeadPages: you might already know I understand how to build websites using HTML, but I still resort back to using Lead Pages to create landing pages for the many offers I run. Without this tool, I would not have as much time for many things, as it takes a lot of time to create landing pages.
1Password: I like having passwords that are strong and almost imposable for someone else to remember as first glance. However, that poses a problem because then you might not remember it yourself, that’s where this hardly little app comes into play. Create just one password to remember them all, you input your password to open the app and then BOOM! All your passwords, loving, and data in one convenient place, by the way, you can use this handle little tool across all your devices (Mac, iPhone, Android and Windows).
Trello: is the tool I use for many things (client management, social media scheduling, team tasks, and so much more). The really amazing part thing about this tool is that I have hundreds of clients, tasks, ideas, boards, and it doesn’t cost me a thing. You can upgrade for some perks, but I still haven’t and I use this tool for so much with my business and personal life. Must have tool!
SetMore: is by far the best scheduling app out there. I’ve used many different scheduler apps and they’re all crap except this once. They give you notifications to you and your clients (or whoever is getting you). If you need to manage your time and block out time then this is the solution you’ve been looking for. By the way you can use it across all your devices (Mac, iPhone, Android and Windows).
SocialWarfare: When it comes to your website you want to get social shares and not all social sharing plugins are the same. This plugin allows you to share specific images on social platforms. For example, if a reader shares a Facebook image and then wants to share the article over on Pinterest you want a Pinterest sized image to be on Pinterest and a Facebook-sized images on Facebook. Well… this plugin will let you do just that and more. Stop blending in with the rest of the crowd and start dominating the world’s social networks. This is the only social sharing WordPress plugin you need so go get yours ASAP!
My Writing Tools
Scrivener: is the only way to write and compose words. I used to be the type of writer who would have folder after folder of docs, ideas, and everything else… it made writing and creating content really hard. Ever since I stumbled upon this tool I could never go back to any other writing tool. I have thousands of blog posts, ideas, folders, and so much more all under one single file which is AMAZING! I also have that one file located in my DropBox folder so it’s all secure and backed up.
Grammarly: is a web app that lets you eliminate grammar errors, improve your text, detect plagiarism, and loads more. I’ve never been all that great at grammar and editing and that’s why I love this tool. You can also install it into your web browser and it will perform it’s magic wherever you’re writing on the web (Facebook, email, ect…).
Hemmingway: is a tool that makes your writing bold and clear. The app highlights long, complex sentences and common errors and give you the ability to make them better. I’ve really come to like this tool as I will pop in some text and change it up without having to think much. I highly recommend it.
Evernote: is an app that can be used for many things and what I have been using it for is idea capture, website bookmarking, email PreScripting, and a few other things that my team benefits from. The nice thing about his app is you can use it from anywhere (Mac, iPhone, Android and Windows) which always you to always jot down new ideas or use your email scripts to respond to people without having to always come up with new emails to the same questions. I love to systematize my businesses process and this is one of the tools I use to get the job done.
Pandora: is an app that lets you stream music. I have deep roots to music and when I write I always try to get into the writing mode. Pandora lets me get into my “writing mode” faster by listening to soothing and inspirational tunes. I set up a custom channel on the app using artists like: The Cinematic Orchestra. Music like The Cinematic Orchestra will do wonders for you when it comes to writing. If you’re going to use this app for the same reasons I do (writing) then you should purchase their monthly subscription to go ad free, there’s nothing worse than trying to write and have an annoying ad start pitching you all the crap.
RainyMood: is another great app to get you to focus, relax, and sleep great. I love the rain and every night when I go to sleep I flip on the rain sound. I often times listen to the rain when I write and work because it just gets me in the mood. The RainyMood can be listened for free on a web browser or you can get the paid version for $2.99 to get some premium perks and able to play it from an app on your phone. It’s well worth it.
My Social Media Tools
Buffer: is all you need to schedule your social media posts. I’ve used almost every social scheduler tool out there and this one is the best in my mind. The thing I love a lot about the service is first it’s very simplistic and easy to use. The second thing I like it that the service lets you shuffle your social media messages with the push of a button. Truly a must have tool if you plan to get anywhere with social media.
ManageFlitter: is a specific social media tool for Twitter. I’ve really gone all in on the Twitter platform having a lot if Twitter accounts scattered throughout many markets. The tool lets you unfollow, follow, bio search & see a whole bunch of analytics for your Twitter. I can’t think of a better tool for Twitter.
