vanessa’s top picks

Whether you’re an experienced entrepreneur, coach, or a content creator venturing into the online
space for the very first time – I’ve got you covered.

Let me save you the guesswork and share with you some of my all-time favourite secret weapons
that I guarantee will fast-track your success (you’ll almost feel like you’re cheating).

PS: Some of these are my affiliate links, which means I may get a commission for
recommending the product to you. There may also be special deals you can get exclusively
from me to you – so keep an eye out!

The essentials
Scaling secrets
Youtube equipment
Reading library

TOOLS FOR BEGINNERS

New to the online business game? Here are some fundamental tools you NEED in order to get started with your new service-based business.

ConvertKit - Email Marketing

ConvertKit is an email marketing software designed for creators and entrepreneurs that has plenty of user-friendly features to make email marketing and lead collection super simple and virtually stress-free.

Try ConvertKit >

Elementor - Website and Landing Page Builder

If you have Wordpress, this is Vanessa's FAVOURITE and virtually free plugin. Elementor can help you build your entire website and create beautiful landing pages that are super custom to YOU. This drag and drop page builder is a game-changer especially for those who can't afford fancy lead gen software yet. We recommend upgrading to the $50/year plan to unlock even better features.

Try Elementor >

BrandUp Brand Shop - Pre-made Logo Shop

If you're launching a new biz on a strartup budget, these semi-custom logos are the perfect solution to build your visual branding affordably and in a matter of days. You get the complete brand package, with a logo, color palette, brand fonts and custom brand guide PDF.

Try BRANDUP >

wave Accounting - Accounting Software

A free accounting software that lets you invoice your clients and also track your income and expenses. The best part? It's free.

Try wave >

Zoom - Video Confrencing

Zoom is a powerful platform that allows you to host meetings in an effortless way. We love using Zoom to record our calls, film our course lessons, and more.

Try zoom >

Acuity Scheduling - Appointment Booking System

To reduce the back and forth with clients and prospects, having a booking system is key. We love Acuity because you can customize your booking page AND connect it with your Instagram business account so prospects can book you directly on the 'gram.

Try Acuity Scheduling >

Last Pass - Password Security

As a business owner and content creator, security is incredibly important, especially when you have A LOT of logins! We keep all of our logins safe with Lastpass.

Try Last pass >

Namecheap - Domain Hosting

We love to buy our domains from Namecheap. The hosting solutions provided by Namecheap are less expensive than GoDaddy, yet still offer better features.

Try namecheap >

Siteground - Site Hosting

We created our website with www.wordpress.org and hosted it on Siteground. It's a reliable webhost that allows our site to run smoothly with no kinks.

Try siteground >

Gsuite - Data Storage

GSuite it what our team uses to create all our professional emails and host all of our internal team documents.

Try gsuite >

REV - Audio Transcription

We transcribe all of our Youtube videos for captions with Rev. We love Rev because it's easy, fast, and accurate.

Try rev >

LATER - Instagram Scheduler

Later is our preferred marketing platform for Instagram to help us plan our captions and feed directly on Desktop without any tech hassle.

Try Later >

Canva - Graphic Design

For our basic social media needs, including cover banners, YT thumbnails, and packshots, our entire team relies on Canva to bring our brand to life.

Try canva >

Tubebuddy - Youtube Optimization

Tubebuddy will help you gain a competitive edge for competitor research and keyword ranking. We use it with VidIQ.

Try tubebuddy >

VidIQ - Youtube Optimization

VidIQ is great to give you indepth insight on the performance of your videos and how your keywords rank. We use it with Tubebuddy.

Try vidiq >

OneDrive - Heavy Duty File Storage

OneDrive has the BEST plans for file storage (1TB of storage at an unbeatable price). We use OneDrive to store all of our Youtube clips and course content. Plus, you get FREE Microsoft Office with your plan.

Try OneDrive >

TOOLS FOR NEXT LEVEL GROWTH

Ready to go next level in your business and scale FAST? Here are some tools I invested in to take my business to multiple 6-figures.

LeadPages - Landing Page Builder

We now use Leadpages to build our landing pages due to the features that help optimize our pages for conversion. Leadpages makes it so easy to build our opt-in pages, sales pages, and everything in between.

Try LeadPages >

Kajabi - Course Platform

Kajabi is the ONLY course and membership platform we use to host all our programs. It has all the features you need to create, market, and sell your digital product. The best part is that Kajabi makes it so easy and effortless. Our students love navigating Kajabi as their course platform as well!

Try Kajabi >

BrandUp

Vanessa's brand and web design agency, BrandUp specializes in building brands and websites for scaling entrepreneurs. From brand positioning, to brand messaging and visual logo design, to building custom websites and sales pages on Kajabi and Wordpress- they are a one stop shop for priming brands to scale.

Try BrandUp >

Active Campaign - Email Marketing

We currently use Active Campaign for all our email marketing needs. Active Campaign is a powerful all-in-one solution for marketers and sales teams that automates not just email marketing, but everything from sales emails to lead scoring.

Try Active Campaign >

Bench Accounting - Accounting Software

Bench is a bookkeeping software that includes REAL bookkeepers to help track your expenses and income. You get direct access to your bookkeeper and they work hand in hand with your tax accountant. Vanessa absolutely loves Bench and cannot reccommend them enough if you want to take your finances seriously. Get 20% OFF your first 6 months with Vanessa's link exclusively.

Try Bench Accounting >

Dubsado - Client Management

Keep track of your client workflow, send contracts, and automate the entire onboarding process with Dubsado. You'll look like a total professional to your clients and the best part is that you'll no longer need to spend time sending documents back and forth.

Try Dubsado >

HelpScout - Customer Support

Instead of having multiple inboxes and emails that get lost, Helpscout allows our team to transfer emails to the right team member easily, and helps us keep track of all our support tickets so none of our students and audience members feel left behind. Receive a $50 credit when you use Vanessa's link exclusively.

Try HelpScout >

Thrivecart - Payment Checkout

Thrivecart allows us to optimize our checkout pages for conversion and is packed with many sales features that drive revenue for our business. Get a lifetime license with Thrivecart using Vanessa's link exclusively.

Try Thrivecart >

Easy Webinar - Webinar Platform

We host all of our free trainings using Easy webinar which makes the automation process seamless not just for our team, but for our audience.

Try Easy Webinar >

Deadline Funnel - Countdown Timer

To drive urgency for our prospects to act fast on our limited time offers, we use Deadline Funnel to activate countdown timers that help us increase conversion.

Try Deadline Funnel >

Slack - Communication Platform

Vanessa loves to use Slack to communicate with her clients and her growing team. Slack keeps things organized within the business by seperating all of our conversations in unique channels. Get a $100 credit with Vanessa's link exclusively.

Try Slack >

Gravy - Payment Recovery

Gravy is a US based team that contacts our customers directly about their failed payments to our payment plans. These are professionals that are extremely approachable so the recovery process is seamless on both our end and the customer's end!

Try Gravy >

99Designs - Graphic Design

Our course slides and all of our professional graphic needs (such as Vanessa's Youtube cover banner!) are done with 99Designs. 99Designs connects you with highly skilled graphic designers at reasonable prices. We love it because the turnaround times are amazing for projects on a time-crunch and the designers are top-notch! Save $20 with Vanessa's link exclusively.

Try 99Designs >

Olark - Chatbox

We use live chat boxes on our pages where our team can directly help our prospects navigate any questions they may have about our products and services.

Try Olark >