The phrase “hacks” is so overused these days.

Everyone wants a shortcut, a method to do something better/faster or a way to avoid doing something all together.

For some reason, there’s this big misconception that starting an online business is super easy. Now, don’t get me wrong…once you get everything clicking on all cylinders, things will flow smoothly. But unfortunately, as you build your online empire, there’s no shortage of work to be done. Even if you were to hack your hacks…the initial surge of tasks to be completed can be overwhelming.

Half the battle is discovering what you’re doing wrong and how you can consolidate/economize your efforts to get more work done in much less time.

I’ve had to learn a lot of this the hard way (read: more face palm moments than I can count). So I’ve compiled a database of all the things I’ve learned that would have been a tremendous help had I known about them at the very beginning. I don’t get paid for any of this. These are not affiliate links. These are just sites/programs/apps that genuinely helped me.

Also, check back frequently because this database updates continuously.

Enjoy.

General knowledge to dive in…

These websites have been instrumental in shaping my knowledge/opinions on entrepreneurship, product creation and business development. Now I write for a few of them.

The Warrior Forum - this is a great community of beginners, intermediates and pros all looking to help eachother learn the ropes of taking your ideas and making them into products. I believe membership is paid (it’s around $15)…but you can browse for free and learn a TON.
I Will Teach You To Be Rich - Ramit Sethi gives phenomenal advice on how to improve your life by automating your finances, develop your ideas into workable action plans and negotiate with people.
Passive Panda - Much of what I’ve done on Rich20Something is a result of finally figuring out that there was a way to make money with the skills I already had. Passive Panda talks about all this and more.
The Art of Non-Conformity - The motto is “Set your own rules. Live the life you want.” I’m all about it.
Under30Ceo - A great community of sklled young entrepreneurs dishing on everything from start-up strategy to finance. I contribute here contribute.
BrazenCareerist - A bold look at what it takes to either supercharge the job that you have, or leave it and get a much better one. Definitely worth following. I like them because they’re sassy.
EpicLaunch - A great resource for beginning entrepreneurs working on their start-up launch.
YoungEntrepreneur - Lots of really great guest writers here. I’ve used their author bio sections to reach out to countless people who I now consider friends. They also have pretty active, extremely helpful forums.

Learning how to blog, market, test, convert, sell, etc…

These sites have targeted, tactical tips on how to make people WANT what you have to offer…

Copyblogger - solid advice on writing articles that persuade, tantalize and convert.
UnBounce - great blog on creating winning landing pages. Also offer their own software.
MarketingProfs - learn marketing basics, as well as advanced stuff.
Social Triggers - Awesome for learning behind the scenes secrets to the WHYS of blogging and conversion. Trippy stuff.

Building your website and business…

These are all sites, apps and tools I used, have used at one time or have heard rave reviews about. These are just things I thought would be helpful. Again, I don’t get any compensation for these links.

Themes I’ve either used or have heard great things about:

Headway - I’ve used it and it does not disappoint. It’s a complete drag/drop solution that cuts out all the formatting issues that other themes present. Definitely worth the modest price tag.
OptimizePress - Probably the simplest way to create clean, intuitive landing pages directly in WordPress. I’ve used this one too.
Thesis - Haven’t used this one yet, but many people I respect do. Seems very intuitive as well. Makes clean pages. Check out Derek Halpern’s Social Triggers.
Premise - Also looks awesome. Haven’t had the opportunity to use it yet, but I know the guys over at Copyblogger do, and that’s good enough for a huge thumbs up.
Kajabi - I haven’t used it, but lots of top internet marketers do. It’s an all-in-one landing page/conversion suite.

