tools & resources
As a content creator, designer, and small business owner myself, here are a few things I love and recommend.
Once you decide to start your own project, there will be a million things on your to-do list…
So that you don’t have to waste precious time and guess each step of the way, I have compiled a list of my go-to business tools and favorite resources that can be useful to you.
This page contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using those links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products and services I’ve used and trust! (full disclosure)
Domain & Hosting
Lyrical Host offers domain registration, WordPress hosting, professional emails, and fantastic support. Use the code HOSTING to get 10% off your first payment. This is my #1 recommendation!
BigScoots is a powerful managed hosting platform for both bloggers and businesses. Use the code SOFIA25 at checkout to save 25%.
A2 Hosting and Hostinger are affordable options for smaller sites that are just starting.
NameCheap is a domain registrar that makes it easy to find and manage your domain name affordably.
Stock Photos
Élevae Visuals offers beautiful stock photos, videos, templates, and graphics collections – perfect for feminine brands.
Styled Stock Society is another one of my go-to resources for stock images, including entire photoshoots to achieve a cohesive look. Start with a freebie!
Deposit Photos offers a massive library of photos and graphics for all types of businesses.
Moyo Studio sells elegant and minimalist mockups and stock photography collections. Use the code SOFIA15 at checkout to save 15%.
e-Commerce
ThriveCart‘s lifetime plan includes all the features you need to sell digital products and online courses.
SendOwl is a simple and reliable cart for digital product sellers.
SureCart generates invoices, calculates VAT, and keeps your WordPress site fast. I use it to run my own business!
Shopify is an excellent option for online shop owners.
Teachable is the best online course platform available today.
Etsy is an online marketplace for handmade and digital sellers.
Digital Marketing Must-Haves
RankIQ is an affordable content optimization tool. It lists the best low-competition keywords for your niche, generates AI SEO reports, and helps write content that ranks on search!
Website Essentials
WordPress Themes – lightweight themes for well-optimized websites that load fast: Kadence, Astra, or Blocksy.
Page Builders – drag-and-drop page builders for WordPress (perfect for DIYers): Brizy, Elementor, or Divi.
Explore my services – WordPress site setup and virtual assistance for creative entrepreneurs and small businesses.
Pre-made Website Templates – ready-to-use themes by some of my favorite industry colleagues: Restored 316 (I customize their themes for clients and couldn’t recommend them enough!), 17th Avenue (for Kadence and Genesis), Pix & Hue or Bluchic (for Elementor).
WordPress Plugins
RankMath – the #1 SEO plugin available for WordPress.
ShortPixel – a great way to speed up your site by optimizing all images quickly.
WP Rocket – speed up your WordPress site with the best caching plugin.
WPvivid – website and database backups saved to your cloud!
Social Warfare – my choice when it comes to social media share buttons (a must for bloggers and Pinterest users).
TranslatePress – for multilingual sites (great option for front-end translation).
Amelia – best booking plugin for WordPress (great option for beauty salons, spas, gyms, clinics, and more).
Design & Branding
Creative Market is a premium marketplace for all types of digital products. You can also find fonts with a web license for your site!
Creative Fabrica is another marketplace offering an affordable subscription to download all types of digital assets.
Design Bundles offers exclusive deals for premium digital resources starting at $1.
Font Bundles has a corporate license that allows you to use your favorite fonts in all branding and marketing materials.
My Fonts has a huge library of fonts for commercial use.
Top 3 Email Marketing Providers
MailerLite is one of the best (and most affordable) ESPs. You can start your list easily using all of their essential tools and use it for free up to 1000 subscribers. This is what I use for my business!
Legal Help
GetTerms is perfect for small business sites! It generates all the required legal pages in several languages and includes cookie popups.
Legal Bundle is my #1 recommendation for bloggers. In addition to training, Lucrezia offers plug-and-play legal templates.
A Self Guru by business lawyer and blogger Amira offers templates for legal pages and contracts for a variety of freelance businesses.
The Contract Shop offers legally binding contract templates, terms, and courses for creative businesses.
illow is a premium GDPR-compliant cookie solution for WordPress websites.
Business Essentials
LanguageTool is an online grammar, style, and spell checker that will help you write better and faster in any language.
TidyCal is a scheduling app that simplifies calendar management and helps you book appointments for various types of meetings (online and offline).
Elizabeth’s Profit Sheet is a tool designed to assist service-based businesses in monitoring all their business-related (and personal) finances.
Google Workspace offers a suite of essential tools that you can access anywhere.
Google Business is essential for any local business wanting to be found online. Get your business on the map for free!
Online Courses
Navigating SEO and Speed Boost are two online courses for non-techies that will teach you everything you need to know about Search Engine Optimization and WordPress website speed.
Booked Out Designer (a business course for web and graphic designers) and Podcast Sucess Blueprint are two excellent courses by my business mentor, Elizabeth McCravy.
Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing and Making Sense of Sponsored Posts are perfect for content creators looking to monetize their blogs and online channels.
Elizabeth Goddard is a multi-offer online business strategist, and her offers include just about everything you need to thrive in the online business space!
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