Resources: Tools & Software For Small Business | 3Bug Media

Marketing and Business Resources

Welcome to our resource page. This is a master list of the tools I use to grow my business, broken down into different categories. Everything on this list I either use now or have in the past, so I can safely recommend them.

For my business, I use a lot of tools since I blog, shoot video, podcast and use dozens of tools for client work. So you may not need all of these tools, depending on how you run and market your business.

A few of the links below are affiliate links, which means that if you choose to make a purchase, we will earn a small commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you and is usually the best deal/discount you can get. Please understand that I have experience with all of these companies, and I recommend them because they are helpful and useful, not because of the small commissions I make if you decide to buy something. If you have any questions about any of the products below, you can always contact me with your questions first.

Website

WordPress

If you are building a website or thinking of a redesign, strongly consider using WordPress as your content management system. It is one of the world's most platforms worldwide for building a website and its mix of user-friendliness and scalability is unmatched. There is a .com version as well as a .org version. You want to use the .org version, which is self-hosted, if you are using it for your business. Best of all, it's free.

Wordpress for Small Business

Namecheap

Cheap and very reliable for buying domain names. People think you need to purchase your domains from your web hosting but these are two different things. Better to buy domains with a dedicated domain company and not be tied to a single hosting provider. Great service and excellent domain management tools.

Namecheap

A2 Hosting

One of the few small shared web hosting companies that is not owned by EIG Hosting Brands. Over the last few years, EIG Hosting Brands has purchased most popular shared hosting companies like Host Gator and Blue Host, essentially ruining their solid customer service and reliability track records (check their Facebook pages and search their Twitter handle for proof). Service and support drop dramatically once they take over a company. I've been using A2 for 5 years now and they have great service and excellent reliability at a great price if you are looking for low cost shared hosting options.

A2 Hosting Small Business

WP Engine

WP Engine is a WordPress platform specific managed hosting service. This is the kind of hosting if you want if you want peak performance out of your hosting and lightning fast speed. They are optimized for WordPress websites and actively manage it to ensure reliability and speed. It's pricier than shared hosting but you get a lot more performance, reliability and support out of it. The link will get you 20% off your first payment, use offer code, “wpe20off” at checkout.

WP Engine Wordpress Hosting

Theme Forest

Themeforest, part of the Envato family of websites, is the place to go for premium WordPress themes. If you are not using a theme framework like Studiopress, then this is the place to go. Some of the top theme developers in the world have themes here and it's easy to see what themes are great because of thousands of reviews and rankings by theme. Best of all, all theme purchases come with lifetime updates, something you don't get with many theme frameworks, which charge an annual subscription for updates.

Themeforest Wordpress Themes

Malcare

Malcare is a security WordPress plugin that keeps malware and viruses off of your website by scanning it and keeping it secure 24 hours a day. And unlike most security plugins, it will not slow down your website. Malcare proactively scans your website to detect any signs of malware and offers a simple one-click cleanup to repair any issues with your site.

Marketing & Design

AppSumo

The best place to find great software and tools at a steeply discounted price. They run so many great deals on businesses and marketing tools that it's hard to pass up on any of them. Most of the offers are for lifetime subscriptions for usually the cost of a single month's payment. I currently own over 30 different tools, many of them for marketing and social media, but also for general business and website tools. I probably save about $1500 a month with the lifetime subscriptions I have purchased on AppSumo. Sing up for their email list and get notified whenever there is a new offer.

Appsumo Tools For Business and Marketing

Moo

The best place to get high-quality business cards. Business cards from Moo stand out from regular business cards, both in stock quality and unique features they offer for their cards. You can create a unique design or text for the back of every individual card, something nobody else offers and create lots of potential uses. I always get compliments on how nice my business cards are. They aren't cheap, but your business card is a marketing tool and represents your business. They also offer other high-quality products like postcards, note cards, and similar items. One of my favorites are the mini business cards, great for running promotions.

Moo Business Cards

Stencil

Creating visual content should be simple, fun and lightweight. Stencil is designed to help you create beautiful looking images faster than ever before. Even if you've never used an image editing program, you can pick Stencil up and use it in seconds.

Buffer

My favorite social media tool. Buffer lets you curate content and share across your social media platforms according to any schedule you create with a touch of a button. You set up the schedule once and then just load your queue with posts and Buffer does the rest. It is easy to use, powerful and has a ton of features like social analytics. Buffer also integrates with just about anything so it makes sharing across your social platforms very easy to do. The free plan is enough for most people, with a paid plan if you manage a lot of social media accounts. And their customer support is fantastic.

Survey Sparrow

Tired of sending boring surveys? SurveySparrow lets you create and share highly engaging, mobile-first surveys that offer a chat-like experience.
Go conversational to get higher completion rates than ever!

Video & Audio

InVideo

InVideo is video creator software that lets you create all kinds of beautiful video no matter your experience or skill level. It is hosted online so you can use the software anywhere and from any computer. With InVideo, you can create professional grade video for your online ad campaigns or high quality video shorts for social media. Their media template library and ease of use makes it the perfect fit for any business looking to get started with video marketing.

Vimeo

Vimeo is great if you want a nice clean, ad-free video to use on your website. Youtube is great as a video promotion platform, but sometimes you want a video player without all of the ads and clutter. Vimeo is free to use and has an inexpensive pro plan. For the price and quality, Vimeo is a great choice for hosting videos on your website.

Audacity

Audacity is the best free, open-source audio editing software available. It's easy to use, has a huge community of users and works on both Mac and PC. It's a great choice if you don't have a budget for professional audio editing like Adobe Audition, and is a great tool for starting a podcast.

Communications

Gsuite by Google

Get Gmail, Docs, Drive, and Calendar for business. Get 20% off their first year of G Suite Basic or G Suite Business using the link below.

All you need to do your best work, together in one package that works seamlessly from your computer, phone or tablet.

Simplify how you work. Use G Suite for business email, video conferencing, cloud storage, and file sharing. Get all the tools your team needs to collaborate and get more done.

Finance

Freshbooks

FreshBooks is invoicing and accounting software that makes running your small business easy, fast and secure. Spend less time on accounting and more time doing the work you love. Automate tasks like invoicing, organizing expenses, tracking your time and following up with clients in just a few clicks. FreshBooks lives in the cloud so you can securely access it from your desktop, phone and tablet wherever you are.