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12 Powerful Web Tools to Help Grow Your Business Online

By LaShanda Henry

Inspired by SistaSense 27 Online Courses

http://www.sistasense.com/27

Copyright © 2015 LaShanda Henry

Cover designed by LaShanda Henry

Published by SistaSense In Print

Visit SistaSense.com

All rights reserved.

Disclaimer: While every effort has been made to verify the information provided, the

author accepts no responsibility for any inaccuracies or omissions. This guide’s author

does not assume and hereby disclaims any liability to any part for any loss or damage by

errors or omissions in this publication, whether such errors or omissions result from

negligence, accident, or any other cause. To ensure complete accuracy, it is always best

to research and confirm that the information is still up to date. Furthermore, no part of

this book may be freely distributed, used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever

without written permission from the author.

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If you are reading this guide I am going to assume you are looking for new, smarter ways to grow your business online. Attempting to navigate the thousands of business tools on the web can drive any sane entrepreneur crazy, so I’ve put together this powerful short list of some of my current favorite “Grow Your Business Tools.” I can’t overstress the word “current”. How we do business online is constantly changing. For this reason, it’s so vital that you make an effort to always be aware of what’s current and working now with respect to technology, online marketing and sales.

These 12 web tools are must-haves for today’s online entrepreneur. They are high value, low cost, practical web tools that you can quickly integrate into your business. I mean it. You can start using most of these resources in just a few hours. I’ve specifically chosen these twelve web tools based on the ever changing marketing trends, current advancements in technology, and the needs of today’s consumers.

Within these pages I will cover 3 core areas - money, marketing and sales. I will share the tools that I am currently using to bring in new money, investment money and extra money into my business. I will share the tools that I am currently using to expand my brand and generate new sales online. And I will share the current marketing tools that I am using to drive traffic to my website, increase opt-ins, improve conversions and grow my following across today’s top social media platforms.

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First thing (real quick), I am assuming that you already have a website?

Is this true? If your answer is yes, wonderful! Skip this paragraph and

let’s move on. If your answer is no, and you don’t have a website, we

have a little pre-prep work to do. I recommend you click here to review

my quick video post on how you can create your website today in about

10 minutes. To be honest with you, it’s best to have an actual website, if

you are going to try to use most of the web tools that I suggest. If you

are serious about business growth I would suggest having your own

space online outside of social media profiles and definitely not set up on

one of those ‘Build A Website for Free’ platforms. I always tell my

startup clients this one simple truth; savvy online shoppers won’t take

your business seriously, if you don’t. Most consumers can tell the

difference between professional websites vs a generic websites built on

free platforms. I use and recommend HostMonster. I’ve personally been

using their services to build my 15+ websites for well over 10 years. You

can setup your own WordPress website and get a free domain name in

the process for as little as $3.95 per month.

Second thing, I don’t want to assume that you already know everything

about me, so here is my startup story in about sixty seconds. I’ve

always been a web tech girl. I graduated from Brooklyn Technical High

School in 1998 and received my degree in Computer Science from

Columbia University back in 2002. I even interned at IBM for a few

years. It was at that time that I decided to launch my first web business

in the summer of July 2000. After that point, I transitioned from being a

9-to-5 girl with a side-hustle freelance business to a full time work at

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home mom. I’ve been online for over 16 years; building my home-based

business for the last 8 years as a web designer and mentor to women

entrepreneurs. I started my business not on a shoestring, but what I like

to call a “Floss-String Budget”. I made it work with little to no startup

capital, a super small savings, and all the no-cost plus low cost web tools

that I could find. With almost two decades of web experience, I’ve

learned how to successfully use online marketing techniques to create a

sustainable service-based business. My mission is to motivate, inform,

inspire, and connect highly-driven women. I do what I do for parents

looking to better their children’s lives and for women striving to live

their dreams. At the end of the day, I believe the “Success of Your

Business Depends on the Company that You Keep”. For this reason I

have committed myself to ensuring that women entrepreneurs are in

great company inside my SistaSense Power Circle.

