Welcome to the LIBT Toolbox.
In this area you will find some great resources to help you with your new Internet Business. This list of Internet Business Newbie Tools is always growing so stop back often.
GLOSSARY OF INTERNET BUSINESS TERMS – This is a great list of all many common terms you will come across as you explore Internet business and marketing.
LEARNING
iTunes – I promote the podcasts and Video Casts on iTunes to everyone! It is one of my favorite places to find up to date content that is easy to find. I have an iPod that I take with me walking or when I commute. I just download my podcasts and go! If you don’t have an iPod or iPhone you can still listen to the streams online. Try downloading the application and viewing the iTunes store under PODCASTS. You can search by subject as well.
YouTube – Again, often recommended and used by myself for quick tutorials on just about anything. If you learn better by watching someone else do something, then YouTube will be a favorite for you as well.
eHow – This is another great resource that offers both written and video instructions on just about any subject. (Tip: This is also a great place to upload your own content).
DOMAINS AND HOSTING
GoDaddy – I have used GoDaddy since the beginning. They have always offered reliable service and their customer service is both responsive and knowledgeable. I love their easy to use control panels and I find them very reasonably priced. They offer eacy installs for common applications such as WordPress, phpBB forums, Zencart and more.
1and1 – If you are looking to buy really cheap domain names, this is the place!
Hostgator – Hostgator has some of the cheapest hosting plans on the web. You can start with a very cheap plan and expand as you grow.
PRODUCTIVITY TOOLS
MindMeister – This is a Mind Mapping tool that is free to use. They do offer paid versions at very modest pricing but, I found the free version to be very helpful when I was first starting out. If you are new to using mind maps it may look daunting so I suggest watching their tutorial to understand the basics. I love using MindMeister to map out new product or project ideas and collaborating. You can keep all the pieces in one place for easy reference.
Jott – This is a great tool that helps you in a variety of ways while you are on the go. In a nutshell Jott lets you calll your specified Jott number, speak your notes, messages or updates, hang up, and have those notes sent to the destination of your choice. You message is converted to text and sent to; your alendar, your email, your social networks, or a text message to the recipients of your choice. I like to use Jott when I’m driving to remeber an idea I might have or a website I want to remember, etc. It is a very powerful on-the-go productivity tool.
Delicious- Bookmarking on Steroids! Not only can you use delicious for bookmarking all your favorite sites quickly (even quicker with the Firefox plugin), but you can also use it to find trending topics by using their Fresh Bookmarks area. I am constantly tagging great sites that I find but don’t have time to read at that moment. I just tag them and go back later when I have more time to explore.
SEO
Google Keyword Tool – Google’s free keyword research tool
Broken Link Checker – Xenus Link Sleuth is a great free tool to check for broken links on your site.
SEO Fast Start – Great free e-book download covering all the points of SEO – A great book for beginners. Download is from Dan Thies’ site. See the optin box in the upper right hand corner of the page.
Page Rank Checker – Want to know your page rank? Try this handy tool.
WEB BUILDING
WordPress – One of the easiest and quickest ways to get a website live is to set up a blog. This site is done with WordPress and offers for a very interactive and content rich web presence. There are literally thousands of plugins and theme variations that will suit almost every business model on the planet. It is easy to get up and running through WordPress.com or by hosting the WordPress platform on your own domain. I love the ease of use and the many plugin options. Great pick for beginners!
Template Monster – Here you can find hundres of website template designs in all categories. If you are looking for a quick webdesign and you don’t want to wait to have one built, you can pick from their inventory or pre-made, professional web designs.
Wibiya Toolbar – This toolbar can be added to your website for free through the Wibiya site. It is a great tool for promoting user interaction on your site. Your visitors can use the toolbar to LIKE your blog posts or webpage on Facebook, Follow you on Twitter, Tweet your webpage to their own Twitter Followers, Subscribe to your RSS feed and so much more. Check out the video review of the Wibiya Toolbar I have done. It gives you a better understanding of how this free toolbar works.
SOCIAL
Facebook– I have actually been on it for awhile now. But, it was only of recent that I started to understand its potential in the Internet Marketing arena. I recently read an excellent blog post by Shama Hyder, Owner of Click to Client, called the “Top 10 Ways to use Facebook to promote your business for free.” You can read the full post here. Understanding the potential of this and other Social Networking sites will prove key to promoting your business online.
Twitter – Do you Tweet? In this past week alone I have been asked by at least 10 people; “What is Twitter?” So, I figured I would mention it in this post. Twitter, in a nutshell, is a micro blog platform. Just like any other blog, you join and start talking to your community about…well…anything! The difference with Twitter is you only have 140 characters in which to say it! Twitter has been around since 2006 but has been gaining momentum both in and out of the Web 2.0 community. It has become a great tool for communicating events and broadcasting content quickly to your community as well as finding others who have similar interests. Many businesses utilize Twitter to get information out quickly to their customer base as well. Recalls, updates, product launches and more have found their way into Tweets. I do caution however, there are some rules of etiquette that should be followed when using Twitter. I STRONGLY suggest you learn how Twitter works and the Best Practices. Here are a few links to help you out but you can also find a wealth of information just by googling “Twitter.”
Twitter Etiquette I – By Richard Carter
Twitter Etiquette II – on Mashable
You can find me there at @deirdre_j.
TweetDeck – If you use Twitter then I have to highly recommend TweetDeck. TweetDeck is an Adobe Air platform that allows you to follow your Twitter stream with a few added perks. One, you can use their SEARCH feature to set up streams specific to related keywords. This feature is great for conducting research on your topic or niche. Let’s say you were starting a website directed towards writers. You could enter a search for “Writing” or “I love writing” and see a stream of everyone who is Tweeting about writing. The research uses are endless. Another great feature you can set up is Groups (this is especially helpful if you are following thousands of people but want to isolate out a specific group of Tweeps and only watch their Tweets “Tw…Tw…Twaaaachooo” (sorry, too many TWas in there). This is one of my favorite and most used Twitter tools.
List Of Best Social Networking Sites – This is a great list of some of the Top Social networking sites on the web.
SCREENCASTING
Scrast – If you are into screencasting or want to learn how to produce your own screncasts, then check out SCRAST. This site has loads of great How-Tos and articles on screencasting.
AUTORESPONDERS
aWeber – aWeber is one of the largest and oldest autoresponder services around. They make it very easy to get started on your first email marketing campaign and building your opt-in list. They have a wizard type interface that walks even the greenest IB newbie through the set-up process. Best part – You can join for just $1 for the first month.
Mailchimp – Mailchimp offers a great free option for beginners and has many great tools for newsletters, email marketing, and list building.
ARTICLE SUBMISSION SITES
eZine Articles
Go Articles
Article City
List of Top 50 Article Sites – Ranked by PR and Alexa ranking. Also notes those sites which are NOFOLLOW.
PLAGIARISM AND COPY CHECKERS
Dustball
Copyscape
Article Checker
OTHER NOTABLE TOOLS
Free PDF Cration Tool – Create professional PDF documents
Free Link Checker – Check for broken links within your website.
Free Banner Maker – Make a great banner for your site or ad for FREE!!!
If you have some great tools that you would like to share just tweet them to me on Twitter! @djbventures