Here are the websites & software tools that I've found helpful for my business.

I used to have affiliate links here on this page, but I've now decided not to.  Now I share only links I truly believe in.

May you benefit from this page of resources!   ~ George Kao


Website Creator

• Google Domains or alternatively, Hover.com (for registering your own domain name, e.g. YourBrand.com; reliable and more ethical than GoDaddy)
• Weebly (for easily creating your own website, like this one.  I've used it for 7 years and it's worked well. This website is built on weebly.)
• Alternatives used & liked by clients: Strikingly, Squarespace, Wix, Yola, Google Sites.
• QuackIt (Online HTML editor -- for formatting web text with no tech knowledge)
• WorkMark.it -- my favorite website for comparing fonts, and to actually use it, try Google Fonts.

Getting Help For Your Website, Copy Editing, Graphic Design & Technical Needs

• Fiverr (For $5 to $50 you can get logos and graphics created, as well as many other little jobs done.  Could be a good place to find contractors for bigger projects too, by testing their skill with smaller ones.  Here's my video on how I use fiverr.)
• oDesk/Upwork (my favorite freelancer directory -- click here for my video on how to use it)
• TaskRabbit (makes it easy to hire either Local or Virtual help)

Mailing List Management
(otherwise known as Email List, or Email Newsletter Creator, or Ezine Software)

• MailChimp (free for up to 2,000 subscribers)
• ActiveCampaign (several of my clients use & love this)
• MailboxForwarding (I haven't used this yet, but would if I needed to get a different business mailing address.)

Online Shopping Cart
(for customers to pay you via credit card online)

• ​Paypal (worldwide)
• Other shopping carts worth looking into: Amazon Checkout and gumroad

Conference, Teleclass, Webinar Technology
(For Teleclasses & Teleseminars Small and Large)

• Zoom.us -- this is what I use for all my private video conferencing, as well as some group calls up to 50 participants.  Now they can do video breakout rooms!
• Uberconference.com -- an innovative conference calling service, at a reasonable price
• My webinar advice
• Chatwing for a live chat/commenting module ​
• Google Drive -- use Google Presentation for the slideshow

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Podcasting Resources

• Libsyn -- what I used to host my podcast.  If I were starting over I would use Soundcloud for more modern features and cheaper
• Fiverr -- what I used for my podcast artwork.

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Sharing Tools

• Sharing Link Generator -- quickly create links others can click on to easily share a link you want them to share
• ShareThis.com -- add social media sharing buttons to your website (like the ones I have at the very bottom of my website)

Online Ideas Collaboration

• Google Drive (documents, presentations, spreadsheets)
• MindMeister (mindmapping) -- click here for my public mindmaps
• MindMup -- free mindmapping
• Workflowy (fast, simple outlining)

Online Survey Tools

• Google Forms (for tutorials, click here.)
• I used Wufoo for a bit, then realized they can only allow up to 10 paragraph fields in any one survey/form... this is inconvenient since I use Forms for my coaching program application.  So now I'm back to using Google Forms and it works well.

Online File Sharing

• Google Drive -- this is what I solely use now for file sharing with clients and public audiences.

Free Image Tools

• Creative Commons Free Image Search -- to learn how to use this, click here.
• Where to get awesome free images
• Lunapic -- change the file size of your images so they're faster to load online
• uMarkOnline -- add a watermark to your images for free
• Pablo -- what I use to easily create image quotes
• Canva -- awesome easy tool for creating images for social media, website, etc.
• Creately -- make venn diagrams, flow charts, etc.
• Techsmith Jing -- Free Screen Capture and Call-Outs

Free Audio Tools

• Vocaroo.com -- Easily Record Short Audio
• Audacity -- Free Audio Editing and Recording (tutorials here)
• The Levelator -- Level The Volume Of All Teleclass Speakers (Levelator)
• Speakpipe -- allow website visitors to leave you voicemail without the phone
• Convert2MP3 -- convert a Youtube video to an MP3 file, without having to download a converter file  

Video Screen Capture

• Screencast-o-matic

Automation Tools

• IFTTT and Zapier are simple online automation tools I've heard good things about, but haven't yet used.  Check them out if you would like to remove some repetitive processes you're doing online.

My Staple Productivity Tools

• Todoist is now my preferred task-management software.  You can try switching over by using Todoport
• Google Inbox (I do all my email, business and personal, using this)
• Google Calendar (both personal and business calendars)
• Google Voice (separate accounts for business / personal)
• AcuityScheduling (what I use to schedule appointments with clients & others) -- however if you don't need to send automated follow-up emails, try Calendly instead.
• OneTab (to simplify the many tabs that are open on a browser -- try it!)
• For time logging, I use Eternity App, and previously liked aTimeLogger too
• E.ggtimer.com -- simple free web-based timer
• Sounds: Nature sounds on Youtube, SimplyNoise (white/pink/brown noise), Pandora (free music)

Money Tools

• Money Tracking (Mint.com)
• YNAB (several of my clients like this service, a competitor to Mint.com) 
• Lending Club (Stable returns of 5-10% per year, helping out individual borrowers)
• Prosper (a competitor to Lending Club ... it's good to diversify!)
• Healthy Money (my thoughts and methodology on money management)

Feel free to share this webpage with others.  The link to send, or post on social media, is: www.georgekao.com/tools