Last thing, I want to be completely transparent and honest with you, so

that you are able to get the best direction from this guide. These are my

current everyday essentials for maximizing my business growth online.

While I can honestly say these resources are valuable to me, I can’t

guarantee your business will grow if you use them. I just want to point

you in the right direction. I also think it's important for me to mention

that I enjoy using these platforms so much that I’ve partnered with

quite a few of them. Some of the links that I share in this guide are from

their respective affiliate programs. This means that if you choose to

make a purchase, I will earn a commission that comes at no additional

cost to you. Above all else, my main objective is to focus on sharing the

tools that I feel can really help you based on my personal research and

experiences using them. That said, I recommend that you only try or

purchase those resources you feel can help you achieve your online

business goals.

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Today’s top bloggers and business owners are integrating sign up forms

in new places on their website. Some have started integrating forms

directly into their posts, while others are using large forms within their

header as the first thing visitors see on their page. These new smart list

building features are available inside the SumoMe platform, which

includes a powerful suite of website traffic tools. I am currently using

the SumoMe Welcome Mat to place a large sign up form at the top of

my pages, which has helped to easily increase opt-ins. Every week

SumoMe sends me stats via email, which show a growing list of new

subscribers that I have received from using their tools. I am also seeing

an increase in shares on Facebook and Pinterest thanks to the Sumo

Share tools that make it easy for your blog readers to share your posts

and images across social media. Using the right sharing tools you could

be just a few clicks away from creating a post that goes viral.

If you’d like to sign up to SumoMe through me visit

http://sumo.sistasense.com

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Social media marketing has become essential to building your business

visibility online. Unfortunately with so many other things already on

your plate, do you honestly have the time to be on 5-10 different social

platforms every day? I know that I don’t. Unless you have a social media

manager taking care of your campaigns, this stuff can get really time

consuming. More importantly, if you are busy spending all your free

time on Facebook and Twitter, who’s running your business? My

solution is to get organized and easily post on all your favorite social

platforms in one place using hootsuite.com; it is one of my absolute

favorite web tools. With one click I can share something new on Google

Plus, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn! Plus you can schedule out social

updates, which is truly a time saver. I’ve also noticed that by

consistently using this platform to share my blog posts and best content

my social following grows steadily each month. HootSuite has more to

offer than that, but you can check it out in more detail once you sign up.

I am not an official HootSuite affiliate partner, but this powerful web

tool is too good not to share - https://hootsuite.com

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Your email list is the heart of your business. My everyday favorite is

Madmimi as it’s easy to use and I love their templates. But honestly

right now, I am really excited about seeing my list growth as a result of

using ConvertKit, which I expect will soon become my new everyday

favorite. This email marketing platform was designed with professional

bloggers in mind, but it’s actually perfect for service-based

professionals, course creators and content-driven business owners like

myself. Many of today’s most successful bloggers and entrepreneurs

swear by it, which initially peaked my interest. It is a powerful, low cost

alternative to Infusion soft. Best of all, it offers high level automation

features, landing page setup and easy to integrate sign up forms. I

especially like the fact that I can now upload opt-in offers directly into

my sign up forms; this was something I previously had to manually do

using the upload features on my blog. While ConvertKit is my newest

essential tool, I’ve added it to this list because its “easy to use”, “low

cost”, “has more features” and “better conversions”.

If you’d like to try Convert Kit through me, visit

http://convertkit.sistasense.com

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If you have questions: Start Here | Email Me | Schedule A Call | Send A Voice Message

You can’t have an online business without an online store. I’ve used and absolutely loved PayPal for well over ten years, but sometimes clients want alternative payment methods. A few years back, I discovered the Selz platform and today it’s an absolute everyday essential for me. You can easily sell digital products, physical products and services on Selz. You can also easily embed your entire Selz store or individual products into your website, which has helped me increase conversions. Studies have shown that customers feel more comfortable completing their payments via checkout pages that are on your website vs pages that are set up on external platforms. Best of all, customers have the option to pay via their preferred credit card or PayPal. By adding on more payment options, I saw an immediate increase in sales and new customer business growth.