CrowdFire: is a social media engagement tool to grow your following. The service gives you a whole sweet of online marketing tools where you can have social media strategy and marketing injected into your business. I’ve used it for a few years now and I don’t think I will ever get rid of it.
My Website Tools
WordPress: I could not have the businesses I have without this amazing tool. I’ve built thousands of sites in my time and they’ve all happened by using WordPress. If you want a website then you need to use this tool and forget about all the others.
UpDraftPlus: is a website backup tool for sites that use WordPress. I’ve had my sites hacked, lose service, and shut down for one reason or another and there’s nothing I could have done to back them up until I started using this service. I can rest easy knowing that my sites are backed up on a daily basis by having this service. If you have a website don’t make the mistake I did by not having a backup solution. Get this tool and you will thank you me later.
WishList Member: is a powerful yet easy to use membership software solution that can turn any WordPress site into a full-blown membership site. Owning a web development company a few years ago gave me the ability to build all kinds of membership sites and for the longest time I didn’t find a tool that would do it all for the membership sites until I stumbled on this one. Currently, this is the one I use for all my membership sites.
VisualComposer: is a WordPress page builder plugin with intuitive drag and drop interface. Honestly… I LOVE THIS TOOL! You can (without any HTML or code) build website pages fast. With the tool you have the ability to create unlimited layouts for your website. If you use WordPress then you MUST get this tool.
PrettyLinks: is a Plugin for WordPress that will enable you to shrink, cloak, track, organize, share and test all of your links on your own domain and server. You can turn a long link into a link like this: scotthurtado.com/PrettyLinks
Bitly: is a link shorter that I like to use for social and online marketing efforts. This tool works much like the PrettyLinks shorter, but you don’t need to memorize the link so the purpose is just to really shorten long links for social media, email, and online marketing.
VisualComposer: is the most complete WordPress SEO plugin I’ve ever used. It handles the technical optimization of your site & assists with optimizing your content. What more could you ask for. 😀
SamCart: is the only solution for your business check out process that I recommend. When it comes to making sales online you need to have a good looking checkout process. This is the solution. You can also have the tool upsale/downsale products which can increase your business average order value (AOV).
Stripe: is a simple and extremely powerful payment/merchant gateway. Being in the business I am in there are days when I have to do some big transactions and what I don’t want to have to do is wait days or weeks to get the funding. This really great tool is just a gem to add to your business and it’s free to setup. The tool also integrates with SamCart And many other tools for ease of use.
Square Cash: is a handy little app that makes it really easy to receive and send money. The nice thing about the app is it lets you send and receive money without any fees. However, when you do the “free” way it will take a few extra days to get the money, you can pay a small percentage to get the money instantly. Personally, I love this app because there are times when I have to pay people and there’s no faster way than to use this app.
Amazon AWS is a reliable, scalable, and inexpensive cloud computing services. Free to join, pay only for what you use which is really awesome. If you need scalable web services then you need to put your site on this service. Amazon AWS is so powerful! You can really scale to the moon and back. With the service, your site is will be in damn good hands.
Webinar Jam: is a tool that gives you full control to host webinars without breaking the bank or the internet. With the service you can seamlessly switch back and forth between different video signals: a slide presentation, your screen desktop, your webcam, any specific application running on your computer, a Word or PDF document, etc. It’s awesome and you should give it a try because webinars are one of the single most powerful things to grow your list, profits, and get eyes on what you have to offer.
Ever Webinar: is a very powerful automated webinar platform. Live video is the new thing since 2016 and every day it’s growing. This toll gives you the ability to upload your video and set it up to give the impression it’s live. It’s one of the ways in which you create an evergreen funnel that will get new people into your offers effortlessly. You can upload a live webinar (comments and all) to have the same effect overtime someone watches it as if it’s a live webzine. It’s pure awesomeness.
WooBox: is a great tool that can help you run giveaways to drive more sales and growth. One of the amazing things I do within my business and for my clients is give aways. Your prospects want what you have to offer and when you give then discounts or free stuff they will come into your business by the masses with giveaways. This tool gives you the ability to execute everything flawlessly.
Disqus: is a powerful comment and native ads solution. I’ve never really liked the build in WordPress comment system and that’s because someone has to create an account or log into your site to comment. With this tool, someone can push a button and log in through Facebook. It’s a faster and easier option for the reader to leave their feedback on your site.