There are things that you use everyday that helps to make your life easier, your car, microwave, etc. In building your online empire, you’ll also need tools and resources.  Some of these links are affiliate and you’ll be supporting the Smart Income Blog by purchasing products on them.  I use all these products and services and wouldn’t recommend them if I didn’t.  Have a productive day!

Web Hosting:

When it comes to web hosting, you want a company that is reliable, has great customer service and will answer when you call.  FatCow & Blue Host are the two hosting companies with whom I deal with exclusively now.

Social Networking:

TweetDeck is the best Twitter desktop client for my needs. Not only does it include Twitter, but it also has Facebook, Foursquare and LinkedIn.  You can have several columns open at the same time.  It’s really very helpful.

Productivity:

DropBox is probably my favorite productivity application EVER!  It basically does automatic file syncing and sharing.  It looks like a regular folder on your computer and you start out with 2 GB FREE!  I’m also a big fan of SugarSync.  Another great cloud storage option.

Jing is free software that will let you add visuals to your conversations online. Love this.

Blogging:

I use WordPress because for the most part, it’s the easiest and most customizable blogging CMS available.  I’ve tried others, but I can setup a WordPress blog for my websites in no time.  My theme of choice is Woo Themes. I’ve tried others, but I always come back to Woo Themes because I love their designs. And their community and help forums always has the answers to how to tweak something, if I need to.

File Transferring:

When you need to get files onto a server, you’ll need a FTP (File Transfer Protocol) client.  The best free ones out there are Filezilla (my favorite) , SmartFTP and Coffee Cup FTP.

Keyword Research

Google Keyword Tool is an invaluable tool when you’re doing research on what people are looking for.  I use it to research what blog  posts I’ll write about daily.  I also use Niche Finder.  It’s a great alternative to Market Samurai.  Another tool you can use in conjunction with these is Traffic Travis.

Outsourcing

oDesk is an awesome outsourcing site when you need work in just about any discipline you can think of.  Need help with a custom designed website.  No problem.  Need some research done.  A VA (virtual assistant) has you covered!