Plugins and services that make my life easier:

Aweber Integration - adds your subscription form if you aren’t comfortable using any HTML or Javascript
Aweber Comment Opt-in - adds an option to subscribe when someone comments.
BackupBuddy - I consider this one a MUST have. Completely backs up your site against crashes and hacks.
Digioh - allows you to send large files via email to subscribers. Great for giving out exclusive content.
Contact Form - adds a form to your page for connecting to your email. Helps protect against spam bots.
Google Analyticator - adds a mini analytics overview to your dashboard. No need to log into Google.
Huspo Share Buttons - adds all social media share buttons to your posts.
LiveFyre - Awesome plugin that replaces the boring WP comment form with a clean form connected to social media.
Wishlist - creates killer membership sites with a simple plugin. Allows people to access your content via a protected memebers-only site. Best way to provide streaming content for a course.
Mingle - creates an awesome forum for your website. Easy to navigate and manage.

Subscriber systems/autoresponders/webinar hosts:

Aweber - This is THE go-to in terms of autoresponders to create mailing lists with. Very cost effective ($19/month) and fully featured.
Mailchimp - almost as good as Aweber, and the bonus is it’s free for your first 2,000 subscribers. Nice.
GoToWebinar - great for hosting online web events to generate subscribers and sales. Free for 30 days too I believe.

Tools to spread and evaluate your influence/ make your digital life more efficient:

Triberr - Blog amplification platform. This is literally the only community I know of where bloggers meet to promote, share and love eachother’s work. A must have in your arsenal.

Klout - a cool app that evaluates your social influence via your connection to various social networks.
BrandYourself - a cool web app that tracks links to your name on the web
iDoneThis - web app that tracks your progress on projects over time and keeps track of your achievements.
HootSuite and Buffer - two awesome platforms that help you to schedule and automate your social media presence so that you can be a little more hands free. Tweet in your sleep!
Optimizely - helps to split test your pages.
Google analytics - this probably should be a the top of the list. Shows you everything that happens on your website. EVERYTHING.
Zapier - Helps connects two apps that have the same information. Example- send your GoToWebinar sign ups to an Aweber list. Really useful tool.

Outsourcing your work (for when you have no idea what you’re doing or don’t have time):

Fiverr - a talent shed where everything costs $5. Need a quick redesign, WordPress tweak or photoshop fix. $5 will get it done. Awesome.
Elance - For more ongoing work, a place to hire virtual assistants or other professionals. Very nice interface.
oDesk - Similar to Elance. I haven’t had a chance to use oDesk, but I hear good things.

Teaching yourself:

I honestly think at least becoming proficient in HTML and some programming is essential if you’re going to work in the online space. Not knowing this stuff would be the equivalent of trying to live in a foreign country and making no attempt at learning the language.

Udacity - I took my first computer science class here. Really interactive, and even though they are far away, the instructors really seem to care about you. Best of all, FREE!
Coursera - Classes on everything here, including programming, from top professors all over the world. The sheer volume of information is mind-blowing.
Treehouse - Haven’t had a chance to use them, but hear great things.
w3Schools - This is my go-to when I just have a quick HTML question.
The Starter League - Great hands on, in-person, in-depth learning on building web apps. Located in Chicago, people fly from all over the world to attend.

Creating a product

Recording

Screenflow - Really simple intuitive software to screen capture with. Essential if you’re putting together a digital course where you need to show a student something you’re doing on-screen.
QuickTime - Did you know you can also screen capture in QuickTime? Best part…FREE!
FreeConferenceCall - Take calls with up to 100 people (I think) for free.
Audacity - great for recording and editing audio.

Fulfillment/production:

For many of the digital products you will make, the Wishlist plugin will take care of it nicely. However, there are also resouces for people who want to make physical products.

Disk.com - Makes and fulfills (ships) DVD/CD products.
Trepstar - Makes and fulfills (ships) DVD/CD products.

Shopping carts:

Paypal - The standard of online shopping carts. Integrates nicely with almost everything.
1ShoppingCart - I’ve heard great things about them, haven’t had a chance to use them.
Clickbank - I use Clickbank because although their fees may be a little higher up front, they offer direct access to the affiliate marketplace so that others can also sell your product. No extra effort on your part.