tools

that I love and recommend

Some links are for special affiliate offers.

Organization & Planning

Trello

Trello is what keeps me from drowning in small scraps of paper.
Seriously, though, I love making lists, notes, and jotting down ideas. Trello is basically a super-organized way to store all your lists and thoughts in a beautiful, easy to use format.

Evernote

I use Evernote like an online notebook. Sometime this means I write out ideas or draft blog posts. Other times, I use it as an extensive clipboard for anything I want to copy and paste repeatedly.
You can store anything in Evernote! Text, pictures, videos, web pages, voice memos -- the list goes on!

Google Suite

Google drive is my filing cabinet, calendar, and sharing platform, all rolled into one.
You probably know about Google Docs and Calendar already, but what about "Forms" (great for surveys) or using "Slides" to create pdf workbooks? The possibilities are endless.

Website & Hosting

Siteground

While there are plenty of other, more popular hosting options, my professional preference is Siteground, because of their fast servers (which really improve your site's SEO) and very helpful customer support.

Thrive Themes

Frustrated with WordPress? It can be difficult to create a beautiful front-end when you're looking at the content-management backend. Thrive Themes is the solution! With their built in visual page editor, you can drag and drop custom element and easily design beautiful web pages.

Divi

Another excellent, premium WordPress theme, Divi (by Elegant themes) makes it extremely simple to design beautiful websites in just a few hours.

Convertkit

Convertkit is an email marketing platform for bloggers and content marketers.
Basically, if you want to be able to easily send segments of your email list through automated campaigns (funnels or launch sequences), then Convertkit is where it's at.

Mailchimp

When you're just starting out, you might not to be ready to invest in the fanciest options -- that's where Mailchimp comes in!
A solid, FREE option, Mailchimp is an excellent choice for beginning bloggers and small online businesses.

Hootsuite

A social media management platform, Hootsuite performs three main functions:
1. Allows you to schedule automatic social media posts.
2. Helps you manage social media conversations and interactions.
3. Allows you to track metrics and spot trends.

Technology

Macbook Air

After over 15 years of exclusive PC use, I finally gave Mac a try... and I'm in love.

My two favorite things? The super-durable, lightweight construction & the fact that it never freezes.

Canon Rebel T6

Another piece of equipment that is well worth the money! The Canon Rebel Ti is a solid camera that produces beautiful photography.
Easy enough for an amateur to use, while delivering professional quality results.

Affordable Studio Photography Lights | Gillian Perkins Business Strategy Blog

Studio Lights

Trouble with lighting for your videos? These inexpensive studio lights solved that problem for me! They come with the lighting tripods, umbrellas, and bulbs (which are worth the price of the kit on their own!).

Books

The Personal MBA

This book is the equivalent of all the classes you'd take as part of getting your MBA.
The only differences are:
> Not as prestigious.
>Approximately 0.00016 the price.

The $100 Startup

After interviewing thousands of entrepreneurs, Chris Guillebeau compiled this goldmine of a resource. My favorite book I've read so far this year, I love it because it's learning from the experiences of others at it's finest.

The 4-Hour Workweek

The classic that started it all, I couldn't not give a nod to the great Timothy Ferriss. Way back in high school, I was the nerd who was reading this instead of whatever the latest young adult fiction way. Let's just say, I'm pretty glad I made that choice.