I have a ‘Set Up and Sell Online’ training CD with videos you can watch, if you need help putting your online store together - http://www.sistasense.com/cds/tid/PX00ZWPW8T If you don’t have an online store OR are ready for an upgrade try Selz - http://selz.sistasense.com

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At some point you may want to seek out funds to help you with business growth. A few years back, PayPal approached me and told me all about their Working Capital Program. Eligibility for PayPal Working Capital is based on your PayPal sales history; in other words the amount you receive depends on your business sales. There’s no credit check when you apply. And if approved, you’ll get your funds within minutes. I’ve applied for, received and easily paid off a few PayPal Working Capital loans. I was able to set a low, fixed percentage rate that PayPal transferred from my daily sales to pay back the loan. In other words, each day as I got paid, they got paid back. There are no penalties if there are days you do not generate any sales, but there is a minimum amount you are required to pay back every 90 days. Truth be told, it is sometimes hard and frustrating to add another bill to your budget, but because PayPal takes a small percentage of your daily sales, they basically do all the budgeting for you.

If you are ready to invest in your business growth, but you need capital

and have PayPal account on which you generate steady sales, I highly

recommend the PayPal Working Capital Program -

https://www.paypal.com/workingcapital

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Every entrepreneur needs to find smart ways to generate sales. On the flip side, it’s also important to develop smart spending habits. As someone who shops online all the time for both personal and professional reasons, I strategically use the eBates Rebates Program on a weekly basis. It’s free to join and you essentially get cashback on average between 2%-10% for the items you purchase at your favorite online stores. If you could use an hundred dollars a month, I recommend signing up. An added benefit to eBates is the affiliate program. Professional bloggers and power referrers can earn $25,000 plus for qualified referrals. Before I shop on Amazon, eBay, Walmart, Orbitz and a ton of other websites, I always first log into my eBates account to ensure my purchases are tracked and I receive cashback from my orders. Between the perk of receiving rebates for online purchases and the affiliate program, I regularly get eBates checks in the mail. eBates is a smart way to generate extra money and passive income online.

Sign up for eBates today through me and you just might also receive a free gift card over at http://ebates.sistasense.com

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If you have questions: Start Here | Email Me | Schedule A Call | Send A Voice Message

Would you like to get paid for sharing your favorite products with

others? If your answer is yes, then I highly recommend you sign up for

the Amazon Associates program. I regularly share my favorite books and

gadgets via my blog, live streams and emails. I even have my own

Amazon Store, with my personal list of essentials for entrepreneurs.

Take one hour this week to build your own Amazon Store. The program

is free to join and you receive a percentage of every order processed

through your affiliate links. Amazon sells just about everything you can

imagine, which makes it the perfect partnership program for every

single online entrepreneur. Share products that compliment your own

or branch off into a completely different market. You can even generate

revenue by promoting Amazon products on popular social media

platforms like Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.

One of my 27 popular online courses shows you how to “Create Your Own Amazon Store” - http://sistasense.com/27 Sign up or learn more about Amazon’s Affiliate program by visiting https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/welcome

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Think about your current entrepreneur crush or favorite million dollar mogul. He or she more than likely has multiple streams of income. I do and so should you. For example, Graphic Tee businesses are actually very popular right now and quite a few entrepreneurs have successfully built six figure t-shirt businesses online. After doing some research in this area, I discovered Printful, a print on demand drop shipping service that makes it easy to create and outsource the production of your own custom t-shirts, mugs and more. While I have tried other print on demand platforms in the past like Cafepress, Zazzle and Spreadshirts, I personally like the “lower price points” and “quality products” that Printful offers. They also offer up to 15 samples per month at a 20% discount and free shipping. If you are interested in creating your own custom products for extra profit, promotion, or personal use, this is a great resource to try.

