Online and Attraction Marketing Toolbox

Can you make some money online without a start-up investment in any internet marketing tools?

I think so….

Can you REALLY make serious money online without investing in knowledge and tools to help you blog and market your venture?

Most likely not, and the many offers that flood the market are often making false promoses.

Your time is the most precious commodity you have when running your own internet business!

After all, that is why you wanted to build income online and work from home. I think at the end of the day we all want more time for the things that matter most to us, like traveling, spending time with family, and even building that retirement income.

The last thing you want to do or should be doing is slaving over your computer 16+ hours per day!

So here’s the list of internet marketing tools, resources, and affiliates that I have used or currently use in this site and in my business. I only promote and share tools that I have personally tested and used, and most likely currently use. There is a lot of stuff online, but I only share tools and resources after putting it to the test myself.

Last note: yes, most of these links are affiliate links; that’s how I am able to work from home and coach others in building their business online too. So if you like what you see, feel free to ask a question, send me a note, and by all means use my link so I may continue to travel with world with friends and do the things I enjoy… instead of working for someone else. BTW… I will help you to of the same too…

Attraction Marketing Tools

Internet Marketing Tools: Start with a Blog!

A very common questions is this: Can I start a blog for Free?

The answer is simple: Yes. However, this is a short term solution and may limit what you can do online, how much organic traffic you will get, and how much income you can generate.

In short there are two types of blogs: Hosted and Non-Hosted. Many people start with a Non-Hosted blog (generally a free blog) and quickly learn that they are not getting any traffic and have some limits as to what they can do online. If you start out this way, you should know that you will most likely scrapping it and moving to a hosted blog later, which is sometimes sooner than later, when you learn a few things about marketing online. You will save yourself a lot of time in the long run if you start with a hosted site now.

Trust me on this one: start it right from the beginning and you won’t have to go through the pains of redoing things later, like I had to do.

The fact is you only need a few foundational internet marketing tools to get going.

Get Me Branded

1. WordPress is the standard in Blogging. Do not settle for anything else, even though it might sound easier and quicker to get started. There are other platforms available, but WordPress is the best solution for the masses. Self-hosted WordPress is the ONLY way to go. Free Blog Factory is agreat solutionas they will have you up and running quickly and easily, and for FREE. There are many starter themes preloaded, and lot of training to help you get started. There are several upgrades you can get, but in a nutshell this is a great company as you reallty do get a lot of value from their service.

2. Hosting Account. This will cost about $10 per month, but there is some options for annual accounts that will save you money. There are many choices out there, again I would recommend choosing a hosting plan with Free Blog Factory. They will do all the behind the scenes set up (which is a confusing process when you are new). There really is no additional cost, it is just part of the plan and you will have access to a great hosting company.

3. Domain Name (about $10 per year). I recommend GoDaddy.com to everyone as hands down they have the best support. You can use my link and get a domain for about $7.50 for the first year. Get your own name (if available) and I always recommend getting the .com.

4. Blog Theme & Design ($87 – $399). When you get set up with Free Blog Factory there are many free and premium themes that are included in the package. There are many free WP themes available out there. However, if you want to be taken seriously, take your blog seriously! You can get started with a free theme and learn a few basics and then upgrade. You do not have to spend a fortune, but a clean, easy to customize, and SEO optimized theme is critical to your success. I use and recommend The Thesis Theme. This is by far one of the best themes available; especially for home business and affiliate marketing.

5. Email auto responder Tool (about $19 per month to start). When I started my blog, I placed little attention on list building…. big mistake! You want to start building a list early so you can build a relationship with your followers. To do this effectively, you need a solid email list management tool. I use and recommend Aweber for the simple reason: they are the best. Aweber is easy to use, has great support, and has the highest deliver rate in the industry.

Blog Setup, Essentials, and Tools

Get Started with Your Brand Online:

Setting up a blog is actually much easier than most think. The items below are much like a check list, start with picking a domain name, then set up your blog, add a email management tool and upgrade to a custom theme. In no time at all, you will be well on your way to establishing your brand online.

Go Daddy – Start here! Go to the site and pick your name. Chose your own name, or pick a brand name but get a “.com.”
Free Blog Factory - This is your one stop shop for set up, install, and hosting. Let the team get you set up and running fast.
Aweber – You will need a email management tool to communicate with your list, and Aweber is simply the best!
Thesis Theme – This is optional, but highly recommended. The SEO tools built into the theme are invaluable. Start with a free theme with Free Blog Factory and upgrade to Thesis when you learn a few basics.

Now Add These Must Have Plug-ins

After you get started with your blog, you will want to pimp it out a bit to get the most from your followers. The list below is a few amazing Plug-in’s that I have come to see as a necessity for your new blog. Theses are awesome social engagement tools. You will want to add this sooner rater than later, as they will help you to build a following, make your blog more interactive, and drive more traffic.

CommentLuv Premium – This is my favorite plug-in and a must have. This bad boy will help you to build back links within your site as an incentive for your readers. This is a four part tool, that adds CommentLuv links to comments, protects your blog from spam, encourages twitter followers, and adds keywords to names to increase traffic and comments.
Comment Redirect by Yoast – With this plug in you can redirect commenters who just made their first comment to a page of your choice. On this page, you could ask them to subscribe to your blog, like you on Facebook, share affiliates, and anything else.
ReplyMe – This is a great way to engage your past visitors. This tool sends an email to the comment author automatically when someone replies to their comment.
Sharebar – This is a very handy way to encourage readers to share content no matter where they are on a page. Adds a dynamic bar with sharing icons (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) that changes based on browser size and page location.
Tweet Old Posts – Love this tool! Randomly picks your older posts and tweets automatically. The primary function of this plugin is to promote older blog posts and putting more attention on them, they by generating more traffic automatically.
Twitter @ Anywhere Plus – This plugin allows you to easily add Twitter @Anywhere to your blog, and help to engage more on twitter.

Social Media – Attraction Tools

Buffer.com – This is one of my favorite tools. Buffer will allow you to schedule tweets and easily add them to your buffer to be sent out at pre-set times. There is both Facebook and twitter scheduling; it is especially useful for twitter. Start out with the free account, and upgrade as needed.
MarketMeSuite – This is a complete social media dashboard. You will be able to manage. schedule, and track your posts with all of your social media accounts from one location. This tool is a must if you have more than one Twitter account and best of all it is free.
TweetAdder – This tool the BOMB! TweetAdder will build a following of thousands of followers on twitter. There are many tools built in to the tool, but if you are serious about marketing on twitter this is simply the best tool available and allows me to market to thousands of followers on four different twitter accounts in just minutes a day.