One of my 27 popular online courses “Monetize Your Blog” – shows you

how to start your own Graphic T / POD store using Printful -

http://sistasense.com/27

Get started with Printful today by visiting http://printful.sistasense.com

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When I launched my own custom T-Shirts online store, I decided to build my new brand using the Shopify platform. Why? Most of my new products are printed through Printful, a print on demand drop shipping service that makes it easy to create and outsource the production of your own custom t-shirts, mugs and more. These two companies have actually partnered to offer shop owners an easy way to set up and sell. When customers purchase my pillows, mugs, and t-shirts through my Shopify frontend store, the orders are automatically sent to my Printful account on the backend. From that point, I easily review and approve the orders for production and then Printful ships out purchased items to the customer with my logo on the box. The Printful team handles printing, packaging, shipping and even returns. Within a few hours of launching my Shopify store, orders were being placed and new money was being made. While I personally think WordPress is the best platform for your primary website and Selz works really well for selling digital products, Shopify has the most extensive suite of features and add-ons for setting up a store that primarily sells physical products. It was the top choice for me for this particular project.

You can try Shopify today through me by visiting

http://shopify.sistasense.com

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If you have an online store full of products, but you have no people to buy those products, your business sales will suffer. One way to remedy this issue is to work on attracting new customers and better engaging the ones that you have. Here are three marketing strategies and three powerful web tools that I highly recommend:

One way to attract customers is by helping them find you. Be where they are and talk about topics that interest them. Youtube.com is the perfect platform to execute this technique. Millions of people flock to YouTube each day in search of products, services and people who can help improve their lives. If you aren’t currently creating videos on a daily, weekly or at the very least monthly basis to grow your online business, now is the time to start. And if you have actually started to upload videos to YouTube, also begin uploading your videos directly to Facebook and other social media platforms for additional exposure.

If you need help, I have a ‘Video Pro’ training CD that you can watch http://www.sistasense.com/cds/tid/PX00Z4ZC7J/

Beyond sharing pre-recorded videos, hosting live webinars is a great way to attract potential customers, provide how-to help, teach online courses, share your brand and close more sales. You should be hosting both promotional webinars and for-profit training webinars on a regular basis. I use and personally recommend StartMeeting.com as this platform offers high quality, low-cost virtual conferencing services.

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I have a ‘ProWebinars’ training CD with videos you can watch, if you would like to learn about how I host webinars online for profit or promotion - http://www.sistasense.com/cds/tid/PX00ZMC1PB/

Last, but certainly not least, consider the fact that advancements in technology now make it possible to not only watch pre-recorded videos, but engage with people real-time via live stream platforms like Periscope. This added level of engagement gives you the opportunity to host your own shows, training programs and branded shopping experiences that people can access across the globe. Within my first month of using the Periscope platform daily, I noticed an increase in sales by at least $100-$300 each day.

One of my 27 popular online courses is “Periscope Profits”; a 3 hour intensive in which I share the details of how I host and repurpose my scopes for profit. http://sistasense.com/27

BONUS VIDEOS

As you work on your business growth in the areas of money, marketing

and sales. You may also find the following bonus videos helpful:

Discover Marketing Techniques

http://www.sistasense.com/featured-video/tid/gTbFpKVYG-4/

Discover Make Money Truths

http://www.sistasense.com/featured-video/tid/KhdqPrgvCC4/

Discover SistaSense Sales Tricks

http://www.sistasense.com/featured-video/tid/3gYMJP-9jaQ/

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GET EXTRA HELP

I truly hope this guide has been an eye opener

and helps to guide you towards the next phase

of your Startup Journey. For extra help try:

SistaSense Clarity Sessions

Schedule one-on-one calls with LaShanda

CallMe.SistaSense.com

SistaSense Power Circle

Web Business Training & Mentorship Program

Join.SistaSense.com

SistaSense Fire Starter Circle

Blog. Business. Brand. Monthly Mastermind

FireStarterCircle.com

Web Design and Graphics Design Services

WebDesign.SistaSense.com

Stay Connected:

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

YouTube | Periscope | Pinterest

Email: LaShanda Henry

lhenry@sistasense.com

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